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Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

168 June 2, 2015 Food

A House // Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

This post was supposed to be a cocktail. Something springlike and sparkling because we just bought a house. And, well, it’s worth celebrating. The problem is it’s 45° and raining, I’m leaving on another 10-day trip to Latin America in 36 hours, and the idea of packing and moving and fixing all of the things in the house that need fixing has my brain in overdrive. Don’t get me wrong – I’m excited and I know this is a huge milestone – it’s just all a little overwhelming right now. So a cocktail, however springlike and celebratory, is not what I needed today. What I needed was something comforting, energizing, nourishing, and whole. Something to warm me up and keep me focused. Like this soup.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

This soup, which is lightly adapted from Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon, is healthy soul food  (because another thing I need right now is to be especially careful about what I put in my body). It’s based on a mixture of gently spiced sweet potatoes and coconut milk, served with a few spoonfuls of crisped black lentils to give it more staying power. I followed the original recipe fairly closely, only adding the step of roasting the sweet potatoes for a bit more sweetness and depth, and serving the whole thing over a bowl of brown rice for extra body. The flavors in this are balanced just right – I often find vegetable purees too spicy or too one-dimensional, but this uses a good amount of fresh ginger, and just a touch of turmeric and curry powder. You can taste the coconut but it doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors, and the soup has a good body. It’s a keeper. And despite the fact that it’s the first day of June and Sweet Potato Soup sounds like something you should make in October, it’s exactly what I want to eat right now.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I promise I’ll tell you all about the house soon. In fact, you might even get tired of hearing about it, given that we’re planning on remodeling practically everything, and I’m sure I’ll be coming here to share our victories and challenges. And maybe later this summer – once we have some furniture and a place to enjoy a cocktail – we’ll get to that festive, sparkling drink.

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right, on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

More nourishing soups…

Spicy Chorizo Soup with Italian Couscous and Mole Sauce {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Spicy Chorizo Soup with Italian Couscous

Lentil and Roasted Tomato Soup with Saffron

Black Bean Soup with Roasted Poblano

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk with Brown Rice and Lentils

Slightly adapted from Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon. Serves 6.

  • 2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 TBS coconut oil, divided
  • 1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 TBS curry powder
  • 2 TBS freshly grated ginger (from a 1 inch piece of ginger)
  • 4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
  • 3/4 c. orange juice
  • 1 c. coconut milk
  • 2 large shallots, peeled and minced
  • 1 1/2 c. cooked black lentils
  • 3 c. cooked brown rice
  • yogurt, for serving
  • fresh minced cilantro, for serving
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  2. Melt 2 TBS of the coconut oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the turmeric, curry powder, and ginger and saute until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Add the roasted sweet potato and broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 2o minutes, then remove from heat and carefully transfer to a blender. Add the orange juice and coconut milk and blend until very smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set soup aside.
  3. In a small frying pan, melt the remaining 1 TBS of coconut oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the cooked lentils and saute until crispy, another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
  4. Scoop a 1/2 cup of brown rice into each bowl. Pour soup over the rice, then top with lentils, yogurt, and cilantro.

 

168

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Categories: Food Tags: brown rice, coconut milk, comfort food, curry, fall, ginger, healthy, lentil, soup, sweet potato

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tori@Gringalicious.com says

    June 2, 2015 at 7:08 am

    Congrats on the house and this soup looks amazingly delish!

    Reply
  2. val says

    June 2, 2015 at 8:44 am

    Thanks for the wonderful-looking recipe. Best wishes on your new home. An adventure in the making.

    Reply
  3. Millie | Add A Little says

    June 2, 2015 at 10:29 am

    Oh my! This absolutely sounds so delicious and right up my street! Congratulations on the house and hope it’s all good!

    Reply
  4. Baking With Gab says

    June 2, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    This looks absolutely divine, I would love to be eating this right now!

    Reply
  5. Eileen says

    June 3, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    I love hearty, comforting soups like this! Such a beautiful color, too. :)

    Reply
  6. Kankana says

    June 8, 2015 at 4:17 am

    Congrats on the house! Even though it’s peak of summer out here, that bowl is tempting me to give a try. Love the color.

    Reply
  7. Kate says

    June 12, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    I am so looking forward to making this soon. Congratulations on your house! :)

    Reply
  8. Bernard says

    June 13, 2015 at 10:57 am

    Just made this…absolutely delicious. You need three large sweet potatoes if you like a thicker soup or perhaps a little less stock if using just two.

