Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup
I was looking for some easy, tasty soups to meal prep that were also hearty enough for a breast feeding mom. This recipe stood out as I had just bought some sweet potatoes on my last visit to the grocery store and we still had two cups of lentils left over from the last soup we made. So that meant we already had everything we needed, which lets be honest even when there isn’t a pandemic going it’s nice to be able to use up what you already have at home.
This recipe we felt came out really tasty. It had a simple depth yet was comforting, pairing especially well with some warm bread to mop it up with. The sweet potato is the star flavor here and is very forward and up front, while the lentils giving a wonderful creamy texture that makes it feel like it a comforting soup.
Instant Pot Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 small onion
- 6 cups water or vegatable broth
- 2 cups red lentils
- 2 sweet potatoes, small cubed
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 hand full fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and cube the sweet potatoes.
- Peel onion, cut it in half and add a toothpick thru one half of it to keep it from falling apart in the soup. It will get removed later.
- Peel and crush garlic.
- In the Instant Pot add the lentils, sweet potatoes, water, the half onion, garlic, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Put the lid on and cook on high for 15 minutes. Do a quick release once it's finished.
- While it's cooking, prepare the cilantro oil by putting a big handful of cilantro leaves into the blender along with olive oil. Blend well until all coriander is very small. Scraping might be necessary mid-through.
- Once soup is cooked, remove the half onion. Blend the remaining ingredients with an immersion blender or food processor and season to taste with more salt and pepper.
- Serve in a bowl with a swirl of coriander oil and freshly ground pepper and fresh bread of your choice.
Notes
Nutrition
Because we were unsure if onions were effecting Mom’s milk for baby, we substituted the green tops from one leek for the onion. We washed them really well and only used the dark green ‘leaf’ bits in big pieces. After cooking, we pulled out about half the leek leaves and decided to to blend up the rest of the leeks that were still in the soup for added flavor. The soup came our delicious.