Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup

Savor the cozy flavors of fall with this delectable Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup recipe. Packed with the rich and savory, paprika-spiced goodness of chorizo, hearty sweet potatoes, and a touch of creamy Boursin cheese, this sausage soup is hearty autumnal fare that will warm you on chilly evenings. Don’t forget the crispy fried sage leaves that add an aromatic garnish.

One of the great joys of being a home cook is that, in the privacy of your own kitchen, you can experiment with abandon because no one’s looking or judging. And you can tweak to your heart’s content until it’s no longer just a test and is actually a thing worth sharing with others.

That’s how this soup came about. Even though sweet potatoes and sausage are now easily recognized as companion flavors, that wasn’t so much the case 11 years ago when I first wrote this recipe. I think sweet potatoes in general were less loved than they are now, and I hope I’ve contributed in a tiny way to their revival, between sweet potato recipes here and growing guides on my home gardening site.

Anyway. When working on this recipe way back then, I knew I wanted the bold flavors of sausage … and I couldn’t get Mexican chorizo out of my head. I’m sure it was the paprika seasoning, which is such a favorite in my kitchen. So much so that I have not just one spice jar of paprika, but four: sweet paprika, hot paprika, smoked paprika, and bourbon-smoked paprika.

So, at the grocery store, I skipped over the lovely displays of sweet and hot Italian sausage and when straight for the paprika-spiced chorizo. And on impulse grabbed a box of Boursin, because a swirl of garlicky, creamy-cheesy smoothness sounded like the right thing to do (and it was!).

The result is a creamy, savory, scrumptiously seasoned soup that’s bright in the bowl and warm in the tummy.

Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes — The stars of this soup, sweet potatoes, are plentiful in the winter, as they’re a fall crop. Grocery stores are starting to carry a wider variety of sweet potatoes than ever before. Did you know that sweet potatoes come in a rainbow of colors, from beige to yellow to orange to pink to deep purple? They’re all quite tasty and worth exploring, but for this recipe, I recommend sticking to the common orange-fleshed variety, for no other reason than to retain the color of the soup.

Chorizo sausage — I hope this won’t be a tricky purchase because there are two basic types of chorizo: ground and hard-cured. Generally speaking, ground sausage, usually packed in one-pound, overwrapped packages like ground beef, is known as Mexican chorizo. Hard-cured chorizo, available in salami-like links, is usually referred to as Spanish chorizo.

Both are amazing, but you’ll want ground sausage here, as it will produce a better eating texture: tender morsels of meat rather than chewy chunks. For whatever reason, my area grocery stores rarely carry Spanish chorizo.

Boursin — Back when I wrote this recipe, the Boursin brand was pretty much the only garlic creamy cheese spread available, although that’s not the case now. Use whatever brand you prefer. I really love the subtle flavors that the spread adds to the soup, as opposed to plain cream cheese.

Aromatics — This sweet potato sausage soup features probably my favorite combo of soup aromatics: onions, leeks, celery, and garlic. Leeks are sweet and mild and are extra lovely in sausage-based soups.

Fried sage — Sage is a wonderfully complementary flavor to sweet potatoes, and I love the burst of autumn that it adds to the soup. Here, fresh sage is pan-fried until crispy and used as a topping.

How to Make Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup — A Quick Overview

Don’t forget to review the full recipe card below before starting, to ensure you have all of the ingredients prepared, along with details for each step.

Step 1: Fry the sage leaves for garnish

Pan-fry chopped sage leaves in a little bit of oil until they’re crispy. You can do this right in the soup pot. Remove and set aside.

Step 2: Brown the chorizo

Add the chorizo to the pot and cook until browned, stirring frequently and breaking up any clumps of meat. Remove to a plate.

Step 3: Build and simmer the soup

Saute the aromatics until soft, followed by the sweet potatoes until the edges are golden. Deglaze the pan and add the stock and water, bringing the soup to a boil and then reducing heat to maintain an active simmer. After 20 minutes, test the sweet potatoes to ensure they’re cooked through.

Using a hand-held immersion blender, smooth out the soup right in the pot. You can choose the consistency: perfectly smooth, or slightly chunky.

Step 4: Finish the soup

Stir in the dairy and the cheese spread and stir until the cheese has melted into the soup. Add the cooked sausage to the soup and stir well.

Ladle into bowls and top each with some of the fried sage.

Cook’s Notes

• Most Mexican chorizo is seasoned with paprika, which turns things red. It’s okay if there’s a reddish cast to the oil in the pot after cooking the sausage. It will only add to the beautiful color of the soup!
• Don’t forget that the dark green parts of leek leaves are basically inedible because they’re so tough. So, either discard them, or clean and add them to a heavy duty zipper bag — along with the onion scraps — and store in the freezer to make and flavor vegetable broth in the future (they’re awesome for that purpose!).
• I accidentally discovered an interesting technique during one preparation of this soup. I forgot to remove the browned sausage from the pot before adding all of the chopped aromatics. Which makes removing the sausage nearly impossible. The texture goal of the soup is a smooth, creamy base with chunks of sausage, so I had to make a choice: leave everything chunky or smooth everything out. I went for the smooth and just blended the sausage right in with the soup. The result was amazing, as the flavor of the sausage was dispersed throughout the creamy soup. Sometimes mistakes pay off!

The first spoonful of this Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup is like a warm hug on a chilly day. Loaded with the robust flavors of chorizo, creamy Boursin cheese, and the earthy sweetness of sweet potatoes, this soup will become your go-to for chilly evenings. Plus, those crispy fried sage leaves on top? Pure magic.

More Sweet Potato Recipes to Enjoy:

• Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro Sauce
• Sweet Potato Fried Rice Stir Fry
• How Long to Bake Sweet Potatoes