Is it possible to fall in love with a soup recipe? I love this soup. In fact, I am eating a large bowl as I type this post! This soup is amazing in every way. It has great texture, great flavor, great fragrance, and great presentation! On top of all that it’s healthy, hearty, low calorie, gluten free and vegan for those with food allergies or special diets. I really enjoy the different flavors of this tasty soup. I could sit down to a meal of this delicious soup and a couple of my homemade rolls or Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits and be a really happy camper!

Why do I like this soup? Well I love sweet potatoes. I can eat baked sweet potatoes (with no other accompaniment except cinnamon) any day of the week and never get tired of them. In addition to that, this recipe has apples three ways! Granny Smith apples, apple cider, and applesauce. So this soup just explodes with apple flavor. Along with the different flavorings from the herbs: cinnamon, allspice, cumin and thyme, it is just A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!

Sweet potatoes are so beneficial for your body’s nutrition, too. The high levels of vitamin A provide great benefits for your skin. The beta carotene attacks free radicals that attack the skin. Sweet potatoes also have a high potassium content like bananas which help relieve muscle cramps. Another benefit of sweet potatoes  is their low glycemic index which help with diabetic patients so blood sugar levels don’t spike.

Apples also have many health benefits. The fiber in apples is extremely helpful for American diets. According to Nutrition and You, “the fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which helps prevent absorption of dietary-LDL or bad cholesterol in the gut. The fiber also saves the colon mucous membrane from exposure to toxic substances by binding to cancer-causing chemicals inside the colon.” So, if you have a history of colon cancer or disease in your family, eat your apples! Because of the apple’s high vitamin C content, it helps your body be resistant to infections and has anti-inflammatory properties.

This delicious soup is healthy, healthy, healthy! The inspiration for this recipe is from Sunny Anderson, at Food Network. I took her basic recipe and made several changes as well as adding ingredients. First, I removed all dairy to make this a vegan recipe. Then, I increased some of her spices, and added applesauce to the recipe because I was trying to use up a half empty container in the refrigerator. The results amazed even me! I figured the soup would be good. I didn’t realize it would be fantastic!

Here’s a peek at this delicious soup. My favorite way to garnish and eat it was heavily sprinkled with cinnamon and with fresh thyme. 

Here’s a close up view so you can see the texture of this fabulous soup.

In this view I’ve removed a little of the thyme from the stems. I really liked about 10 times more than this amount. If you don’t have fresh thyme, sprinkle heavily with dried thyme leaves (rather than ground thyme).

Here’s what I did.

Bake sweet potatoes. This picture  shows only3.

Melt coconut oil in large sauteusse or Dutch oven.

Add diced celery.

Add green onions.

Add garlic. I used about 1 tablespoon minced garlic from a jar.

Saute all the vegetables. Add cumin, allspice, and cinnamon and stir together. Cook about 5 minutes until fragrant.

Here’s a look at the veggies with the spices.

Add diced apples. I did NOT peel the apples. I wanted to leave as much nutrition in the soup as possible. You can’t tell once the mixture has been pureed.

Bake sweet potatoes at 400 for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until softened. Peel skin off and chunk the sweet potatoes. Add to pan. (If you don’t have time to pre-bake the sweet potatoes, peel, and chunk and add here raw.

Add apple cider.

Add unsweetened applesauce.

Stir everything together.

Add vegetable broth.

Stir together and add fresh thyme.

I added a lot of thyme. Probably 15-16 sprigs.

Add about 3/4 to 1 tsp. kosher salt.

Add about 1/2 tsp. pepper.

Here’s what the mixture looks like.

Stir everything together. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until potatoes and apples are cooked and soft. This is what the soup mixture looked like after simmering.

Place mixture in batches in blender and process on puree mode about 7 to 10 seconds for each batch.

Here’s what the mixture looks like after being pureed.

This picture shows a spoonful of this thick and hearty soup. It has been garnished with cinnamon and fresh thyme leaves.

Here’s a picture of the soup with thyme springs on top. I ended up using more than this amount of thyme on mine because I enjoy the taste of thyme and like a lot.

Here’s a close up view of the soup so you can see the texture.

Here’s the recipe.

VEGAN APPLE AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

(Recipe inspired by Sunny Anderson, Food Network)

2 tbsp. coconut oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 bunch sliced green onions

15 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish

¾ – 1 tsp. Kosher salt

½ – ¾ tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. minced garlic from a jar

1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for garnish

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground cumin

5 extra-large sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and cut into chunks

4 Granny Smith apples, cored, unpeeled, diced

4 cups vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups apple cider

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

In a large pot over medium heat add the coconut oil. Add the celery and onion, and stir while cooking until the onions and celery are tender. Add the garlic, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and apples stirring to coat them with the contents of the pot. Add the vegetable stock, applesauce and apple cider, fresh thyme removed from stems, about ¾ tsp. kosher salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Cover sauce pot. Simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. In batches, carefully puree the contents of the pot in a blender or use an immersion blender. Check seasoning. Add more seasonings and more salt and pepper as desired. Heat through. To serve: ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with cinnamon and fresh thyme. Serves 12-15.

NOTE:  If you don’t have time to pre-bake the sweet potatoes, peel, chunk, and place in sauce pot at same time with the apples. Cook until thoroughly done.

Here’s another look at this spectacular soup.

This close up view helps you see the texture and the little bitty thyme leaves dispersed throughout the soup.

Here’s another close up.

This picture shows the texture without a lot of garnish. I’ve saved a bowl for you!

You may also like these recipes:

Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Vegan Pumpkin Soup with Leeks, Pears, and Apples

Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger, Leek, and Apple

Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup

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