Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
This hearty and delicious soup is perfect for warming up. It's an easy, nutritious, one-pot meal that makes great leftovers, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 17, 2024
The holidays are almost here, but I’ve been eating like it’s Thanksgiving for the past few weeks. Food blogger problems! I’m seeking balance in the meals in between recipe testing by filling my belly with my favorite veggie-packed meals.
Case in point: This sweet potato, kale, chickpea and farro soup, which is both impossible to describe using fewer words. I shared this recipe five years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites.
I’m counting down the minutes until I can heat up a big bowlful of this soup for lunch. It’s spicy, filling, satisfying, and overflowing with so-called power foods and whole grain goodness. The Thai red curry paste might seem like an unlikely pairing for sweet potatoes, kale and farro, but somehow it just works.
I love this soup because each main ingredient contributes flavor while retaining its texture. The farro stays nice and chewy, the chickpeas don’t turn to mush like lentils might, the sweet potatoes retain their delicate bite, and the kale never wilts into nothingness like spinach tends to do.
While remaking the soup so I could take photos of it, I adjusted the ingredients and cooking method a bit. I used a fresh red bell pepper instead of chopping up roasted bell pepper, and found that the soup didn’t need nearly as long on the stove as the recipe originally suggested.
If you’re craving more hearty soups to get you through the holidays, check out my soup archives. Don’t miss the eight soup recipes in my cookbook, Love Real Food. Those soups are downright magical, if I can say so myself.
Vegan Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
This hearty and delicious soup is perfect for warming up. It’s an easy, nutritious, one-pot meal that makes great leftovers, too! Recipe yields 6 bowls of soup.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 pound sweet potatoes (2 small to medium or 1 large), peeled and diced (about 3 cups)
- ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste*
- 1 cup uncooked farro, rinsed** (or 3 cups cooked whole grains, like wheat berries, spelt berries or kamut)
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- ½ bunch of kale (4 ounces), chopped (about 3 cups)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste (optional, if you like it extra spicy like me)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, sweet potato and salt. Sauté for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften.
- Add the curry paste and stir until the vegetables are coated and the curry is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the farro, if that’s your grain of choice. Add the vegetable broth and water, and stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes.
- Test the farro for doneness—if it’s tender and cooked through, add the chickpeas and kale. Stir to combine, and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the kale is cooked to your liking. If you chose to use pre-cooked whole grains, add them now. (If the farro is not done cooking yet, continue simmering until it’s tender, then proceed with the kale. This could take another 20 minutes, depending on the farro.)
- Taste, and season with more salt as needed. I usually add about ½ teaspoon—if the soup tastes flat, add more salt. To kick up the flavor a notch and balance the sweetness of the sweet potatoes, stir in the optional cayenne pepper.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. I like this soup even more the next day. Leftovers keep well, covered and refrigerated, for about 4 days. The soup freezes well, too.
Notes
Recipe based on Heidi Swanson’s farro soup in Super Natural Every Day.
Serving suggestions: This soup is vegan, but mighty tasty with a side of whole wheat toast slathered with goat cheese.
*Thai red curry paste: Look for it in the Asian/international section of the grocery store. I like Thai Kitchen brand, which is vegan (some brands contain shrimp). You can substitute 1 tablespoon curry powder for the curry paste, for a totally different flavor.
**Whole grain notes: I prefer using farro as the whole grain because it requires less cooking time than wheat berries, spelt berries or kamut, so it can be cooked along with the soup. The soup is great with those other whole grains, but you’ll want to start cooking those in a separate pot well before the farro; just add the whole grains along with the chickpeas so no ingredients are overcooked or lose their texture.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Here’s the original photo from 2012.
Absolutely delicious. I made it with freekeh and a few carrots along with the sweet potato, to make a slightly bigger yield. I DID need a bit of salt in the end but instead of adding some, I squeeze some lemon juice into every portion after reheating and it tasted excellent with this small addition. It’s the first time I’ve used the curry paste, which was a bit hard so some portions are spicier than others, I suppose I’ll need to stir everything better next time. Thanks for this recipe, Kate.
Thank you for sharing! I appreciate the review, Keren.
Dear Cookie and Kate,
Last night I made this dish before I headed out to the gym.
Not only was this dish delicious, it was quick and easy.
My family enjoyed the dish with Chicken, while I enjoyed 2 serving as is #Vegan. Bravo to you. This dish allows me to have dinner on the table after work, feed myself and family Vegan and Not.
This dish is fabulous for us busy Ladies. I’m training for 2 marathons a week apart. Your recipe fits into my lifestyle perfectly.
Your Newest Fan.
