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.
I have made this soup twice now and it is absolutely incredible! We had a soup cook-off at work last week, and this recipe was a huge hit. I couldn’t find farro, so I did use rice, but I cooked it separately and would add it to the soup in the morning before work and had no problem with consistency. At the cook off, I left rice on the side for people to add in as they please.
All in all – my favourite homemade soup to date. Definitely a keeper!!
Woohoo! Thanks, Lindsay! I’m glad my soup went over well at your cook-off. :)
Currently enjoying a big bowl of this, so good! I was low on vegetable broth so I added a can of coconut milk, super creamy and delicious. I love all your recipes, keep em’ coming!
Thank you for commenting, Marissa! Really glad that you enjoy my recipes. :)
I have been making this soup on a regular basis now for 2 years because it makes such a healthy and satisfying lunch! I often cook a big batch on Sundays and store in single serving dishes so i can easily grab and take to the office throughout the week. It also freezes well if you want to save for later. The last time I made it, I sauteed the onions by themselves first and then pureed them in a food processor. Then I sauteed the onions and sweet potato together as in your recipe. I found the pureed onions added a lot of depth to the broth.
Thanks again for all your wonderful recipes!
Julie, I’m delighted to hear that you enjoy this soup so much. I certainly got my fill of it during the recipe testing process, but I think it’s about time I made another batch! Thank you for commenting. I’ve never tried puréeing onions, I’m intrigued!
Just made this soup for my husband, baby nurse (we just had twins!) and my in-laws: it was a HUGE hit!! thank you! loved it!
That’s great, Sara! Thank you for commenting, and congratulations on the arrival of your twins!
Just made this last night for my husband after a weekend full of brownie sundaes :) (literally ate brownie sundaes for dinner two nights in a row)…you only live once right?!? The soup was delicious!! I used quinoa instead of farro as that’s what I had on hand. I just recently happened upon your blog and I absolutely love it. Your recipes, photos and stories are fantastic. I can’t wait to continue trying other recipes! Keep up the great work!
Honestly, I ate pretzels and ice cream for lunch yesterday. No regrets. :) Glad you’re enjoying this redeeming soup! Thanks for saying hello!
I just made this for dinner and it is DELICIOUS! I do believe I have a new favorite go-to soup. Thank for sharing!
*thanks*
Awesome! Glad to hear it. Thank you, Heather!
YES! I’ve been in such a soup making mood with the cooler weather so this is definitely happening! Thank you! :)
This looks amazing and I’m hoping to make it tonight, maybe with the kidney beans and red quinoa we have on hand instead of chickpeas and farro. Think this’ll work with a bag of frozen kale, though? Maybe just add it a bit earlier?
Thanks! And PS– my husband and I LOVE your maple PB choc chip oatmeal cookies!
Hey Meg! I’ve never worked with frozen kale, but I bet it’ll work just fine as long as it has enough time to warm up. The quinoa won’t retain its texture like farro, though, but if you like quinoa in soups, then I bet you’ll like this soup with quinoa. So glad you both enjoy those cookies!
Made this tonight with coconut oil instead of olive….AMAZING!!! Highly recommend the coconut to complement the curry!!
I just made a big pot of your scrumptious (spicy) Vegan Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup. The recipe yields 6 servings… Oops! I just ate half the pot…it’s THAT good! I added 4 medium sized portabella mushrooms (because I had to use today), cut into cubes. Definitely adds texture, but I’m sure your soup is equally yummy, without! This will become a family favorite :) Thank you.
This was awesome foundation / inspiration for making a delicioius satisfying crock of soup, but without adjustments totally lacking in flavor.
To make this recipe work, I had to add 2T of marmite to give the broth richness / depth. Even with 2 T of red chili paste I needed to add 1 T of hot sauce (i added Frank’s because that’s what I had in the fridge) and the real highlight was adding 2 teaspoons of cumin. With those additions this is quite possibly one of my favorite soups I’ve ever made. Without, not even close.
Thanks for the inspiration though!
Sorry you didn’t love the recipe as written, Aileen. Perhaps we used different brands of curry paste and broth?
Kate, I love you, but I have to agree with Aileen on this one. BUT, I strongIy suspect that you’re right about different stocks. I just finished making the soup using a brand of stock I’ve never used before (from Costco) and found it was sorely lacking oompf. I had to add an extra veggie cube, then an extra mushroom stock cube, a bit of curry powder and a smidge of thyme, as well as some fresh coriander at the end and some parsley. It’s a bit on the sweet side for me, but still quite yummy for a fall day. Thank you so much!
I tried this soup today and it was EXCELLENT! No adjustments needed in my book. I am actually a leukemia survivor, about 1 yr. post transplant, and I have to adjust my diet to include more super foods and more whole grains. This is perfect for my diet, and quite tasty too! Thank you for sharing!
This was super delicious! I had a bunch of kale and and a giant sweet potato kicking around and was looking for a quick soup recipe… I tweaked it a bit and added a splash of tamari, some alphabet pasta (I have a 7 & 10 yr old), and the real prizewinner: a couple dollops of date & red chili chutney (from Blake Hill Preserves). SO GOOD! Thanks!
