Name: Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup | Instant Pot
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp Olive OIl; 4 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced; 1 onion, small and roughly chopped; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1/2 tsp sea salt; 4 cups vegetable broth (I love Better than Bouillon); 1.5 cups cubed sweet potato (1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes); 1 cup dried green or brown lentils; 2 tsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch); 1/2 cup coconut milk (canned); 2 Tbsp tahini; 2 cups kale, sliced (can use spinach instead); Juice of half to full lemon (start with half then taste); Cayenne pepper (dash); Salt and pepper to taste

Jump to Recipe

I love a good winter soup. It’s even better when prep is minimal and I can walk away and return to a delicious healthy dinner. This Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup is dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, loaded with good protein and nutrients, and delicious!

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup in white bowl on wood table with silver spoon on brown napkin

What makes this soup Moroccan?

The spices first and foremost. Garlic, cumin, coriander, and lemon. Mm…mmm…mmm. Lentils and potatoes are fairly common as well.

Ingredients for Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

Olive OIl
fresh garlic
onion
cumin, ground
coriander, ground
sea salt
vegetable broth
sweet potato, cut into cubes
green or brown lentils, dried
Arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
coconut milk, canned
Tahini
kale, sliced (can use spinach instead)
lemon
Cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

creamy mixture in glass measuring cop on grey cutting board with chopped kale and lemon

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How to make Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

This is so easy.

I don’t always do this, but it can be helpful to get all the ingredients out on the counter ahead of time.

Prepping and Cooking

Cut the onion and mince the garlic then turn the Instant Pot on to ‘saute’ and drizzle in the olive oil. (If you want to be exact, go ahead and measure, you could also just aim to cover the bottom of the pot. I’ve figured out that a tablespoon of olive oil is 8 seconds of drizzle from my Italian oil bottle.) Dump in the onion and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes.

While that is cooking chop the sweet potato and start to measure out the broth.

Add cumin, coriander, salt, stir and let cook 30 seconds longer.

Pour in the broth, lentils, and sweet potatoes. For the broth, I use water and a concentrated vegetable broth. One of my go-to brands is Better than Bouillon – I like the vegetable and the garlic varieties. This way I’m not paying for water and not making as much waste with disposable cartons.

Stir it all together and cancel the ‘saute’. Put the lid on the pot. Set the valve to the ‘sealing’ position and hit manual setting the time for 15 minutes. It will likely take about 20 minutes to pressurize.

After it’s done cooking let it do a natural release for 10 minutes and then flip/push the valve to ‘venting’. Steam will likely take a couple of minutes to fully release so get your computer and important stuff out of the way!

mixing creamy mixture with immersion blender

When it’s Finished Cooking

During that 10 minute window (or while it’s cooking), chop your kale, and get your creamy mixture together. This is the coconut milk, tahini, cayenne pepper (if using), and arrowroot powder. I mix it in a glass measuring jar with an immersion blender to make it super easy.

When the Instant Pot is done venting mix in the creamy mixture, lemon juice, and kale. Let the kale cook for a couple of minutes to soften up and then give the Sweet Potato Lentil Moroccan Soup a taste. Add salt and pepper, more lemon juice or spices as needed.

Serve and enjoy!

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup in Instant Pot - cooked

Helpful tips and ideas

Double the Recipe

This speaks for itself, but if you have a 6 quart or larger Instant Pot, then double the recipe and get more food for a large group or for more leftovers!

Cooking Tips

You could speed up the pressurizing time by using just-boiled water for the broth or warming bottled broth on the stove or microwave.

If you are leaving home and want dinner ready when you return but not overcooked, you can set the timer function after you hit ‘manual’ and enter the cooking time. If you set the time for an hour, it will delay the start of the cooking time by one hour.

You could chop the onion, garlic, and potato way ahead of time and save time on prep when it comes to cooking the soup. In this case, if you’re really short on time as you start cooking, you can skip the saute and just add all the ingredients then pressurize and cook it. (Of course hold off on the creamy mixture, kale, and lemon juice until it’s done pressure cooking.)

Serving Tips for Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup in white bowl served with a dollop of greek yogurt and a glass of red wine sitting on wood table

Try serving it with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top (or sour cream but the yogurt is healthier and tastes basically the same.) This does remove the dairy-free aspect of the meal.

If you’re going with dairy, you could also add goat cheese on top!