    Reply
  9. Gina Siciliano says

    June 17, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    I love sweet potatoes,lentils, rice and all the spices. If it was not 113F right now i would cook it today.

    Reply
  10. Irina says

    June 25, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    Delicious! I made the soup thicker, more like a pure, and it tasted fantastic!

    Reply
  11. Whispersinthegallery says

    July 21, 2015 at 9:10 pm

    I just tried the recipe and I liked it. I made a change with using quinoa but very filling. The next time i make this, I won’t roast the sweet potatoes because it too long to make the dish.

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      July 28, 2015 at 8:36 am

      Glad you liked it! If you make it without roasting the sweet potatoes first, let us know how it affects the flavor

      Reply
  12. Brigid says

    August 24, 2015 at 10:17 am

    I’ve made this dish so many times now. I loooove it! I use black beans instead of lentils, often frying them up with some chopped mushrooms, with salt and some chilli powder or cayenne pepper.
    It doesn’t take much time if you cut the sweet potato quite thin as instructed. Then while it’s roasting you can get on with the base of the soup and put the rice on. After adding the potato to the soup you can fry the lentils then blend the soup. It all takes between 30-45mins.

    Reply
  13. plasterer bristol says

    August 24, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    Great recipe. Top marks. Thanks for posting this.

    Simon

    Reply
  14. A says

    October 24, 2015 at 11:39 pm

    Delicious. I agree with the other commenters that it wasn’t thick enough. I will lessen stock next time.

    Reply
  15. Colette says

    November 13, 2015 at 8:01 am

    It’s rare for me to find a recipe that’s so close to perfect. This dish was delicious! Raves around my table last night. I’ve made lots of soups and I never would have thought to both roast then simmer the potatoes, but I think the roasted/carmelization definitely added to the yum factor and the time it spent simmering in all that fragrant broth was key for flavor infusion. I was concerned about it being too thin too so I left the top off the sauce pan while it all simmered which helped it evaporate some and intensify the flavors at the same time. Used French green lentils instead of brown, they have a sturdier bite and a mild spiciness that I love, added a clove of finely chopped garlic to the onion. Used my last shallot the other day so substituted scallions. Really, really great recipe! Will be making this again.

    Reply
  16. Tanita says

    November 17, 2015 at 7:49 am

    Very yummy, I made this soup twice now. The first time I forgot to add the coconut milk and orange juice and only found out later that evening. Nevertheless it tasted very nice and it was quite thick. The flavour reminded me a bit of pumpkin and my boyfriend even said that it was nice, the pumpkin soup! I thought I’d mention it here as I’ve read comments about the soup being very thin, so this might be an idea if you want a more thicker soup, but the flavour will be slightly different as well. Last night I made it with the coconut and orange juice and I still love it, not sure which version I prefer to be honest. Also I think it tastes even better the day after!

    Reply
  17. MP says

    November 17, 2015 at 9:44 am

    I made this for for dinner last night and my husband and I LOVED it! It’s so filling and delicious – definitely adding it to the rotation. Seriously delish!

    Reply
  18. deana says

    January 3, 2016 at 2:12 am

    Do you use coconut milk from the carton, or do you use the canned?

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      January 3, 2016 at 12:04 pm

      I use canned coconut milk – that’s the only kind available in my local stores!

      Reply
  19. Cait says

    January 4, 2016 at 7:02 pm

    Leave out the orange juice! Soup was thick and delicious before, now it just tastes like OJ. Waste of delicious ingredients, disappointed in this recipe.

    Reply
  20. Jody says

    January 26, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    Just finished making this… It is DELICOUS! Presentation is gorgeous…. And I love all the wonderful ingredients in it. Thank you for the inspiration :)

    Reply
  21. iris Gonzalez says

    February 18, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    I just made this soup and it was amazing I did not have fresh ginger but used ground ginger instead. I thought all the flavors blended beautifully together, love it.Thank you for the awesome recipe, will definitely be making this again!

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      February 19, 2016 at 7:23 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for sharing your thoughts!

