Sweet Potato Bacon Soup
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This Sweet Potato Bacon Soup is the perfect marriage of savory flavors with a comforting, creamy texture from nutritious sweet potatoes. It’s easily my all-time favorite soup, and I don’t even like sweet potatoes that much. In fact, it’s my go-to for getting something orange into my diet, especially during times of illness when I may not be quite as willing to tolerate flavors I’m not super fond of. (And this soup is certainly healthier than chicken noodle ever was!) Don’t be put off by the inclusion of lots of artichoke: They add a wonderful depth of flavor and are jam-packed with antioxidants. The nearest approximation I can think of would be roasted celery or celeriac if you wanted to try those instead, but don’t hold me to the results because I’ve only ever made this soup with the prescribed artichokes. You could use fresh, steamed artichoke hearts if you’d prefer, but you’d need about 3 1/2 pounds of them. If you serve this as a side, you can easily get eight servings out of it instead of four: I think it would pair very nicely with a small salad and some lemony fish or chicken!
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Sweet Potato Bacon Soup
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potato chopped
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 8 slices bacon cooked, omit for IC
- 4 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts drained
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 tablespoons green onion chopped
Instructions
- Combine the sweet potato and broth in a large stockpot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Transfer the potatoes and broth to a blender with the bacon (reserving a little bit for garnish if you like), artichoke, garlic, salt, and ginger.
- Process until smooth. If needed, return to the stove to heat through. Pour into serving bowls and serve garnished with green onion.
This sounds delicious! I’m going to make it for a first course. What size are the artichoke cans? 14 oz.? Just wanted to confirm–that’s a lot of artichokes! Does it matter if they are in water or marinated? Thanks.
I get 14-ounce cans in water.
Silly question. Do you drain the artichokes?
Yes.
So glad you answered that… I had the same question about draining the artichokes. 🙂
This is so excellent!! I made it today. It is a quick simple and tasty recipe and it makes a LOT of soup!! I used my immersion blender to blend it up. LOVE THIS!! Thank you so much!!
I’m so glad you liked it! It’s my all-time favorite soup!
Your 28 Days of AIP have been a lifesaver– thank you!! Question about this recipe: I have never paired artichokes with sweet potatoes, and I don’t see any other soup recipes like it, so I’m trying to wrap my brain around it. What kind of flavor do they impart to the soup / how do they alter the flavor of the sweet potatoes? Thanks!
Artichoke and white potato soup isn’t an unusual pairing, but on the AIP, I like to use white-fleshed sweet potatoes as the next best option. This is actually one of my all-time favorite recipes because I love the flavor of artichokes, and they really shine here. You could also use plantain or taro root if you prefer.
Do you recommend any particular type of broth?
I usually use chicken because it’s what I have on hand, but I think any type of broth would be fine!
This looks great! I cannot have garlic right now. Any thoughts on how that will affect the soup if exclude it? I’m not a savvy cooker and usually cannot deviate from a recipe… 😉
Thanks for your input! 🙂
Leaving out little things like garlic or other seasonings is totally fine. The flavor will change, but it won’t be different enough to go from “good” to “bad”. 🙂
I never comment on recipes, but I have to say; for those who are curious about the flavor, this tastes amazingly like a thick tomato soup. Perfect for those who have trouble with tomatoes. I will be making this again very soon.
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Tammy! It’s one of my personal all-time favorites! 😀
I was hesitant to try this since it was a lot of artichokes (and they can be kind of pricey), but I was really curious, so gave it a shot. I’m so glad I did, this soup is really delicious! If I hadn’t made it myself I would never have guessed what is in it, or how healthy it is! I will definitely be making this again. Thank you.
Glad to hear you liked it! It’s still one of my all-time favorite soups!
In not understanding where the artichokes are gpikg into the recipe? Are they blended up?
Yes, they’re blended with the rest of the soup.
Approximately how many cups of sweet potatoes? They can really vary in size, so not sure how much four potatoes would be if I have a bag full of small ones.
The recipe is extremely forgiving; a little more or less potato won’t make a terribly big difference. I use medium-sized ones in all of my recipes, so I’d say that five or six small ones would do the trick.