Creamy Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Soup

A few simple ingredients combine to make this hearty, warming soup. Made creamy with coconut milk but without a hint of coconut flavor, our family seems to have settled on this version of sweet potato soup as their favorite. 

It is soup season, to be sure. We eat soup most days of the week this time of year, usually are bowls filled with homemade broth, whatever veggies we have stored or fresh, and whatever protein we can throw in.

But I am starting to see why, in those old farm wife-type cookbooks, you find an assortment of vegetable soups. Often blended or pureed, or put through a foodmill or a sieve for the non-electric version, these soups make a meal out of a few simple homegrown ingredients.

Such was the case with this soup. Sweet potatoes and broth made from our chickens and a generous pour of Mabel’s cream… until we realized Hannah seems sensitive to dairy, along with a handful of other things.

So I switched out the cream for coconut milk, leaned into the coconut curry-type flavors, and we have a soup even the children really enjoy. That is, so long as there is another element like rice or bread to the meal. But I’ll take it because this super simple, frugal soup feeds a crowd and is so thick and warming on cool days.

Creamy Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Soup

Note: If dairy isn’t an issue, feel free to replace the coconut milk with about a cup of grass-fed cream.
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup lard or coconut oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
• 4-5 cups broth
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch each of coriander, cardamom, and cayenne
• salt to taste

Directions

Place a Dutch oven over medium heat and add your lard or coconut oil. Peel and slice onions and fry them in the fat, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes, or until they are softened and just starting to caramelize.

Add in the sweet potatoes and four cups of broth. Check the level of the broth, it should reach up to about 1/4″ below the level of the sweet potatoes. If it doesn’t, add a little more. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are very soft.

Remove from the heat and add in the spices, coconut milk, and about 2 teaspoons of salt. Blend using an immersion blender or counter top blender or simply mash into a soup with a bit more texture. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve piping hot.