Sweet Potato Chowder (Dairy Free)
Cozy up to a warm bowl of this creamy sweet potato chowder on a chilly evening. It’s loaded with crispy bacon, silky coconut milk and hearty kale, and you’ll never miss the dairy!
Sweet Potato Chowder
It’s soup season y’all! I’ve always loved soups but I’ve never made many myself (my mom is the soup queen in my family). However, with working from home this fall and winter, I am certain I will be making plenty of soups and stews, chowders and curries.
In fact, I’ve already made more during these COVID months than I did all of last year. Check out this Roasted Tomato Soup recipe made with homegrown tomatoes! I have a full list of ideas going in my iPhone Notes of all the soup recipes I’d like to try this season. So in summary, if you love a cozy bowl of homemade soup, make sure you come back to my site to check out more soup recipes in the future!
As for this sweet potato chowder, it is a delicious and hearty spin on traditional sweet potato soup. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet potato soup. But sometimes I want some texture, as it makes the soup more interesting and certainly more satisfying. And boy is this chowder satisfying and extra comforting!
This sweet potato chowder is loaded with crispy bacon, warming spices, and hearty kale for a pop of color and nutrients. Coconut milk makes this soup rich and creamy without the dairy. Half of the soup is blended with an immersion blender or regular blender to make it thick and luscious and half of the soup is left unblended so it is also chunky.
This sweet potato chowder can be served as an appetizer, with a side salad or sandwich or on its own as the main course. I ate this sweet potato chowder for dinner with a side of pumpkin bread and it was an idyllic fall meal. The leftovers were fantastic, too!
How to make sweet potato chowder
Start out by crisping up the bacon. Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook on both sides until crispy. If necessary, cook the bacon in batches. Remove the bacon from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Once cool, chop the bacon.
To the remaining bacon fat in the pot, add onion, garlic and shallots and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, cayenne, nutmeg, cinnamon and thyme. Stir spices into vegetables and allow the spices to toast for one minute. It should be very aromatic.
Next, deglaze the pot with white wine. The wine will help pick up the flavorful bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you do not want to use wine, you can use vegetable stock or water instead. Once you’ve scraped up the bits on the bottom of the pot, add the cubed sweet potato. Give everything a good toss so the sweet potatoes are coated and then add the vegetable stock and canned coconut milk.
Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover the pot and simmer another 7-10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes very tender and mash easily.
Transfer half of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Add the blended soup back to the pot with the unblended soup and stir. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender and blend the soup in the pot until half is blended but there are still some chunks of sweet potato remaining.
At this point, check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. Add salt and pepper, if needed, as well. I found that I did not need to adjust any of the spices but I did add a pinch of salt. However, you may like more of a kick than I do, and may want to add a bit more cayenne.
Lastly, add the chopped bacon back to the soup along with the chopped kale. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes to allow kale to wilt. Serve immediately. Top soup with crunchy roasted pepitas.
Substitutions
- Bacon: Regular bacon and turkey bacon both work well in this soup. I used turkey bacon and found that there was not as much rendered fat in the pot to cook with. Therefore, if you use turkey bacon, you may need to add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot before sautéing the onions, garlic and shallots.
- Shallot: Use an extra 1/4 onion or 1 extra garlic clove in place of the shallot.
- White Wine: If you do not want to use wine, you can use a 1/3 cup vegetable stock or water to deglaze the pot.
- Kale: Use 2 packed cups of spinach in place of kale. Remove soup from the heat before adding spinach. The residual heat will cook the spinach.
- Cayenne: The amount of cayenne in this recipe creates a mild heat. For no heat, omit cayenne. For more heat, add an additional 1/4 tsp at a time until desired heat is reached.
- Vegan Option: Omit bacon for a vegan sweet potato chowder.
- Dairy Option: Use 3/4 cup heavy cream, half and half or milk in place of the coconut milk.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Butternut Squash Lasagna
- Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Roasted Tomato Soup
- Ratatouille Gnocchi
- Chicken Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuits
As always, if you make this recipe please let me know by commenting/rating below. If you take a picture, tag me on Instagram @thechowdown. I love seeing your recreations!
Sweet Potato Chowder (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon or turkey bacon
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 6 cups sweet potato cubed
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 32 oz vegetable stock
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook on both sides until crispy. If necessary, cook the bacon in batches. Remove bacon from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Once cool, chop the bacon.
- To the remaining bacon fat in the pot, add the onion, garlic and shallots and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, cayenne, nutmeg, cinnamon and thyme. Stir spices into vegetables and allow to toast for 1 minute.
- Add white wine to deglaze the bottom of the pot and then add the cubed sweet potato. Give everything a good toss so the sweet potatoes are coated and then add the vegetable stock and canned coconut milk.
- Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover the pot and simmer another 7-10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are very tender.
- Transfer half of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Add back to the pot and stir with remaining soup. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender and blend the soup in the pot until half is blended but there are still some chunks of sweet potato remaining. Check for seasoning.
- Add the chopped bacon back to the soup along with the chopped kale. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes to allow kale to wilt. Serve immediately. Top soup with crunchy roasted pepitas.