Thanks, Elisabeth! Glad you enjoyed the soup!
The soup wouldn’t be vegan if you used bouillon.
I used vegetable bouillon, which is vegetarian.
Kate – I made this today since it is cold and rainy and snowy here in NH and I didn’t not alter it other than to add additional roasted pepper and kale – and I say we have a winner. I love spicy so i added the suggested cayenne – so good with Naan bread. Thank you!
Insanely delicious and so easy to prepare! I used kamut (cooked separately and added towards the end per the instructions). I also used 2 cans of chickpeas instead of 1 so it had more chunky stuff. Definitely needed to add more hot sauce tableside (even after adding the cayenne) to counter the natural sweetness of the sweet potato. This recipe is a keeper.
What is the calorie count?
Absolutely delicious! I don’t measure anything (including counting sweet potatoes) and I found it surprisingly sweet over spicy. Next time I’ll add approximately 8 cups of vegetable broth (I think the top I use lets off too much steam). I love the farro!
Love your website! I tend to prepare my unused CSA veggies in a soup, then freeze for winter. Do you think this soup could be frozen? Maybe add the chickpeas and farro when thawed and prepped for serving?
What is CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture, where you pay one price, and pick up a share of veggies and fruits each week during the program.
This soup is delicious! I found your recipe on Friday, made it on Sunday, and am eating it right now and for lunch allll week long. It is sweet, spicy, and hearty. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
Awesome!! Thank you, Christy! I think you’d like my other soups, too. :)
This sounds really good.
I’m way behind on trying this recipe and found it a bit lacking in balance at first. I added a tiny pat of coconut oil to my second bowl and suddenly everything started singing! Perfect with just a touch of good healthy fat at the end and exactly what I wanted. I’ll be making this again for sure.
I made this last week and it was super yummy. To add some protein since I am vegan I took part of the soup before adding the kale and blended it with a handful of raw organic sunflower seeds then poured it back into the soup. It made it creamy and thicker and my three teenagers all loved it! It was already delicious before I added the seeds though. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks, Tori! I wouldn’t have thought of that. Sounds great.
Thanks for the recipe.
It was truly delicious!
Cooked the onions with water, skipping the olive oil.
I added carrots and potatoes to the other ingredients, as well. Love the farro. My wife enjoyed this great soup too!
This soup is outstanding! Thank you so much!! I made is exactly as directed – so delicious!
I made this last night and it was so tasty! It was my first time trying farro and I will definitely make it again. I didn’t realize you used sodium-free broth/bullion so I found it a tad salty, but still delicious. Next time I might use half the bullion and more water along with some curry powder, garlic powder, and sriracha. This is one of my favorite cooking blogs and I look forward to all your new recipes, thank you so much for another good one!
You’re welcome, Lara! I’m glad it worked out, and I hope next time it’s even better.
Made this soup tonight! Delicious! Love your recipes!!
:)
Just made this soup for the second time, I love it! My boyfriend who is wary of vegan dishes also loves it.
Sorry!
What is ” farro” – I think my English is quite o.k. but I haven´t come across this term before!!?? Thanx for the explanation!
Hi, Stefan. No problem! Farro is a type of grain, and is not a very common ingredient. Here’s a great story on farro from NPR if you’d like to read up a bit!
Made this tonight because I had some sweet potatoes if wanted to use up. I used chard instead of kale because I had it in the house and skipped the red pepper because I didn’t have any. It was great and not too much of a faff to make.thanks for the recipe.
Hi! I was wondering what I could substitute for the curry paste?
Oops, sorry, I was looking at a comment below yours when I first answered. The curry paste adds a ton of flavor to the soup and isn’t easily substituted. You could try adding some curry powder or other spices; it just won’t be the same.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this soup! It’s one of the few recipes now in my regular repertoire that I make with no changes. (Though sometimes I do sub spinach for kale if that’s what I have on hand.) Either way, absolutely delicious, and the recipe that made your website a regular on my recipes hunts when I am looking for new dishes to try. Thanks for all the great food ideas!
You are very welcome, Jennifer! I am happy you like it so much. Thank you for your review!
Adapted the recipe to make in an instant pot, and it was delicious! I had most of the ingredients on hand from this week’s csa share. Delicious!!
Thanks, Danette for your review!
Hi, I’m late to this party, but made this soup for lunch today…great flavors! Just curious as to what kind of farro you use? I know there are different kinds, and wasn’t sure if you used pearled, semi-pearled… Perhaps my farro choice is why my soup didn’t look as brothy as yours.
Thank you, Cat! Happy you enjoyed it. Great question! I used semi-pearled and that is what you should be able to find most common in the store. Otherwise, you would likely need to soak overnight. I hope this helped!
Hi Kate! This recipe sounds delicious and I’m excited to make it! I can’t eat any gluten though, do you have any suggestions for a gluten-free alternative to the farro that might be good here? Thank you!
Great question, Shannon! You can substitute with brown rice to make it gluten free. Let me know what you think once you try it!
