Sweet potato, apple and lentil soup
I love root vegetable soups, but sometimes I feel like every soup with butternut squash or sweet potatoes tastes the same, with the sweetness of the vegetables being the dominant flavor. This time I wanted to make a more memorable soup, so I combined sweet potatoes with tart apples, leeks and lentils. I have to say, the result was crazy good.
The combination of sweet potatoes and apples is a natural, and using tart apples helps to ensure that the soup isn’t cloyingly sweet. Lentils add a a subtle yet mysterious heartiness. (None of my dinner guests could guess that there were lentils in the soup!) And of course, this is a super nutritious dish, with the vitamins from the vegetables, protein from the lentils, and fiber from all of them.
Do let me know if you try this. It’s easy to make and a guaranteed winner.
This is my contribution to Souper Sundays, hosted by Kahakai Kitchen
Sweet Potato, Apple and Lentil Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large leeks, white and light green parts chopped
2 tart apples, peeled cored and chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¾ cup brown lentils
4 cups vegetable stock (recommend Imagine’s No-Chicken Broth)
3 cups water
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Nonfat plain yogurt or soy yogurt for topping, optional
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the leeks, ginger and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the apples, sweet potatoes and spices and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the lentils, vegetable stock and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, partially covered. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Puree in a blender (or use an immersion blender). Reheat, if necessary, and serve.
Serves 6
I love your take on sweet potato soup! I would have never thought to add lentils, but it seems like a great addition!
Oooh I love root vegetable soup too, and I don’t really mind the sweetness (never-decaying sweet tooth, you see), but this sounds amazing. Maybe I’ll try to whip some up before the cold weather is gone out here…
BTW lovely blog, you got a new follower
this looks great and has three of my favorite ingredients in it! i will definitely be making this soon. thanks!
Hi Cathy,
Thanks so much for joining in Souper Sundays this week with your unique and delicious-looking soup. I love the lentils–such a great idea to add depth to the flavor.
Hope to have you back again soon! 😉
Aloha,
Deb
This sounds great! I bet red lentils would work well, too, since you end up pureed the soup and it would keep with the red/orange colour of the soup.
I love how the beans give you a nutritious way to add creaminess. 
Yum!
Very nice recipe. I have made butternut and apple soup and also butternut and leek soup, but I never thought about adding legumes to the mix. Now I am curious and want to try.
Thanks, Simona. Let me know if you try it!
This looks marvelous. Such an interesting combination of flavors, plus perfectly balanced for nutrition. Nice work!
yams or sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes – the orange flesh variety. Most things called “yams” in supermarkets are actually varieties of sweet potatoes. A true yam is a rough and scaly root vegetable, and they are not often eaten in the U.S.
I made this fabulous soup for dinner the other night. What a hit! I love it. What’s even better, my non sweet potatoe loving husband went back for seconds. He raved about it the next day. This recipe is a keeper. love your blog. Thank you Cathy.
Oops!!! Added too much cayenne pepper, so I just mixed some plain Greek yogurt in before serving…YUM! Thx!
Good fix, Dana!
[…] Based on a recipe from What Would Cathy Eat […]
This soup is sooooo good. I don’t like Sweet Potatoes but in this soup they are amazing!!! You’ve done the impossible by getting me to eat sweet potatoes!!! YUMMMM
This soup was extraordinarily tasty, but could have used a little less cayenne–I felt the cayenne (with the addition of ginger and black pepper) overpowered the flavors that the apple and sweet potato contributed. Perhaps my palate is a little more averse to scoville-style heat than others, but if and when I make this next time, I’m leaving out that cayenne (or replacing it with a milder dried pepper). I did, however, use a white onion in place of the leeks, and that worked out beautifully. Thank you for the recipe!!!
Thanks for trying it. In retrospect, I think you’re totally right. I don’t see a big reason for the cayenne and may leave it out the next time myself.