Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Poblano Peppers

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This spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup gets an extra kick with the addition of poblano peppers. It combines the flavors of a traditional curry with some unconventional spices and seasoning for a rich and healthy soup with a real depth of flavor.

Thai and Mexican flavors combined in a soup?

I was a little skeptical at first. After all, I never would have thought to combine poblano chiles with coconut milk and oregano!

But thanks to the True Food Kitchen Cookbook, I was inspired to give this recipe a try, and I ended up with a tasty, well balanced and healthy meal!

I made some modifications to the dish – I felt there were a few errors in the original recipe (in terms of amounts of spices and proportions, which I’ve noted below), I modified the directions to make it faster, and for some protein, I’d suggest adding some tofu to make it a complete meal. Or you can leave the tofu out and serve it as an appetizer.

Either way you eat it, this will be an incredibly warming and comforting meal with a full spectrum of veggies and spices – it’s both delicious and nutritious!

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need for This Recipe

• Cutting Board
• Chopping Knife
• Stock Pot
• Wooden Spoon

How to Make Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup – Step by Step

Step 1: Chop your veggies. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil, onion and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes (or until the onion is translucent).

Step 2: Add the sweet potato, corn, carrot, fennel, poblano, salt and pepper. Stir to combine – cook for 5 minutes.

Step 3: Add in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, turmeric, wine and 2-3 cups water (enough to just cover the veggies).

Step 4: Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-45 min – until the veggies are cooked through.

Step 5: Once the soup is almost ready, add the tofu (if you’re adding in tofu). Cook for 5 minutes, just until the tofu is heated through. 

Step 6: Remove soup from heat and whisk in coconut milk.

Step 7: Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro/green onions.

What makes this Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup healthy?

• Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients: An anti-inflammatory diet is a way of eating more than it is a temporary diet for the purpose of weight loss. It promotes the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats such as Omega-3s. This soup is full of all those anti-inflammatory ingredients, including sweet potatoes, peppers, corn, and healthy fats in the form of coconut milk. 
• Heart Healthy: Spicy foods may have an influence on your heart health. Some studies have shown that those who eat red peppers have lower LDL (bad cholesterol).
• Rich in Vitamins and Minerals: Sweet potatoes are the star of this soup. Sweet potatoes are rich in iron, calcium, selenium, and are a good source of most of B vitamins and vitamin C.
• High in Fiber: Sweet potatoes are also high in fiber which contributes to healthy digestion. While this soup is light and low in calories, it is still satisfying thanks to those fiber rich sweet potatoes!

Will kids enjoy this Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup?

This soup may be on the spicy side for some kids. There are a lot of added spices which is like a flavor explosion for us adults, but might be too much for the kids. You can reduce the amount of spice if serving to your kids, or leave out the poblano pepper. Poblano peppers are not the hottest pepper out there. They fall somewhere between a mild to medium heat. If you’d still like to add pepper but without any heat at all consider a bell pepper as a replacement.

What are the traditional spices in a Thai curry?

Thai curries are made from a spice paste instead of a dry powder. There are yellow curries, red curries, and green curries. A traditional Thai Yellow Curry contains…garlic, ginger, Thai chili peppers, turmeric, ground coriander, lemongrass, and possibly cilantro. Thai Red Curry contains…red chili, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, salt, shallots, coriander, kaffir (lime leaf). A Thai Green Curry contains…green chili, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, salt, onion, pepper, coriander, cumin, kaffir (lime leaf).

Is yellow, red, or green curry spicier?

Yellow curries tend to be the mildest in heat, with red curries somewhat in the mild to medium range, and green curries the hottest. Thai red curries have red chili peppers, and Thai green curries have green chili peppers.

What do you serve with Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup?

I ended up serving this soup with a Thai Coconut Curry Hummus (from Hope Hummus) and Pita Chips for some crunch. As mentioned above you can add tofu for added protein and have a complete meal in one bowl!

Top Tips for Making Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup

• You can add the optional cayenne pepper/crushed red pepper but be warned – it will make your soup incredibly spicy!! I’d recommend including a tiny pinch of cayenne and working your way up from there as needed, unless you’re one of those people who puts hot sauce on everything!
• If you taste your soup and you think it needs a bit more salt, add an additional 1/4 tsp (or as much as needed to taste)
• Check that the veggies are cooked through at the 30 minute mark. If needed cook for additional time.
• If adding tofu to the soup, don’t add until the very end or just before serving. The tofu is already cooked and just needs to be warmed by the broth of the soup before serving. 
• This is one of those soups that would work with just about any combination of veggies, so it’s a good one to make when you want to use up what you have in the fridge!

More Thai inspired and soup recipes!

• Curried Cauliflower Soup
• Curried Sweet Potato Soup
• Spicy Indian Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard
• Thai Peanut Curry

If you have tried this Spicy Thai Sweet Potato Soup recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!