This red pepper soup with sweet potatoes is packed with nutrients and totally delicious. It freezes well so make a double batch!
My love for pureed vegetable soups like this one dates all the way back to my college internship. I worked at a spa in England where they made a different healthy pureed soup every day. Many of the chefs avoided soup duty but I loved that job!
Something about combining so many nutrient-packed ingredients and experimenting with the spices to make it totally delicious spoke to me. (Hear more about this and how you can experiment to make your own soups in Episode 18 of my podcast, Meal Prep Mondays!)
My life has changed a lot since those days but my love for pureed veggie soups is still strong!
This red pepper soup with sweet potatoes is naturally sweet from the veggies, but also has a little kick to it from the chili powder. It also freezes really well so definitely consider making a double batch and saving half in the freezer for later. Your future self will thank you!
Red Pepper Soup w/ Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 sweet potatoes (~ 1 #)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth*
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp chipotle or ancho chili powder* (OR 1 Tbsp chili powder*)
Instructions
- Roughly chop 2 sweet potatoes, 2 red bell peppers, 3 garlic cloves & 1⁄2 of a yellow onion. (This will eventually be pureed, so the chop can be rough and fairly large, ~2-3”).
- In a large soup pot heat 1 tsp olive oil and add chopped onion, 3 chopped garlic cloves and 2 chopped red bell peppers. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
- Add 2 chopped sweet potato and cook 5 more minutes.
- Add 4 cups vegetable broth, lower to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until sweet potato is cooked through (a knife slides easily in/out).
- Carefully place cooked veggies into blender w/ 1⁄4 tsp salt. Blend until smooth adding water as needed. Note: Blend in 2-3 batches as necessary.
- Add salt & 1⁄4 tsp chipotle powder to taste (chipotle adds spice, adjust accordingly, for less spice replace w/ 1T chili powder).
Notes
What are the nutritional highlights of this red pepper & sweet potato soup?
Comprised almost entirely of vegetables, it's easy to see that this pureed vegetable soup recipe is super (souper?) healthy! Here are some of the nutritional highlights:
- Red Bell Peppers: Loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium, folic acid and fiber, bell peppers are a great addition to a healthy family dinner recipe.
- Sweet Potatoes: Possibly the most nutrient dense affordable food, sweet potatoes have a special protein that may fight cancer. Furthermore, sweet potatoes are packed with vitamins including 400% of your daily Vitamin A needs!
- Onion: Did you know that the humble onion is actually packed with antioxidants?
How do I safely blend hot soup in a blender?
If you just fill your blender with soup and blend as normal, there will be no way for the steam to escape, which can cause the lid to shoot off and hot soup to go everywhere!
You can totally blend this soup in your blender, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure you don't get splattered:
- Let the soup cool for a few minutes before blending
- Only fill your blender half way (work in batches)
- Remove the center insert of your blender's lid and cover with a dish towel while you blend
- OR you can use an immersion blender, but this may not result in as smooth of a soup
What is the best way to freeze soup?
I personally like to freeze soup in individual serving sized portions so I can easily pop one out for lunch. However, you can certainly freeze an entire batch of soup if you're planning to serve it for family dinner.
I like to store in reusable glass freezer containers and label with the date I'm freezing. If freezer space is tight though, you can also freeze in disposable freezer bags and lay flat in the freezer.
Make sure to cool your soup in the refrigerator before freezing to avoid ice crystals and freezer burn
Leave an inch or so of space at the top of your container – don't fill all the way to the top! This will leave room for the soup to expand as it freezes.
Your soup will be best if you eat within 3 months of freezing, but you can safely enjoy for 6 months.
What can I serve with this soup?
Red pepper & sweet potato soup is packed with nutrients but it is not high in protein so I recommend serving with some sort of protein.
This soup pairs well with either baked salmon or roasted chicken. Serve with a salad topped with chicken or salmon for a classic soup and salad combo. You can keep the protein simple since the soup has so much flavor!
If you eat bread, this is also delicious with a hunk of crusty bread.
Pro tip – giving kids bread or grilled cheese to dip in soup is a great way to encourage them to try it – kids love to dip!
What are some other tasty soup recipes?
Classic Chicken Vegetable Soup
What is your favorite kind of soup? Share your ideas and pictures on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram as @prepdish in all 3 places, or leave a comment below.
I made the sweet potato, red pepper soup. It is sooo good. And easy with pantry ingredients. I only wish I had made a double batch because I have no leftovers. I added some lemon zest and fresh-squeezed juice right before serving and it was perfect. I used chipotle and chili powder and put a dollop of sour cream with a sprig of parsley to serve. It was so pretty and delicious, my guests all loved it. Thank you for the recipe.