Kim from NYC
Go you, Kim! Good luck. I’m happy the recipes are helpful in your training process.
Hi Kate,
Thank You so much.
I want to thank you for this recipe. My husband & daughter are not Vegetarians, I served their dish with Chicken, Mine was vegetarian.
On day two, both my hubby and daughter enjoyed Your dish Vegetarian and said they enjoyed it even more. Yayyy!!!
As for my Training, this is the perfect recovery dish, warm and gentle on my stomach.
Thank You! Thank You!
I look forward to making your recipes for myself and my family.
Happy eating.
Your Newest Fan
Kim
Another big Cookie & Kate soup hit! I minced a clove of garlic and added it with the onion, and subbed barley instead of farro. The flavor and texture of barley really compliments the sweet potato and kale, and the thai red curry paste puts the flavor over the moon! I found I did not have to add any extra seasonings or salt at the end. If you don’t like chickpeas, white beans like navy or great northern would be a good replacement. Thank you, Kate, for such fabulous recipes!
Thanks for sharing! It sounds delicious, Pat!
This is my 4th different soup recipe of yours that I’ve made and they are all 5 stars. They are all so easy to just throw in a random extra vegetable that might be lying around in my fridge and just don’t want to go to waste. With this one I added some shredded carrots and a zucchini just because they were there. The spiced Lentil, butternut squash chili, Quinoa vegetable, Vegetarian tortilla soups are all equally delicious. I am going to make all 17 of your soups they’re so good! Black bean next.
I’m so happy you are loving my soups, Mandy! Thanks for sharing.
Made this yesterday, and enjoyed today for lunch – it’s so simple, hearty and delicious! The red curry paste makes this amazing. I used barley instead of farro (I’m currently breastfeeding and subbing in lactogenic foods), added 2 cups extra broth, and added a good bit of red pepper flakes and finishing salt at the end. When I make again, I’ll probably add another can of chickpeas for extra protein. Bonus that I was able to put this together, from pulling ingredients out of the fridge to simmering on the stove, in 45 min while baby was sleeping :)
Thank you for your feedback, Alicia!
I would love to make this, but we cannot get kale where we live. Do you have any idea of a good replacement for the kale? In some of the recipes that call for kale I have used broccoli, but I am not sure that would go with this recipe. TIA!
Hi Jennifer, spinach would work well here too.
Delicious! A very unique soup. I used quinoa, regular potatoes, and a different kind of green and it came out great!
I accidentally made this tonight with orzo instead of farro! So now I have a very mushy soup since the orzo cooked about four times too long :( Is there anything I can add now for more texture? It won’t go to waste either way but I’m hoping to make it more palatable.
Oh no! You can maybe add more vegetables.
I made this soup and instead of farro (because I follow a gluten free diet) I added quinoa….big mistake. I am not accustomed to cooking with quinoa and added 1 cup dry and rinsed. It took over the soup so I had to add more broth and more seasonings. Next time and yes there will be a next time I will not add anything. The soup has turned out okay and I look forward to the next time.
I would suggest brown rice next time! Or like you said, skip it. :)
The thai curry in the soup is brilliant! Replaced the farro with red lentils (more vegan protein and gives the broth a creamy texture) and added some carrots as well. Delicious! Perfect way to start the soup season.
Made this last night. We liked it, though we added a LOT more water and a LOT more spices. For our tastes, we literally doubled the amount of red curry paste, added lots of salt, garlic, pepper, chili powder, chili flakes, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and we still enjoyed it as a relatively basic tasting (but delicious!) soup. Would recommend those additions :) No matter what your tastes are, I would recommend to at least double the water, like many commenters have also mentioned
Kate can the chicpea sweet potato, kale soup be made in a slowcooker?, Kathy
Hi! I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. You would still want to saute the vegetables for maximum flavor.
My slow cooker has a stove top setting, so I can saute right in the pot then either stay there or turn it to slow cook. Thank you so much for your quick response. I am making it in the morning ❤️. Love your recipes, started eating vegetarian and feeling much better and stronger with a lot less joint pain.God bless you❤️
Kate my slow cooker accually had a stove top setting. It came out great ,I did use frozen steam in the bag brown rice as well as steam in bag chopped kale. Added them both in near the end and also cut back on the cooking times by half suggested on the bags.A little short
cut ,but worked so well. Absolutely delicious.Thanks so much
Great to hear!
Just made this in my instant pot and it is so yummy and easy! Perfect for a fall weekend lunch. And it only required 8 min cook time. Prep time took about 15 min with all the chopping. I added 2 cups cooked quinoa at the end with the kale. I also added a little cayenne pepper to my bowl and kept the batch non spicy for the rest of the family. Will be making this again!
