Curried Sweet Potato Bisque
This curried sweet potato bisque might be my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes. It’s a warm, cozy soup that comes together in minutes with just four main ingredients.
And it’s packed with fantastic flavor from curry powder and Chinese 5-spice powder, a slightly sweet, warm, and spicy ingredient that everyone needs in their spice rack. It’s a key ingredient in my spiced pumpkin bisque, too.
Dietitian tip: Vegetable-packed soups like this one, my creamy roasted vegetable soup, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, or roasted acorn squash soup fit into the Mediterranean diet so easily. They’re a tasty way to eat several servings of vegetables with every bowl.
This post contains affiliate links for products I use and recommend, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Â
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Here are the key ingredients for my curried sweet potato bisque. Substitutions and variations are listed in the section below.
Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients with measurements.
Sweet potatoes. I use orange or red sweet potatoes for their color, slightly sweet flavor, and beta-carotene. White sweet potatoes work too, but they are less sweet and lower in beta-carotene.
Stock. I typically use chicken stock for this recipe because I love the rich flavor it provides. If you prefer, you can also use vegetable stock or broth to keep this recipe vegetarian.
Cream. I recommend heavy cream because it’s richer than light cream or half-and-half and less likely to separate when reheating leftover soup.
Curry powder. Curry powder isn’t just one spice, but a blend of turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, ginger, black pepper, chili, and sometimes cinnamon, cloves, or cardamom. There are various curry powder blends available, so try a few to find one you love.
Chinese 5-spice powder. This is another spice blend, readily available in the spices aisle at the grocery store. It adds a touch of sweetness and heat from star anise (which has a mild licorice flavor), cloves, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, and Chinese cinnamon.
Substitutions and Variations
- For a vegan soup, use vegetable stock and either omit the cream or substitute coconut cream.
- For a high-protein sweet potato bisque, stir ½ cup of unflavored protein powder into the soup. Unflavored whey protein isolate (vs concentrate) dissolves easily and has little to no flavor, so you won’t know it’s there. For best results, mix it with some room-temperature stock, then add it to the soup. It may clump if added to very hot liquid.
- For a touch of sweetness, sauté a peeled, chopped apple with the vegetables.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Sauté the vegetables. Dice the onion, and cut the sweet potatoes and carrots into one-inch pieces. Sauté these in the olive oil for about 8 minutes, or until they start to turn golden. Add the spices and stir for about 30 seconds to toast the spices.
2. Add the stock. Pour the stock over the vegetables, increase the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.
3. Blend the soup. When the vegetables are soft, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is smooth. Alternatively, you can use a regular high-speed blender, but be careful to fill it only halfway and remove the lid cap so the pressure from the hot soup doesn’t blow it off.
4. Add the cream. Add the cream while the soup is off the heat. Stir well and add extra salt or other seasonings if needed. If desired, garnish with pumpkin seeds (pepitas) to serve.
Expert Tips
You can store sweet potatoes for about two weeks in a cool, dry area, like a pantry. Don’t refrigerate them because cold storage will dry out the flesh and give them an unpleasant taste.
I prefer to blend this curried sweet potato bisque until it’s completely velvety smooth, but you can also leave a few chunks of sweet potatoes if you wish. An immersion blender makes it easy to blend as little or as much as desired.
This recipe doubles easily and is freezer-friendly. If you plan to freeze it, I recommend freezing it without the cream. Add it once the soup is thawed and reheated.
What to Serve With Sweet Potato Bisque
Serve this tasty soup with other fall and winter side dishes like:
- A fennel and orange salad
- A shaved Brussels sprouts salad
- Skillet sweet potato cornbread
- Air fryer kale chips (crumble them on top)
Related Creamy Soup Recipes
Curried Sweet Potato Bisque
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 large carrot peeled
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes about 3 medium, peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder available in the spice section of the grocery store
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- toasted pumpkin seeds optional garnish
Instructions
- Dice the onion, and cut the carrot and sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces.
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables, and saute them for about eight minutes or until they start to soften and turn light golden.
- Sprinkle the curry and Chinese 5-spice powders over the vegetables. Stir well and let the spices toast for about 30 seconds.
- Add the stock and bring the soup to a boil. Then, cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork. Taste the soup and season with salt.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup well until it's completely smooth (or as smooth as desired).
- Add the cream and stir to combine. Add salt to taste. Serve garnished with pumpkin seeds (pepitas) if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
If you print this recipe, you can scan the QR code below to see updates and tips or leave a comment.