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Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

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 sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl with pot of soup on the side, top view

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!

thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl with spoon on the side

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!

ingredients for thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need for This Recipe

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).

onions and garlic sauteeing in a pot

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

sweet potatoes, corn, peppers added to pot

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

sweet potatoes, corn, peppers added to pot

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.

soup simmering in a pot

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. 

thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers simmering in a pot

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

coconut milk added to pot with soup

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

spoonful of thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl

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.

thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl top view

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!

thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl with spoon

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!
thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl, top view

More Thai inspired and soup recipes!

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 FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!

thai sweet potato soup with poblano peppers served in a white bowl, top view
Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Poblano Soup with Sweet Potatoes

This spicy Poblano Soup with Sweet Potatoes 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.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine: Thai
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 100kcal
Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

Equipment

Instructions

  • 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).
  • Add the sweet potato, corn, carrot, fennel, poblano, salt and pepper. Stir to combine – cook for 5 minutes.
  • Add in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne, turmeric, wine and 2-3 cups water (enough to just cover the veggies).
  • Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-45 min – until the veggies are cooked through.
  • 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. 
  • Remove soup from heat and whisk in coconut milk.
  • Ladle into bowls, garnish with cilantro/green onions.

Notes

Top Tips for Making Spicy Poblano Soup with Sweet Potatoes
  • 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 it 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!
Adapted from The True Food Kitchen Cookbook
Nutrition information doesn’t include tofu.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 2cups | Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1.4g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 48mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g

22 responses to “Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Poblano Peppers”

  1. I made this fantastic soup following the directions exactly. YUM!!! Total spicy comfort. ❤Today it is 3° and my arthritis hands are killing so I want some spicy warm soup and the added turmeric. I don’t have fennel or tofu so I’m using a bit extra onion and some celery and will add some leftover rotisserie chicken. I love when I can tweak a recipe according to what I have in my fridge and pantry!

  2. This looks deliciously comforting and tasty. I love combining spice with root vegetables to bring out the flavor and this looks like a yummy combination.5 stars

  3. I love that this soup is full of good-for-you vegetables but it’s also FULL of flavor with the poblanos and spices.5 stars

  4. Hi Anjali,

    I’m also trying out a new healthy food blog, so browsing over yours truly gave me inspiration. I love the way you use an abundance of photos in each post. It adds so much life to your blog. You also find a way to keep each recipe post consistant by having a nice introduction of your recipe in the beginning, then a close step-by-step with pictures of how you made each dish, and then you conclude with a concise recipe which is easy to scan and printable. I honestly love your method and I’m sure avid readers of your blog truly appreciate it. The photos you include with this soup recipe make it look that much more irresistible. Going through your blog it’s easy to see that you always seem to find a way to incorporate the message of living a healthy and well balanced life. So thank you for doing what you do and for creating such a well constructed blog. I’ll be sure to try out some of your recipes!

    • Thank you so much for your kind words Pooja!! I’m so glad my blog has inspired you – you’ll have to keep me posted on when you create yours! Let me know how the recipes turn out for you when you try them – I’d love to hear how it goes. Thanks again! 🙂

  5. I love the different combinations here 🙂 I can’t wait to give this soup a shot! I just tried curry for the first time about a month ago, loved it, and now am looking for all the different ways I can incorporate it in our meals. Thanks!

    • Thanks Jenni!! You’ll have to let me know how you like this recipe – the flavor and texture combinations are really fun to eat! 🙂

  6. I made this recipe last night for my husband and I and it was delicious! As you say seems unusual to put oregano and coconut milk together with the other spices but it really works. I actually made it into a curry by adding a little less water and serving it with rice. I didn’t have corn so added frozen peas instead. Thanks Anjali for a great recipe.

    • Oh that’s so great! And I love the idea of turning this into a curry and serving it with rice 🙂 Thanks for sharing Carol!

  7. I’m a fan of Dr. Weil as well. It’s interesting that this combination works so well. It’s those odd pairings of foods that sometimes turn out terrific.

    • Exactly! I love pairing unusual ingredients together — it keeps things interesting! Let me know if you end up trying this recipe and how it turns out!

  8. I feel like every food blog I’ve visited this week involves some sweet potato recipe :p! My family looooove love loves curry though, so maybe this recipe will be the “Mom’s new hit”! Soup’s always nice on a chilly day.

    Thanks for the recipe,
    Sam

    • Haha! It must be the winter-to-spring transition time – everyone’s using up their sweet potatoes! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how you like this recipe!

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