Creamy Asparagus Sweet Potato Soup Recipe (Cafe-Style)
This asparagus sweet potato soup is quick, easy and full of flavor. This recipe transforms simple ingredients into a cafe-style soup in just minutes. Just cook the veggies, blend them up, add some lemon and red pepper flakes for a bit of kick, swirl in some cream, and you are done. Serve with feta cheese and caramelized walnuts for a lovely lunch with friends. Easy to make in advance and freezer friendly.
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This is a delicious soup to make, especially in the early spring when in asparagus is in season. I love spring. And my family knows that we’ll be eating a lot of asparagus because it is so fresh, so inexpensive and so yum when in season.
The subtle sweetness of the sweet potato goes so well with asparagus and makes this a heartier cream of asparagus soup. It’s the perfect recipe to use up some of those spring vegetables.
If you have lots of asparagus or are looking for other delicious asparagus recipes, try this Baltic style asparagus dill soup recipe, my broccoli asparagus soup and my absolute favorite asparagus ricotta quiche with phyllo dough recipe.
Why you will love this recipe:
- Simple ingredients. Asparagus, sweet potatoes, lemon zest, and optional chili flakes. No complicated or hard-to-find components, just fresh, wholesome produce.
- Easy to store. Perfect for meal prep, freezes beautifully, and keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.
- Quick – Just chop up your veggies, cook and blend.
- Super easy clean up. You’ll only need to wash your pot, blender, and a few chopping tools.
- Versatile. Add cream, feta cheese or cheese of your choice or caramalised walnuts.
- Plant-based friendly – omit the cream or use vegan cream. The sweet potatoes make it creamy as is.
Ingredients for Asparagus Sweet Potato Soup
- Olive oil
- Onion, diced – adds depth and sweetness to the soup
- Garlic cloves
- Celery – adds a light, herbal undertone to the soup
- Carrot – Adds natural sweetness and a soft, mellow flavor
- Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed – adds a nice creamy texture to the soup
- Red pepper flakes – optional, for a bit of kick
- Lemon juice and zest (optional – gives a bit of freshness to the flavor)
- Fresh asparagus
- Heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, creme fraiche, sour cream or Greek yogurt in a pinch
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parsley for garnish
- Feta, ricotta or goat cheese to sprinkle at the end (optional)
- Caramelized walnuts – adds a nice crunch to the final soup (optional).
Substitutions and Additions
- Asparagus – fresh is best, but you can also use frozen. Do not use canned asparagus. It will not taste the same at all.
- Onion, garlic, carrot, celery – If you are in a rush, you can omit the onion, garlic, celery and/or the carrot and add some chicken or vegetable stock instead. Adding the real veggies develops a richer, fresher taste compared to pre-made stocks or stock cubes. If you just use a stock cube, this asparagus and sweet potato soup won’t have the depth of flavors but will still taste nice.
- Add some white beans to the soup for extra protein. Either blend them in, or add them in at the end and warm them up.
If you are looking for other asparagus soup recipes, I have a simple creamy asparagus soup with dill or asparagus and broccoli soup (delicious) that you can make in 30 minutes or less.
How to make Sweet Potato and Asparagus Soup
1. Prepare the base of the soup: Dice the onion, celery and carrot and finely chop the garlic. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot and olive oil to a large pot. Cook, stirring often, until soft, about 5 minutes over medium heat, being careful not to burn the veggies. You can turn down the heat to medium low if needed.
2. Add the sweet potatoes and asparagus: Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Peel the base of the asparagus or break off the woody ends and cut into 1 inch size pieces. Add sweet potato cubes and 4 cups water. Cook for about 10 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender. Add the red pepper/chili flakes if using. Add the chopped asparagus pieces to the soup. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until asparagus pieces are just tender. They should still be bright green.
3. Blend until you get a creamy consistency with an immersion blender or food processor. Stir in salt, and pepper and cream if using. Top with Feta cheese and/or caramelized walnuts and parsley and chives.
Asparagus Sweet Potato Soup FAQ
How To Serve Asparagus Sweet Potato Soup
Serve with some nice crusty bread or some nice garlic bread. Perfect for dunking. Sprinkle with fresh parsley or jazz it up with feta and caramelized walnuts.
Asparagus Sweet Potato Soup
Equipment
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Potato peeler
- 1 Immersion blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion Diced – see Note 1
- 2 Garlic cloves See note 1
- 1 Celery stick Sliced – see Note 1
- 1 Carrot Sliced – see Note 1
- 2 Medium sweet potatoes Peeled and cubed
- 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes Optional
- 3/4 – 1 pounds Asparagus About 18 average size asparagus stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces. See Note 2
- 1/2 cup Heavy cream Heavy whipping cream, creme fraiche, sour cream or Greek yogurt in a pinch
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parsley or chives for garnish
- 1 tsp Lemon juice Optional
- 5 cups Water
- 1/2 cup Feta or grated cheese Optional
- 1/2 cup Caramelized Walnuts Optional (1/2 cup walnuts plus 1 1/2 tsp honey). See Caramelized Walnut Recipe.
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring often, until soft, about 5 minutes over medium heat, being careful not to burn the veggies. You can turn down the heat to medium low if needed.
- Add sweet potato cubes and 5 cups water. Cook for about 10 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Add the red pepper flakes if using.
- Prepare the caramelized walnuts if using.
- Peel the asparagus ends or snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and chop the asparagus spears into smaller pieces.
- Add the chopped asparagus pieces to the soup. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until asparagus pieces are just tender. They should still be bright green.
- Remove from heat. Blend until you get a creamy consistency with an immersion blender or food processor.
- Stir in salt, and pepper and cream if using.
- Serve with crumbled Feta cheese or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Sprinkle with caramelized walnuts.
Notes
Nutrition
Storage
- Make ahead and refrigerate for up to 3 days in advance
- You can freeze the soup without the feta, walnuts or parsley for up to 2 months.
How I tested this recipe
I live in the country, and during the spring asparagus season, there is asparagus everywhere. I have some asparagus recipes I often repeat (especially my creamy asparagus and dill soup recipe and my absolute favorite asparagus quiche recipe). But there is still so much asparagus…
Anyway, I am trying to incorporate more sweet potatoes in my diet and I thought I would try combining the two. And it actually tastes really good! So I thought I would share it here with you 😀
And yes, all those little parsley pieces are from my wild garden.
Can you spot my parsley growing in my wild garden? I use a lot of parsley, so it’s great to have some growing in my garden. I find parsley is really forgiving too and grows year round here in country Victoria, in Australia.