Serve with gluten-free crackers like these, make a batch of my Homemade Gluten-free Cornbread, or serve with fresh bread.

For the Family

This is a soup that your whole family can enjoy. It has a good flavor but not too much spice (you can always cut back in cooking and add more as needed if you’re worried). The sweet potatoes add a little natural sweetness to the soup which helps.

Now, I can’t guarantee your whole family will like it, but I can tell you that my one-year-old loves this soup! I mash up some of the sweet potato chunks and mix in some greek yogurt for healthy fat and he devours it.

(In case you’re wondering this is his bowl and these are his spoons.)

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup in blue baby bowl on wood table with baby spoon

empty blue baby bowl on wood table with baby spoon, only little soup remains

Does the Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup freeze well?

Yes! I love making a large batch and freezing it to pull out later. When I made this recent batch I did a double recipe and we enjoyed two hardy adult bowls for dinner along with one small toddler bowl. Then it made two full containers. One I kept for leftovers in the fridge and the other went into our freezer.

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup in two glass storage containers with lids stacked on top of one another.

Ideally, when thawing it, you remember to pull it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. If you’re in a pinch, you can either defrost it in your microwave or soak it in warm water to loosen it from the container and then warm it on the stove.

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pinterest image for moroccan sweet potato lentil soup; includes image of kale and lemons with knife, then title bar, then image of bowl of soup on wood table with brown napkin and silver spoon

Moroccan Sweet Potato Lentil Soup | Instant Pot

Yield: 4 - 5 Servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

This delicious, thick, and creamy soup is richly flavored, full of good protein, and perfect for vegetarians. Made in the Instant Pot it is super easy and largely hands-off. You can easily double this recipe in a 6-quart Instant Pot for a larger group of more leftovers.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive OIl
4 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced
1 onion, small and roughly chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 cups vegetable broth (I love Better than Bouillon)
1.5 cups cubed sweet potato (1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes)
1 cup dried green or brown lentils
2 tsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
1/2 cup coconut milk (canned)
2 Tbsp tahini
2 cups kale, sliced (can use spinach instead)
Juice of half to full lemon (start with half then taste)
Cayenne pepper (dash)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep onion and garlic. The onion should be roughly chopped and the garlic should be smashed and then sliced into chunks
Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of the Instant Pot and turn the pot on to "Saute". Add the online and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes. Until slightly clear and aromatic.
While this is cooking, chop the sweet potatoes
Add in the cumin, coriander, and salt, and stir. Let cook another 30-45 seconds.
Pour in the broth and dry lentils, and stir to combine. Once sweet potatoes are cut, add them to the pot. (For the broth, I use water and a concentrated veggie broth of a powder or like "Better than Bouillon. In this case, add the water here and then add the concentrated broth)
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set it to "Manual" cook on high pressure for 15 minutes (it will likely take 20 minutes to reach full pressure and start the 15-minute cooking time). Make sure the valve is set to "sealing" Once it is finished cooking, allow it to do a natural release for 10 minutes, and then switch the valve to "venting".
While it is cooking prep the kale or spinach. Chop it into thin slices so it mixes nicely in the soup. You can use frozen but it may not be copped as finely.
While it is cooking prep the creamy addition. Mix together coconut milk, tahini, arrowroot powder, and cayenne. I use a glass measuring cup to measure the milk and then add the other ingredients. I then use my immersion blender to mix it really well. You can use a fork, it just won't get as blended together.
Once the soup is cooked and the pressure is released, turn off the Instant Pot. It will stay hot for a while. Add in the kale, the creamy mixture, and the lemon juice. Stir and let the kale cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Taste your soup and add salt and pepper, lemon juice, or more spices to taste. I use low-sodium broth and add more salt. I always start with less salt and add more as needed.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

You can top it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or goat cheese to add additional creaminess.
If you don't have or like lentils you can use chickpeas instead but you will need to increase the cooking time to 45 minutes for unsoaked dry chickpeas. If you use canned chickpeas, you can leave the time as is.

As with most soups in the instant pot, you can make this on the stove, it will just need to simmer longer and require more hands-on work. If I make it on the stovetop I will update this with timing, but right now your guess is as good as mine on timing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 341Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1120mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 9gSugar: 16gProtein: 11g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate. It is an estimation and not a guarantee. The info will change based on ingredients used and serving size.