Another amazing recipe by Kate. Every recipe I’ve tried has been a huge hit, and this one was no different. After reading comments about the soup getting thick, I opted to use 6 cups of stock and I made a GF grain medley separate and spooned it into the bowls. The soup turned out perfect!
My grocery delivery came with a Japanese sweet potato instead of a traditional sweet potato and that actually Was really yummy and had a nice firm texture.
This one will go into the rotation this fall and winter!
Love your idea of how to serve it, Robyn! Thanks for sharing.
Love this recipe! I used wheat berries instead of farro because I couldn’t find it in the store. The wheat berries were a great alternative!
Thanks for sharing Whitnie!
this was absolutely delicious! we loved it!
Great to hear, Tanner!
This was SO good. A great reset between holiday indulgence! I followed the recipe almost exactly, but ran out of vegetable Better than Boullion so used the vegan chicken flavoured one. Also had to add about a cup of water at the end to thin it it.
This was absolutely delicious and very easy to make! It is a perfect winter soup that fills you up and keeps you satisfied. Love it!
Made this soup last night and it did not disappoint! Felt hearty and healthy and the flavoring was perfect! I will definitely be adding this to my go-to recipe pile! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe:)
You are welcome, Desiree!
So delicious and healthy! This was my first time cooking with chili paste, so will need to look up some more recipes to use the rest of it. Very flavorful. I used barley instead of faro. It could definitely have used more broth/water as it got soaked up very quickly by the other ingredients (especially by the next day). Will add more next time.
Thank you for sharing, Julia!
If omitting the grains/cooking separate should I decrease the liquid amount in the soup?
Yes, you would want to omit it.
Do yourself a huge favor and make this soup immediately! I was searching for a new vegan soup to make this weekend after winter finally decided to show up again in western New York and this soup delivered. The farro is so, so delightfully chewy and a perfect foil to the chickpeas, kale and sweet potato. I always throw some freshly pressed garlic in my soups after my onion cooks, and then added the pepper and sweet potato. The chili paste adds sweetness, spice and a little heat, as well as a lovely color. I just cannot get enough of the flavors of this soup, and my family loved it, too! Double win! So happy to have found another winter soup staple to throw in my rotation that is nourishing, delicious, filling and healthy. Serve with your favorite sprouted or whole grain bread warmed in the oven for a few minutes. Yum!
Thank you for the excitement of this soup, Denise! I appreciate your review.
I read in a few reviews that this comes out like a stew, so I put 1/2 the farro. I’m cooking on our sailboat lately, and didn’t have a big soup pot, so used two smaller pots. One pot’s heat was a bit higher, and that pot’s sweet potatoes turned a bit mushy – almost like a potato puree. Still tastes amazing but I will definitely cook potatoes less next time. Also used green curry paste bc that’s what I had…and this soup is WONDERFUL. Thanks Kate!
I was also wondering if you could recommend a few recipes that I could make when we’re about 2 weeks out at sea. There’s not much room for bulky veggies in the boat fridge, so recipes with ingredients like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and cabbage that Can be left in a basket (or anything else you could think of) would really brighten up our voyage.
Hi Lindsey! Thank you for your review. Try searching by ingredient in the search bar, that should help. Here are some with sweet potatoes: https://sooka.info/tag/sweet-potatoes/%3C/a%3E. I hope this helps!
Yes, I have made this soup many times. It’s easy to make, tastes delicious and wholesome. Very healthy with no worries about any unhealthy ingredients. Perfect for diabetics too.
Thank you for sharing, Elizabeth!
Once again your recipes made me look like a chef! I can barely cook but made this and have people raving over it. Even my picky 11 year old scarfed this down. A TOTAL WINNER here. If you like cilantro, putting it on the top is heavenly.
My husband and I love this soup and keep it in our winter rotation. Can you imagine my consternation when I opened the jar of curry paste and found it almost empty and couldn’t find the new one in the pantry? My husband suggested I try substituting harissa. I found I needed to add an extra half tablespoon, but it was delicious! So if you are ever looking for a way to change this soup up…
Made soup without farrow, did not have chile paste so chili & curry powder to a splash of tomato ketsup worked as a good substitute. Added extra water & splash of orange juice. Sprinkled quinoa and crumbled feta on top. So pleased with your recipe and my twisted additions.
This was delicious :) I used barley in stead of farro. A lot of the liquid disappeared so I had to add some more (broth with a little more thai red curry).
This soup has become a fall and winter favorite at our house. We refer to it as “wellness soup”. Thank you so much for introducing us to this recipe.
