Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

This sweet potato lentil soup is cozy and creamy: a delicious mix of aromatic vegetables with a hint of savory…

Jan 20, 2025 - 16:31

This sweet potato lentil soup is cozy and creamy: a delicious mix of aromatic vegetables with a hint of savory spices. It’s a healthy vegan soup that’s also budget friendly—great as a dinner idea with crusty bread or a simple make ahead lunch.

Lentils are one of our favorite ingredients to create recipes with, since they’re so inexpensive and versatile. Alex and I love everything from lentil curry to lentil loaf to lentil sloppy joes. And you can’t go wrong with another spin on a cozy lentil soup, can you?

This sweet potato lentil soup is so cozy and delicious, with a savory blend of spices and a hint of creaminess from coconut milk. It’s also a healthy vegan soup, without tasting “healthy”, if that makes sense—we recently served it to a crowd and everyone raved! Another great thing about this soup: it’s budget friendly, too.

Ingredients in sweet potato lentil soup

This sweet potato lentil soup hits almost all the meal time wish list buckets: it’s healthy, plant-based yet delicious, easy to make, and even budget-friendly. You’ll need 45 minutes to make it so it’s not technically fast: but it makes a huge pot so leftovers keep on giving! It’s perfect for meal prep. Here are the main ingredients:

Onion, celery and carrots: Called mirepoix, it’s a mix of aromatic vegetables often used to flavor soup.
Sweet potatoes: The star! Use just two sweet potatoes for maximum flavor.
Green or brown lentils: Make sure to use these varieties and not red lentils, which become more mushy in a soup.
Cumin and curry powder: These spices bring big savory flavor without being extremely noticeable.
Spinach: We love adding greens to soups for added nutrients; you can also use chopped kale or any other greens you have on hand.
Full fat canned coconut milk: It adds just the right creaminess to the broth without imparting a strong coconut flavor.

What makes this healthy soup budget friendly

One standard soup ingredient is missing from the list: vegetable broth! Most vegan soup recipes call for vegetable broth, and this one would require two quarts—which can add up pricewise.

Also Alex and I have found vegetable broth can impart odd flavor notes to a vegetable-based soup, so, we’ve started using water instead of broth! Combine that with lentils, which are extremely inexpensive, and you’ve got a great budget-friendly meal idea!

Storing leftovers and meal prep tips

This sweet potato lentil soup takes 45 minutes to make, but it makes a very large pot which is at least 8 servings. This makes it perfect for meal prep! Here are a few notes:

The leftovers can become thick over time. Save the coconut milk and add a splash along with milk when reheating.
Leftovers keep up to 5 days refrigerated. It’s perfect for eating throughout the week! If you get tired of the flavors, you can add new seasonings: we’ve added a little chili powder and ketch up to make it into a makeshift lentil chili.

Ways to serve sweet potato lentil soup

We love going the soup and salad route with this sweet potato lentil soup—and it’s great with crusty bread! Here are some serving suggestions of our top salad recipes and bread recipes:

Dietary notes

This sweet potato lentil soup recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Budget Friendly!)

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This sweet potato lentil soup is cozy and creamy: a delicious mix of aromatic vegetables with a hint of savory spices. It’s a healthy vegan soup that’s also budget friendly—great as a dinner idea with crusty bread or a simple make ahead lunch.

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8
Category: Soup
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Vegan
Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 lb / 4 cups diced), peeled and small diced
10 cups water
1 pound (16 ounces) dried green or brown lentils
1 tablespoon ground cumin*
½ tablespoon curry powder
1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 cups baby or chopped spinach, or kale (chopped and de-stemmed)*
¾ cup full fat canned coconut milk

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Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes until tender.
Add the sweet potatoes, water, lentils, cumin, curry powder, and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the lentils are tender (if not tender, keep cooking a few more minutes). Add the spinach and coconut milk and stir until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add additional salt to taste and fresh ground black pepper.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for meal prep. The soup lasts up to 1 week refrigerated and leftovers taste even better (you can also freeze them for up to 3 months). Leftovers may soak up extra broth, so you can add a splash of coconut milk and/or water and pinch of salt if the texture becomes too thick.