      Reply
  22. Emely says

    February 21, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    I made this today and WOW!!! What an amazing, nourishing, cozy meal! I strayed from the recipe slightly — I only used 2-3 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice and added garlic to the lentils and shallots. It’s just the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and spicy. Thank you for sharing this, I can imagine this being on frequent rotation in our home. ☺️

    Reply
  23. Jen says

    February 25, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    This was such a hit with my family! Even my four year old ate it up, which is not an easy thing to accomplish! I left out the lentils and orange juice and increased the coconut milk to a whole can. I also saute the shallots with the onions so we didn’t miss out on their wonderful flavor!

    I’m excited to try more of your recipes!

    I shared your recipe (with variations above) on my blog. I did not use any of your photos and credited your recipe (with link).
    http://therareknife.blogspot.com/2016/02/sweet-potato-curry-soup.html

    Reply
  24. Ephy Wheeler (@ephywheeler) says

    May 25, 2016 at 1:17 am

    This was delicious! I love healthy veg options that taste good. I followed the recommendation in one of the comments and only used ~2 Tbs orange juice. I also didn’t have shallots so I used about 2 large cloves of garlic instead. I had a microwavable brown/red rice pack with kale and chia that I used for the rice, and for the lentils I used a pouch of lentil soup and black beans. This will definitely go in my recipe box.

    Reply
  25. Jenna says

    July 4, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    I made this delicious recipe tonight with a few variations! It was amazing So full and satisfied. I added in 3 small cloves of garlic, a touch of cumin and a few cauliflower florets to thicken the soup!

    Reply
  26. mania says

    October 9, 2016 at 8:14 am

    I made this soup yesterday and it was amazing. A friend who ate with us said that has been addicted to its flavour and taste . thank you!

    Reply
  27. Mallory Reveneau says

    October 23, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    This is the BEST SOUP. My coworkers even tried it and had to get the recipe. Thank you!! Can’t wait to try so many more recipes

    Reply
  28. Lily Egan says

    November 15, 2016 at 12:21 am

    I don’t usually leave comments but this is by far one of the best soups I’ve ever had and one of the best dishes I’ve ever made. I am so full of deliciousness right now. Thank you.

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      November 18, 2016 at 12:49 pm

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lily! Reminds me that I need to make another batch of this soon.

      Reply
  29. Kira says

    December 8, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    What variety of sweet potatoes do you use? I tried this recipe with Japanese sweet potatoes when I first made it and I’m thinking of making it again with regular sweet potatoes (the very orange ones).

    Reply
  30. kcurnes says

    March 18, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    This looks super delicious and nourishing. I think I need to add it to next week’s menu! :)

    Reply
  31. Cami says

    April 21, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    Hi there!
    Would you be able to sub green lentils for the black? Currently have a bag of green in my cupboard that I’d like to use. Thank you!! :)

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      April 22, 2017 at 6:09 am

      Hi Cami – Yes, definitely. I like black lentils because they have a nice texture/bite to them, but any kind of lentils will be fine. Just note that the cooking time varies depending on the type, so keep an eye on them and test them frequently or they’ll be mushy!

      Reply
  32. bristolbuildersnet says

    November 29, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Hope your new house is coming along 2 years later; let me know if you need any work doing. We do love to travel ;)

    Reply
  33. Lisa says

    December 18, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    I made this today because I was craving something comforting, healthy, and meatless. I used three large sweet potatoes and I added the orange juice to taste. Maybe about 1/2 cup. I also blended it with a immersion blender. I used about 3/4 tbsp of curry powder and 3/4 tbsp of garam masala. I also used the already cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s. This was exactly what I needed. It was absolutely amazing! I loved the cilantro and Greek yogurt dollup on top. Even my three year old is eating some for lunch. Thank you for such a great recipe!

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      December 27, 2017 at 7:51 am

      Hi Lisa – Yay! So happy you enjoyed this! Always a win when something healthy is also delicious, right?

      Reply
  34. Heather says

    November 2, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    Soooooooo good! I used 3 sweet potatoes and the thickness was perfect.. yum! My friend ate it up and I loved it as well.. thank u fir a great recipe.. it’s got a few steps to it, but worth it!

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      December 8, 2018 at 7:44 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, Heather!

      Reply
  35. Joi says

    January 20, 2020 at 11:08 am

    can you freeze the leftovers of this soup?

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      February 9, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      Hi Joi – You can freeze the sweet potato base but I don’t think I would freeze the rice or lentils (I suspect their texture will change).

      Reply

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