With a sweet and spicy flavor, this Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup is the perfect easy soup to brighten up a late winter's day.

Get a healthy and quick dinner on the table tonight with this Moroccan Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup. With lean protein, complex carbs, healthy fats, and veggies, this soup is a filling and nearly perfect post-workout recovery meal. Run, don't walk, to make this soup tonight!

Moroccan sweet potato and lentil soup with kale and carrots in a large white soup bowl.

Back during my single years, one of my favorite things to make was a big pot of soup. If I put it together on Sunday or Monday, I could eat it throughout the week for lunch and -- if I was feeling my standard disdain for doing dishes-- dinner too

Minestrone soup, pumpkin and sausage, beef & barley, butternut squash, red lentil… and the list of rotating soups goes on. And it’s a good thing it did because the man of my dreams didn’t end up feeling the same way about it. That is, unless if the soup was either creamy or super stewy.

That’s when this sweet potato and lentil soup was born. About a year into marriage and craving something warm, comforting and filling I was looking for something I could count on for lunch a few days in a row. Technically still a soup, but still not too much liquid to make it brothy.

And did I mention plenty of heft in each bite to make it filling? He still might only want to eat it with me for one or two meals but at least I now have someone to help me with those dishes.

This sweet potato soup with kale is one of my winter favorites. It's ...

Easy and quick to make
Fridge or freezer friendly
Perfect for leftovers
Gluten-free
Full of complex carbs and protein (i.e. an ideal workout recovery food)
Nutritious
Satisfying, but not food-coma inducing
Sweet & Spicy

A large pot of Moroccan Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup.

How to make this healthy sweet potato soup:

Whip this Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup together in a handful of easy-to-follow steps!

Saute onions and carrots in oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Then, add in turkey (if using) and saute for another 4-5 minutes, or until crumbled and no longer pink.
Add garlic to the pot and cook stirring constantly. We don't want any garlic sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add sweet potatoes, lentils, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil. Then lower to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.
While the soup is cooking: combine all drizzle ingredients (harissa through lemon juice) in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside.
At the end of 25 minutes of the soup cooking: add kale to the soup pot and stir in until incorporated. Cover pot and simmer for another 3-5 minutes, or until kale is bright green in color.
Remove bay leaves from the soup. Scoop stew into bowls and drizzle 1- 1.5 heaping tablespoons of the harissa drizzle over each bowl. Garnish with any extra black pepper. Serve hot!

Moroccan Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup With lemon Harissa Drizzle | Mae's Menu

Sweet Potato and Harissa Soup Cooking Notes:

I like to make this sweet potato soup with turkey in it, but it can easily be made vegetarian or vegan. Just omit the turkey and turkey cooking step, add about ¼ cup extra lentils and half a sweet potato more, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
If you and everyone else in your household like your soups more brothy, feel free to add an extra cup or so of broth (and an extra ⅛ teaspoon of salt at finishing) and let me know so I can live vicariously through you. 😉

Other Healthy Main Dish Meals You Might Like:

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Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup

Name: Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces; 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼ inch coins; 1 lb ground turkey (combo of breast & thigh meat, preferably); 1 tsp (or 2 garlic cloves) minced garlic; 1 extra-large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch chunks; 1 cup green lentils, rinsed; 1 quart low sodium chicken or vegetable broth; 1 1/4 tsp sea salt; 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper; 2 dried bay leaves; 3 cups roughly chopped kale-- curly or lacinato; 3 tsp harissa paste; 1/3 cup olive oil; zest of 1/2 lemon; juice of 1 lemon

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

A filling stew-like soup made with lentils, sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, and harissa. This recipe has instructions for both turkey and a vegetarian/vegan option.

Ingredients

Soup

1 ½ tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped into ½ inch pieces
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼ inch coins
1 lb ground turkey (combo of breast & thigh meat, preferably)
1 tsp (or 2 garlic cloves) minced garlic
1 extra-large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into ½ inch chunks
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
1 quart low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 ¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp freshly cracked pepper
2 dried bay leaves
3 cups roughly chopped kale-- curly or lacinato

Lemon Harissa Drizzle

3 tsp harissa paste
⅓ cup olive oil
zest of ½ lemon
juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute onions and carrots for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently. Add in turkey, and saute for another 4-5 minutes, or until crumbled & no longer pink.
Add garlic to the pot and cook for the next minute, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot (to make sure no garlic is sticking to it).
Add sweet potatoes, lentils, broth, salt, pepper & bay leaves to the pot and bring to a boil. Then lower to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.
While the soup is cooking: combine all drizzle ingredients (harissa through lemon juice) in a small bowl or covered jar and stir/shake until well combined. Set aside.
After the soup has cooked 25 minutes, stir in the kale until incorporated. Cover the pot and simmer for another 3-5 minutes, or until kale is a darker and more vivid green color.
Remove the bay leaves from the soup. Scoop stew into bowls and drizzle 1- 1.5 heaping tablespoons of the harissa drizzle over each bowl. Garnish with any extra black pepper. Serve hot.

Notes

If you don’t have low sodium chicken broth and need to use full sodium, you can omit the salt when simmering and just season to taste before serving.
This amount of harissa in the sauce is at about a low-medium spicy level. Feel free to add more if you like more heat.
A can of diced tomatoes could be nice in this too. Just add an unstrained 14 or 15 oz. can in with the broth, sweet potatoes, and lentils and simmer as directed.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 379Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 78mgSodium 861mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 5gSugar 5gProtein 27g

This nutrition breakdown is just an estimate of the nutritional value of this recipe and cannot be taken as facts. The owners of Mae's Menu are not nutritionists or dieticians and therefore cannot be held accountable for this nutrition estimate. Please contact your nutritionist or medical professional for a nutritional breakdown of this food. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.