This Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Soup is a nutrition powerhouse that’s just as tantalizing for the palate as it is to the eye. Velvety and vibrant purple sweet potatoes are made richer with a touch of coconut cream and a dash of spice in this comforting vegan soup. Enjoy it as a starter to a healthy vegan dinner or as a main course on its own!
If you like smooth, comforting soup recipes, also try my creamy one-pot carrot soup and my butternut squash sweet potato soup.
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✔️ Why This Recipe is Great
Low Histamine Soup: so many readers ask about low histamine soups, so this healthy purple potato soup is an answer to that request. Even better, it comes together in under an hour!
Beautiful Purple Soup: however you serve it, no matter how long you store it, and whether you use Stokes purples or Okinawan purple sweets, this soup is gonna have some deep color from the powerful antihistamine plant pigment inside the sweet potatoes you use.
Easy Vegan Main: full of flavor and free of meat (as long as you use vegetable stock), this healthy purple sweet potato soup recipe makes a great vegan low histamine dinner (especially if you add hemp seeds or low histamine protein powder for a more balanced nutrient profile).
🥔 Ingredients
Purple Sweet Potatoes: you can use any other variety of purple sweet potatoes for this recipe, but I highly recommend a creamier type, like the creamy Okinawan purple sweet potatoes I used here. They're different from the sweets I use in my purple sweet potato mash.
Onion: adds umami depth and some great cancer-preventing plant power to the soup.
Ginger: possibly the best-known spice around the world, ginger is the sharp, mildly sweet root of a flower. It’s an incredibly healthy low histamine spice that's been used for thousands of years in dishes both sweet and savory, and adds bite to this sweet potato soup.
*Garam Masala: this optional ingredient adds a ton of flavor from very little material (about one large pinch per serving), but if you want to leave out the garam masala and substitute it with something else, either ground nigella seeds or any substitute for nigella seeds would make for a great pick to keep the flavor high.
Cumin: a sometimes-controvertial spice, this adds an almost meaty savoriness that's also optional but very highly recommended.
Cardamom: this sweet spice adds balance to the overall flavor, though technically it's optional.
Oil: I used avocado oil for this recipe, but you can use any neutral-tasting oil you tolerate. Ghee or butter are other good options if you tolerate dairy, but check out my post on low histamine oils for more ideas.
Coconut Cream: this is a key ingredient, adding more of a creamy flavor and texture to the dish, which also making it more nutritionally balanced. Heavy cream would be the best swap, if you tolerate dairy.
Vegetable Stock: you can make your own vegetable broth or buy it, but this both thins out the soup and adds flavor.
See recipe card for exact ingredients and quantities.
📝 Substitutions
- This recipe should work just as well with yellow or orange sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, pumpkin, and even cauliflower in place of the purple sweet potatoes (though obviously none of those would make for a purple soup).
- The dried spices can be replaced with about a tablespoon of curry powder (if tolerated) in case of problems with availability.
🔪 How to Make Purple Sweet Potato Soup (Step-by-Step)
Step 1) Put the purple sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water (image 1). Boil for around 20 minutes or until fork tender, then drain and set aside to cool (image 2).
Step 2) Once cool enough to handle, peel the purple sweet potatoes if desired, and then mash with a fork (image 3).
Step 3) Heat oil in a large stock pot, then add red onions and grated ginger. Stir over medium heat until onions are translucent (image 4).
Step 4) Add cumin seeds, cardamom powder, and garam masala (or nigella seeds). Roast the spices until aromatic (image 5).
Step 5) Add the purple sweet potato mash into the pot and stir for 1 to 2 minutes (image 6).
Step 6) Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes (image 7).
Step 7) Optionally, puree the soup with an immersion blender (image 8).
Step 8) Stir in the coconut cream and return to a simmer (image 9), then season with salt to taste. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with your choice of garnish.
🥘 Freezing and Reheating
To freeze this sweet potato soup, allow it to come to room temperature before portioning it into air-tight containers. It can keep frozen for up to 6 months, ideally in single servings to avoid refreezing it as you break off chunks to reheat.
Thankfully, even if it's been awhile since it was frozen, vegan soups can reheat quite quickly. Even if the coconut milk separates (if used), it will all smooth out once fully reheated and stirred well.
Simply put the soup into a pot or bowl and reheat for a few minutes over medium-low heat on the stovetop, or in the microwave on medium power for 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
👨🏻🍳 Expert Notes & Tips
Swap The Spices: the base of onion, stock, and sweet potatoes is amenable to a huge variety of spices - make it your own! Also consider swapping the vegetable stock for chicken stock, if tolerated, for a bigger burst of flavor.
Adding Meat: for a non-vegan version, simply add your choice of protein like diced chicken or white fish before finishing it off with the coconut cream. Think of a delicious spiced purple chowder!
Make it Hot: consider adding some chopped green chili for a bit of heat - though note that this is NOT a low histamine addition.
❓ What to Serve With Purple Sweet Potatoes Soup
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
Not really, but they would be easier to peel if boiled whole until tender rather than starting off by peeling and dicing them.
Aside from the obvious color difference, purple sweet potatoes have a slightly less sweet and more earthy flavor than the golden varieties, with slightly higher levels of antioxidants. However, you can use them in general just as you would regular sweet potatoes.
Purple sweet potatoes have a similar macronutrient content to russet potatoes— except that they offer about four times as many antioxidants as russets.
Purple sweet potatoes are a good source of beta-carotene, fiber, vitamins A and C, together with other valuable minerals. But most importantly, its purple color reveals that they're high in anthocyanins, which are an excellent antioxidant that contribute to reducing inflammation.
Have you tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Spiced Purple Sweet Potato Soup
Equipment
- large pot
Ingredients
- 14 oz Purple Sweet Potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed (400 g)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 medium Red Onion ~6oz, finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoon grated Fresh Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cardamom Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala alt. nigella seed powder
- 4 cups Vegetable Stock
- ½ cup Coconut Cream
- Salt to taste
- Options for garnish – chopped cilantro toasted nuts, edible flowers
Instructions
- Put the purple sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Boil for around 20 minutes or until fork tender, then drain and set aside to cool.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel the purple sweet potatoes and mash with a fork.
- Heat oil in a large stock pot, and then add red onions and grated ginger. Stir over medium heat until onions are translucent.
- Add cumin seeds, cardamom powder, and garam masala (if using). Roast the spices until aromatic.
- Add the purple sweet potato mash into the pot and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Optionally, puree the soup with an immersion blender, then stir in the coconut cream and return to a simmer.
- Season with salt to taste, then ladle it into bowls and top with your choice of garnish.
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