Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk, Bacon, and Sage

This creamy sweet potato soup with coconut milk is dairy free and gluten free. Bacon and sage give it that cozy fall flavor.

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I love sweet potatoes, but not when they're tooooo sweet. I'm not one for those sticky sweet casseroles. But balance their sweetness with savory flavors, and I'm in!

This sweet potato soup with coconut milk is smooth and creamy, hearty but not too heavy. The coconut milk complements the natural sweetness of the potatoes, but the bacon and sage balance it out toward the savory side so it suits my tastes perfectly.

We'll purée this soup to make it smooth and elegant. Frying the sage leaves to put on top is totally optional, but why not try it? It's really easy to do and adds a beautiful bit of aroma and texture. It's fancy!

And yes, there is a reason we are cooking two slices of bacon separately in the microwave. Read the tips section below.

Jump to:

• This creamy sweet potato soup with coconut milk is easy to make and dairy free!
• Ingredients you'll need
• Advantages of cooking with coconut milk
• How to make sweet potato soup with coconut milk
• Tips for the best sweet potato soup with coconut milk
• FAQ
• When to serve sweet potato soup with coconut milk
• Try these soup recipes with bacon
• Recipe

This creamy sweet potato soup with coconut milk is easy to make and dairy free!

• Coconut milk is a fun twist. It makes the sweet potato soup creamy, and complements all of the other flavors.
• It's gluten free and dairy free!
• It's got a hint of spicy kick!
• No pre-baking the sweet potatoes, we'll cook them in stock in the soup pot!
• Using an immersion blender saves time and energy, no transferring to and from the blender and less dishes.
• This soup is great as a starter for Thanksgiving or any nice dinner, and also works as a light lunch.

Ingredients you'll need

• Sweet Potatoes: Look for sweet potatoes that are heavy for their size, with smooth skin and no soft or wrinkly spots.
• Bacon: Use a thicker cut bacon, we're going to blend it all into the soup, but this allows you to cook it all in one batch instead of two if you use thin slices.
• Coconut milk: Full-fat coconut milk here, please. You need all the rich creaminess. It could get too watery if you choose low-fat.
• Chicken stock: I prefer chicken stock here, I find vegetable stock too sweet.
• Sage: What herb is more of a hallmark of fall flavor than sage? We're going to cook some into the soup, and then if you want to get fancy, fry some leaves to go on top!
• Cayenne pepper: Just a hint of cayenne gives a bit of spiciness on the finish to balance the sweetness of the other flavors.
• Onion: This will be our only aromatic to let the flavor of the sweet potato come through.

Advantages of cooking with coconut milk

We could easily make this sweet potato soup with heavy cream, so why are we using coconut milk?

First, the subtle sweetness of the coconut milk really complements the sweet potatoes. Second, coconut milk is a very forgiving ingredient. You don't have to worry about it scorching like heavy cream might, and it won't split when you're reheating the soup. And of course, it's dairy free, which means folks who are lactose-intolerant can enjoy it!

How to make sweet potato soup with coconut milk

Inspired by a recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli featured on The Kitchen.

Step 1: Cook the first batch of bacon

Heat a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot over medium high heat. Add four slices of the bacon and cook until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel to cool. Leave the bacon grease in the pan.

Step 2: Sweat the onions in the bacon fat

While the bacon cooks, use a good chef's knife to dice the onion. Once you've removed the bacon from the pot, add the onions to the bacon fat and sauté until they are fragrant, translucent and just beginning to turn brown on the edges.

Step 3: Chop the sweet potatoes and sage

While the onions cook, use a vegetable peeler to peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into large chunks.

Finely chop the sage.

Step 4: Add sage and cayenne to the onions

Add the sage and cayenne to the pan with the onions and stir for about one minute, until the sage is fragrant. Season with a pinch of salt.

Step 5: Add broth, sweet potatoes, and bacon to the pot and simmer the soup

Add the chicken stock, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and sweet potatoes to the pot, crumble in the bacon, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 25 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

Step 6: Fry the sage leaves (optional)

While the soup simmers, fry the sage leaves and cook the other two slices of bacon in the microwave.

Place a small skillet over medium high heat and cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the sage leaves and fry for about 20 seconds. (careful! they spit a bit!) Remove to a paper towel and hit them with a pinch of sea salt like Maldon right away.

Step 7: Cook the second batch of bacon (in the microwave!!)

Place a paper towel on a microwave safe plate, top with the remaining two slices of bacon. Cover with another paper towel and microwave for 2 - 4 minutes until bacon is crisp. Let cool, then crumble and set aside.

Step 8: Purée the soup, add coconut milk, and serve

Turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. You can also use a regular blender, just do this in batches and see tip below about blending hot liquids.

Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes until the soup reaches your desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Top with crumbled bacon and a few fried sage leaves and serve.

Tips for the best sweet potato soup with coconut milk

• Use caution when blending hot liquids! Hot liquids can expand in the blender and cause the top to come off, resulting in hot soup flying all over you and your kitchen. Ouch. If you are using a traditional blender to purée the soup, do this in small batches with the top vented to allow heat to escape. This is why I love an immersion blender for this task.
• I've written this recipe in a specific order so that you can be chopping and prepping one thing while another thing is cooking. So you shouldn't have a whole lot of prep time on the front end. If you don't feel confident about this, go ahead and chop the sweet potatoes and onions and sage ahead of time before you start cooking the bacon.
• We're cooking 2 slices of bacon for the garnish separately in the microwave because the bacon fat from 6 slices of bacon is just too much to leave in the soup. And no one wants to try to scoop hot bacon fat out of a pot.
• When frying the sage, it will bubble and pop a LOT for a very short amount of time due to the water content in the leaves. Don't do too many at a time.
• It really doesn't matter how you cut up the sweet potatoes. You don't have to cut them too small, just try to make them about the same size so they cook evenly.
• There's just enough cayenne in the soup to give it a bit of heat on the finish. If you like it spicy, feel free to add more.

FAQ

When to serve sweet potato soup with coconut milk

• Serve it for Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. It can be made ahead so this is a time-saver on the big day.
• It makes for a warming lunch on a cold day.
• Sweet potato soup with coconut milk is an excellent first course as part of a dairy-free meal. Follow up with Dijon Chicken Thighs with Apples and Kale for a main course, then try Almond Flour Carrot Cake for dessert!

Try these soup recipes with bacon

In my house, the smell of onions cooking in bacon fat can only mean one thing: Soup Season! Try these on for size.

• On that first rainy night of fall, I love to make Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon and Beer. It's ready quickly and so comforting!
• If you want to keep that sweet potato and coconut milk vibe going, try Corn Chowder with Bacon and Sweet Potatoes. It's chunky and hearty, but not heavy.
• And for good luck and prosperity in the New Year, we always have Black Eyed Pea Soup. (It'll cure your hangover, too!)

Recipe