Spicy Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup with both Instant Pot and Stove-Top instructions. This hearty vegan sweet potato soup is loaded with tasty chickpeas and veggies in a flavorful harissa spiked broth!
I’ve had this soup recipe in my recipe scrapbook for 2 years and finally (FINALLY!) got around to trying it.
As you may have guessed, I’m currently kicking myself for waiting long. It’s positively delicious!
I tinkered around with the spice level a bit and used easy-access sweet potato in place of the pumpkin the original recipe called for… I even tested it for both the stove-top and Instant Pot, WOOT! Now this is the part where I beg you not to be like me, and save this bookmarked for 2 years without trying it. Y’all are smarter than that.
Let’s make some soup!
I always keep a few packages of garlic naan in my freezer to make flatbread pizzas and dunk into curry. These bad boys came in handy the following day, when the sweet potato fell apart during reheating and the soup turned into this lusciously thick soup + curry hybrid.
I warmed up a little naan, tore it into pieces, and dunked it into the soup as I ate. Holy cow it was good! I think I’ll be serving this soup with naan from here on out!
Spicy Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup – Instant Pot + Stove Top
You can make this sassy Moroccan sweet potato soup as spicy or as mild as you’d like. I’m partial to serving it spicy (SO GOOD) to warm up a cold day!
As written this one-pot soup recipe is vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, and gloriously plant-based. It checks a whoooole lot of boxes, lol!
Instant Pot Spicy Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potato
- 1 cup diced onion (white or yellow)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 15.5 oz canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 TBSP harissa paste
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- fresh cilantro leaves for topping
OPTIONAL EXRAS
- crushed red pepper flakes
- ground cinnamon
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Dice onion and mince garlic. Drain and rinse chickpeas and set all your veggies aside separately.
- Switch Instant Pot to SAUTE function and add a little cooking oil to the inner pot. Once hot, sauté onions until slightly tender, adding garlic at the very end and mixing well.
- Turn OFF Instant Pot and add vegetable broth. Mix well or scrape to deglaze the pot and make sure no browned bits of onion are left stuck to the bottom.
- Add sweet potato cubes, chickpeas, harissa paste, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Lock lid with valve in the sealing position. Set to 3 minutes HIGH pressure. Soup may take 15-18 minutes to come to pressure before starting 3 min cook time. When the IP beeps, allow to naturally depressurize for 5 minutes then quick release the remaining pressure by flipping valve to venting position.
- Allow a spoonful or so to cool and give it a taste! Adjust spice level to taste (I added extra harissa and red pepper flakes) and add any additional seasoning desired.
- Spoon into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges that can be squeezed into the soup for a burst of citrus flavor! A little cinnamon, greek yogurt, or coconut milk also make tasty additions to this soup. We love ours with a side of toasted naan for dunking. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Real Simple Magazine October 2016.
stove top instructions
This spicy moroccan sweet potato soup can also be made in a pot or dutch oven on the stove. For extra flavor let’s take things up a notch and roast our sweet potato first! If desired you can skip this step and simply let your soup simmer longer to cook the potatoes. Easy peasy!
Use the same ingredients in the recipe card above and follow these cooking instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss the sweet potato with 2 TBSP oil and season with *half* the salt and pepper. For extra flavor, you can also roast your chickpeas — we love the added texture and flavor!
- Roast until tender for 20-25 minutes until tender, flipping the sweet potato cubes halfway through with a spatula for even browning.
- While your sweet potato roasts, heat an additional tablespoon of oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté onion until tender with golden edges. Add garlic, cumin, and remaining salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add harissa, broth, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat and stir in your roasted sweet potato.
- Spoon into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges that can be squeezed into the soup for a burst of citrus flavor! Red pepper flakes, greek yogurt or coconut milk and/or a pinch of cinnamon also make tasty additions to this soup. Enjoy!
If you get a chance to try this Spicy Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
hungry for more?
- Smoky Chipotle Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili (Instant Pot + Stove Top)
- Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup with Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas
- Honey Harissa Vinaigrette <– one of my favorite salad dressing recipes EVAH!
Had to run to the store for Harissa paste after work. I’m glad I did! This is excellent. I think next time I’ll add the can of coconut milk as suggested. I think I might use my immersion blender too.
This is a great recipe! I bookmarked it quite a while back and am kicking myself for not trying it sooner. I made it on the stove and roasted the sweet potatoes and chickpeas as suggested. I did use an immersion blender after adding half of the potatoes and then added the rest. I also tossed in a handful of arugula that needed to be used up. I will definitely pass this along to my adult daughters.