So delicious and hearty! Even my husband, who insists on having meat be the primary thing at each meal, ate it up. Thank you for sharing!
I love all of your recipes, but this one is out of this world delicious! So flavorful and hearty!
With the current lockdown situations all over the country, I was looking for some tasty, healthy recipes to liven up our likely eating habits over the next long while – preferably ones using up some pantry staples. Every recipe I’ve tried here has turned out beautifully, so when I came across this one, I knew I had to make it. It did not disappoint! I made it as written, using the curry powder instead of paste because it was on hand. The only change I made was adding more cayenne at the end. The soup turned out beautifully – the balance of textures and flavors was great, and it tasted even better today as leftovers. As an added bonus, it used up a bag of farro that we’ve had sitting around for six months because we didn’t know what to do with it! Thanks for another great recipe.
This recipe was super bland unfortunately. I ended up adding quite a few extra spices and it still wasn’t great. Really disappointed :(
hi
i didnt put cayenne but should have I guess. It tastes ok but not really that flavorful and i ate it day after. Wonder why?
Hi Barbara, I’m sorry to hear this one wasn’t a big hit. Sometimes another pinch of salt makes all the difference. It’s not too late to add a bit of cayenne!
This soup is amazing! I love that it is super easy and very flavorful. Make it!
I made this soup yesterday as we starting to feel Autumn creep in. I added various colored carrots from our garden along with garden fresh tomatoes and some turmeric. I had to substitute buckwheat for the farro as I was out of farro. It turned out fabulous and I am so happy to have lots of leftovers! Thanks for the fresh and healthy recipe.
Oh my goodness this recipe is soooo good! I made it without onion (personal preference) and with Swiss chard instead of kale and it was delicious! I was pleasantly surprised because I had never tried Farro before and was excited to find another fantastic vegan meal to include into my regular dinner rotation.
FABULOUS!
I was wondering what to do with my hull-less barley, so I precooked some and then followed the recipe. Since I cook for two, we’ve eaten some and I froze some. Thank You!
I’m happy you loved it, Charmine!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was scrumptious. The biggest change I made was using soaked black rice instead of the farro, but it still had that lovely nutty texture so I feel it was a good substitution. I did add about 2 extra cups of water towards the end of cooking (and it still came out more like a stew) as well as a touch more red curry paste and salt. I used chili flakes instead of the cayenne because, tragically, I had run out! And I also squeezed over some lemon once it was off the stove.
Sweet potato and kale are two of my favourite vegetables and I enjoy spice so I knew this was going to be a winner for me. Thank you! Not sure if my mashed-potato-and-vegan-sausages-with-gravy loving boyfriend will be into this, but one can hope. I’m looking forward to leftovers! I wonder how well it will pair with my leftover celeriac, parsnip and butter bean mash?
Thank you for your detailed comment! Wild rice would be a great alternative. I think they may pair well, it all depends on the seasonings. I appreciate your review, Misha.
Made it exactly as listed, but finished it off with a squeeze of lime. Looked beautiful and tasted wonderful! Thanks for such a lovely, autumn soup.
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed it, Terezann.
I have tried so many recipes on your site. I have loved 99% of them and your my go to for my cravings.
I tried this recipe and it was 100% amazing!!! It was sooo good
I plan on making it again this weekend.
I made this with Tuscan Kale and quite liked it.
This should be called Warm Hug Soup ☺️. Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes!
Tasty! Used Buckwheat groats to make it gluten free. The groats took around 18 min. to get done.
Hello! I love your site and recipes, but had a question. Wondering what I’m missing here, I made the soup last night but had to leave it on the stove for an additional hour, at least, to fully cook the sweet potatoes. What did I do wrong, LOL? :)
Hi Hilary! Did you cut your sweet potatoes small? Was it at a boil, then reduced to a simmer?
I did cut them small, however, I might have messed up the boil to simmer step. Thank you for the response! It was delicious the next day in any case and will be making again. Thank you!
Omg I love this soup! I come back to it time and time again. I start the wheat berries when I start the onions and the timing is perfect. Plus, I actually like that it gets a bit stewy! I love how simple it is to make and such an easy cleanup. Now I even add red thai curry paste to canned soup to give it an extra umph. Goat cheese on toast is a great option and sometimes I just add goat cheese right on top when serving. 10/10 highly recommend A+
Thank you for the A+! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Kyndra.
This soup is DELICIOUS!
I’m glad you loved it, Juliann! Thank you for your review.
yum, bookmarking for the rainy week ahead. your soup recipes are the best, Kathryne!
can the thai curry past be left out? Is there another substitution besides the curry?
Thanks
Hi, The curry paste really makes this soup come together.