Kate, I loved it! Delicious, filling, and made plenty of leftovers! It came out thicker than your photo (due to the brown rice I guess?), but I liked it that way! I probably wouldn’t add more broth when I make it again, but if anyone else reading this substitutes with brown rice – I’d add extra broth or water if you’re shooting for a soupier consistency.
Looks delicious. On my food planning for next week. Thanks
This is probably silly but I’ve never thought to put chickpeas in my soup. I love the texture they add, I gotta give this a try!
Let me know what you think when you try it, Charlotte!
This kind of vegetable stews and soups are so conforting with this cold weather! I usually make them with all sorts of vegetables, grains, lentils or chickpeas… and the best part is that you can change the flavours all the time. I came up with the idea of cooking them with natural vegetable and broth flavor (meaning that I add no particular spice when cooking the big batch) and then add the extra add-ons and spices when reheating the stew. This way you can have different flavours throughout the week. Dinner one night can be with curry and cumming paired, the next one with lots of fresh ginger (which happens to be a favourite of mine!)… you can pick any spice you are in the mood for each day and I just find it so conforting to find a huge pot of this in the fridge after a long day :-)
Thank you, Susanna for your comment and review! What an idea to add your spices as you reheat. :)
This looks so yummy! Do you have any ideas how to modify to make it grainless?
Hi Stephanie! Are you looking for something different than farro? If so, you can try brown rice or quinoa. Or, if you are wanting to make it completely free of grains, you can increase the amount of chickpeas other veggies. Hope this helps!
Hmm – this one not so much.
I followed the recipe to the letter, and it was filling but not particularly tasty. Perhaps it was the broth – Pacific Brand Low Salt (but I did add salt, and cayenne pepper too) – that was past its expiration date. I do find taste differences in the veggie broths I use, and sometimes will go with just water so as not to muddy the taste of the other ingredients.
I will try the recipe again, maybe switching over to the Rapunzel brand bouillon mentioned in the comments, and update the review at that time.
And in the meantime, it’s soup saver time: vegenaise or shredded cheddar cheese or hot sauce.
I am sorry to hear that, Anthony. I would recommend using a vegetable broth that is not past its expiration date. That can have a big impact on the overall flavor. Possibly add more curry paste next time! Maybe you have a high heat tolerance :) Or even use curry powder for a different flavor next time.
Ya, I’m a regular Evel Knievel of expiration dates lol. But the good news is that a little Vegenaise and habanero sauce worked wonders.
Wow, this soup looks so hearty and vibrant! The sweet potatoes and chickpeas are such an awesome combination! I too have been eating just like it’s always been fall. Sweet potatoes and pumpkin ANY day, ALL day, EVERY day!
Let me know what you think when you try it, Cassie!
I’ll 100 percent be going back for seconds of this veggie soup!!
It is a good one! Thank you, Gaby.
This looks absolutely delicious! I love green healthy and delicious soups, I usually tend to the 80-20 (80% healthy 20% eat what i want) rule and well your blog is a great inspiration for the 80%!! thank you for sharing Kate
You are welcome, Charlie! Thank you for the review. I appreciate it.
Hey Kate…! i love soup & your sweet potato kale and chickpea soup looks soo yummy and many colorful. Thanks for sharing….!
You are welcome! Let me know what you think once you try it :)
Hi,
Do you make your own vegetable broth, or if not, what brand do you find best? Also, do you think it’s a big deal if i use only water instead of broth?
Thanks!
Hi Madalina, I use store-bought and my brands tend to vary. I always buy organic, though. Whole Foods 365 is a good one!
My wife asked I make this for her. Working from home certainly has it’s drawbacks. I apparently have LOTS of time on my hands….but I digress.
I followed the recipe.
I waited.
My wife came home and asked what’s for dinner.
Soup.
She asked for seconds!
The soup was delicious, and it’s a ‘keeper’…..and so am I :)
Love it! Thank you, Spud. I am happy you and your wife enjoyed it.
Another great recipe, Kate! I’ve made a slightly similar soup with chickpeas and kale, but this is better with the farro, sweet potato, and curry paste. I’m going back for seconds right now…
Seconds and then leftovers right?! :) Thank you, Emilie for your review.
Yes! Been eating it for lunch; I think tomorrow it will be gone. :( By the way, I ordered your cookbook yesterday as an early Christmas present for myself! Can’t wait for it to arrive.
Beautiful article Kate. I love sweet potato soup, I already have mouth water
Thank you!
Kate–this soup is really delicious. Our whole family liked it. I’m trying to cook more vegetarian dishes and this was a good one! Oh–first time using farro and I really liked it. Thanks!
You are welcome! Happy to hear it was a family pleaser. :) I appreciate your review.
Kate, this soup is just lovely. Kale, sweet potato and farro–3 of my favorite things in a delicious, healthy and beautiful soup. So very good. And your book, Love Real Food is frequently used in my kitchen–as a matter of fact I just bought two more copies for Xmas gifts for loved ones. Thanks for your great work. Have a beautiful day!
I am happy to hear you have the cookbook as well. It makes a great gift, so I like where your head is at. :)