I would like to add that I have never tried any recipe on your site that we didn’t really enjoy. Thank you.
I find myself making this soup about once every two weeks. What’s not to love? It’s easy to make, hearty, filling, flavorful, and the ingredients are inexpensive. Thanks!!
Thank you Liz! I’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying it!
I want to try this recipe! In by looking for Harissa Paste, the store for which I inquired about it has “red and green.” Which do I want for this recipe? What is the difference?
Ooh I haven’t seen green Harissa paste yet! For this one you’ll use red Harissa Paste. I’m so excited for you to try this soup! Love it so!
This was delicious! I switched it up a bit. When it was done I took out about half and blended it into a bisque then added it back to the chunky soup. I didnt have harissa paste so I used chili garlic sauce intead. (Beware, if you do this use less unless you want it super spicy). I also added some ginger powder and coriander.
I did this too, with the blending etc! Used 1 tbsp chili garlic paste but I also used 1 tbsp tomato paste and added coriander and ginger. Really delicious soup!
Made this in the instant pot after making my chickpeas in the pot. So easy, fabulous flavor.
Since seeing this recipe two weeks ago, I have made this soup 3 times!!!
It is such a healthy warming dinner that has so many good things in it.
I have even made it with canned Sweet Potato and it still turns out great, which is the only thing that I have changed.
Super easy and super delicious. I did not have the harissa so used tomato paste plus 1/2 tsp Chili flakes and used my emulsifier to blend a bit for a creamy texture. Will make again. Thanks for the great recipe.
Just tried this, love the warming flavour and the heat from the harissa. It’s nice to find something different to make with sweet potatoes.
I booked marked this recipe before, and it came in handy when I needed a soup quick, and just happen to have harissa and sweet potato on hand. I had to substitute chickpeas with Northern white beans, but it came out just as delicious and flavorful! Even husband loved it!
made the instant pot version yesterday, it’s delicious. Didn’t have harissa so substituted with 1 tbsp sriracha sauce .. it was just spicy enough.
Added chopped kale at the very end (after quick pressure release) the closed the pot for another 5 minutes.
Topped with cilantro and greek yogurt
It truly was delicious.I had not used my instapot before this recipe.The recipe made it easy to use.I did not have Harissa paste but did order it for next time .
I’m not a big fan of sweet potatoes. Has anyone tried this with russet potatoes ?
Hi Andi! I haven’t tried it with russets yet but it should work marvelously. Simply add any extra seasoning desired to amp up the white potato and have fun with it!
Made this today Followed the stove top instructions
Oh my goodness it is so delicious ? would recommend highly, it’s spicy and warming with the crunch of chickpeas
I used a stick blender to whiz it only slightly so it was thick and delicious
I’ll definitely make this again
Had some sweet potatoes I needed to use up so made this last night and it was easy, fast and tasty. My local store didn’t have Harissa paste, but did have the dry spice so I mixed a tablespoon with olive oil to make a paste and used that. Could probably have used the full two tablespoons, but I wasn’t sure how spicy it was going to be! I served it with a scoop of rice in each bowl, cilantro, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a squeeze of lime. Really good, and was able to make using (mostly) what I had on hand. Bonus-my two boys (11 and 9) liked it too!
This recipe fit just at the max fill line in my 3qt instapot. So good!
thank you for the sweet potato for pumpkin swap since I love sweet potato and as a Moroccan flavored new and very interesting flavors, at least to me!
It’s such a fun flavor profile – we’ve been all about the Moroccan recipes lately here!
I know you said you made this in a 6 qt, but I wonder if the volume of ingredients would allow it to also be made in the 3 qt (this looks like a great recipe to make during our travels in our small campervan).
Hey Barbara! You could always try it out and if it goes past the max fill line, remove half of it and do it in two batches? So this way you have a backup while you test it? I worry a lot with the IP’s capacity because sometimes if the pot is crazy full or very close to that fill line then it will take forever to come to pressure and overcook into mush. How has a semi-full pot been woking for ya so far with the 3 QT? Let me know if you get a chance to play around with the recipe! xoxo
Thanks! We are currently traveling (with just the 3 qt), and will wait til we get home (and access to the 6 qt) to try it. If it’s too much for the smaller IP, simple to then just switch to the larger one. Can’t wait to try it!
Perfect game plan – I’m so excited for you to try it Barbara! Thanks!
I love Moroccan flavors and this soup looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try it!
Hope you love it as much as we do! xoxo
What a beautiful recipe for the winter. I love the spicy heartiness of this soup and also love that it can be made on the stovetop as well as the instant pot.
It’s crazy versatile right?! Thanks Renee! xo