Pressure Cooker Sweet Potato-Coconut Curry Soup

Pressure Cooker Sweet Potato-Coconut Curry Soup
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
1¼ hours
Rating
4(1,461)
Notes
Read community notes

This creamy soup makes the most of a few supermarket staples: red curry paste, coconut milk and peanut butter. Since curry pastes vary in heat and salt, be sure to taste this soup at the end and adjust the flavor as you like. The rich soup is quite thick, so if you prefer a looser soup, stir in a little extra water until it reaches your ideal consistency. Chile-lime flavored peanuts, available at some grocery stores, are particularly good for topping, but roasted salted peanuts also work beautifully.

Find the slow-cooker version of this recipe here.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 2tablespoons coconut oil, preferably unrefined virgin
  • 1large yellow or red onion, chopped
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
  • 5large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1(4-ounce) jar red curry paste (½ cup), plus more to taste
  • 1tablespoon packed light brown sugar, plus more to taste
  • 1teaspoon ground turmeric
  • pounds sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1(13-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
  • ¾cup smooth natural peanut butter
  • 1medium bunch baby kale or spinach (6 to 8 ounces), stemmed (if needed) and chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime, plus more to taste
  • Pinch of ground cayenne (optional)
  • Chopped roasted, salted peanuts, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

618 calories; 39 grams fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams dietary fiber; 16 grams sugars; 16 grams protein; 428 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Using the sauté setting, heat the coconut oil in the pot of a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Add the onion, season with a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the curry paste and stir until combined, 1 minute. Stir in the brown sugar and turmeric, then add the sweet potatoes, 2½ cups water and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid. Stir thoroughly, allowing some of the sweet potatoes to fall apart and thicken the soup. Add the coconut milk and peanut butter.

  3. Step 3

    Using an immersion blender, purée the soup. Add the kale and lime juice and stir to combine. Cook until the greens are wilted and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste the soup and add cayenne, more salt, brown sugar, lime juice or curry paste as desired. Serve in bowls with peanuts on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,461 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Instead of using the pressure cooker I just made this on the stove top. I followed all the steps. When I added the water & potatoes I just let it simmer until they were tender then proceeded with the rest. Even if you don't own a pressure cooker this is a wonderful recipe. Enjoy.

I absolutely love this soup. I eliminated the brown sugar altogether and the soup still tasted sweet enough, and I added the juice of two limes, which makes it sing.

Great soup! Some minor omissions: it needs a 1t dried ginger for more brightness - or fresh grated if you have it. Also, the liquid if off- best rule of soup making is use enough liquid to cover contents; in this case, about 3.5 cups. It’s a travesty not to use your broth of choice if you have it - adding water to soup is so sad.

I wish all electric pressure cooker recipes included instructions to turn off the sauté function before starting the pressure cook function. Cooks who are new to these appliances sometimes leave it on, and wind up with a "BURN" notice. This recipe also does not mention turning on the sauté function to cook the greens.

This was good. Thick yes, but hearty. Changes I made were to add some fish sauce at the end along with reheating the soup (it really is a stew) with some shrimp to make it a full-on dinner. We think that searing some scallops and adding it to the soup would be a nice alternative.

To say this soup is thick is like saying sugar is sweet. No matter how much water you add or lime you squeeze, this combination of sweet potatoes/peanut butter/coconut milk makes for an unpleasant "richness" and consistency. If I were to cook this again, I'd halve the amount of sweet potato and peanut butter and step up the heat.

I see several people have asked about an alternative to using a pressure cooker. I do not have one, so I used my Dutch oven and it worked perfectly. I followed the directions and put the pot in the oven at 350 degrees for two hours. Then I added the coconut milk and peanut butter. I remove the pot from the oven and when I was ready to serve dinner I just heated it through and added the kale and lime juice. Everything worked out perfectly. I also substituted vegetable stock for water.

Great, hearty dish. Lime juice is crucial to develop the full flavour. Someone before me mentioned dry ginger, so I've put some in a half of soup – very good addition, thank you Sinjin. I didn't have dry roasted peanuts so I've topped with fresh spring onions before serving and it was perfect, gave some extra zing.

Chili lime peanuts are easy to make. Buy raw peanuts, Roast about two cups gently at 310 degrees for 20 minutes. When roasted, toss with about 1 tsp EVOO and salt using Trader Joe’s Chili Lime seasoning. I’ve wanted to make my own using lime powder and Guajillo chili, but that remains in the future!

This recipe includes all my favorite ingredients so plan to make it, though I will probably just cook it on the stove. Do not like pressure cookers. Too much pressure.

This is delicious! As per other people’s comments I used 2 cups of stock instead of water and added an extra limes’ worth of juice. Served over rice. Made 3 quarts and I froze one. Next time I might add some other vegetables with the kale to make it more like a curry and less like a soup. Cooked chicken or shrimp would make a fine addition!

When using blue elephant curry paste, reduce by half!

Used 3c chix broth Added about 1/2 tsp gochugong for spice/ balance Reduced brown sugar to 1/2 tbsp

Absolutely love this soup!!!! I didn't have access to a stick blender but it didn't seem to need it. I chopped the fresh ginger, garlic, and onions small. The bites of fresh ginger were great! I didn't add the brown sugar but used peanut butter with honey in it. It definitely did not need any extra sweetener. I immediately released the pressure valve instead of leaving it for 10 minutes and turned the instapot to sauté when I added the greens. I used a mix of baby greens. Will make again!!!!

I added a can of chickpeas and used Spinach instead of Kale. I also added some more spices (cumin, curry and paprika). Very yummy!

So good! Added fresh grated ginger with the garlic. Used chicken stock instead of water and increased it by one cup. Will definitely make again.

Followed recipe closely. I found it far too sweet. Needed to add the juice of 4 limes and lots of salt and cayenne to balance the flavor. Someone suggested ginger. Yes. Also maybe a jalapeño or some other chili.

So tasty & versatile. We added rice to ours. Next time we will probably add lentils too.

Really hit the spot for the two of us with upper respiratory colds. You really have to add and taste, add and taste, to meet your own needs. We didn't have limes (!!) nor fish sauce (on my list) but still loved this soup. Cut back to 1/2 cup the peanut butter, but again, taste and add. You cannot subtract! Everything else as written. No problem with consistency, but yet again, I eyeballed the amount of liquid needed to create what I wanted. Delicious.

I cooked this in a Dutch oven on the stove. Didn’t blend it into a soup, just left it chunky like a stew and served over basmati rice . It was delicious that way!

This was wonderful. Only deviation was to thin it with some vegetable stock as it was quite thick. Warm spicy comfort! Needs lots of lime juice to brighten it and definitely liked the Maestri red curry paste. A keeper of a recipe!

Really good recipe. As others have said, definitely use stock instead of water, and the amount of peanut butter can be changed to taste without significantly changing the texture or heartiness of the soup. Extra lime and fish sauce added brightness. I added a chopped serrano pepper for extra spice and loved the heat! Super hearty, warming, and filling.

I halved the amount of sweet potatoes and peanut butter, thanks to a comment/review I read, and I highly recommend doing that! It’s incredibly rich, I cannot imagine using the full amount of sweet potatoes and pb. Also used 1tbsp freshly grated ginger per another recommendation. Not sure I’d make it again but if you like very rich creamy soups, this might be for you.

This was so good, I made it for my brother after his wisdom tooth extraction and made some slight alterations: - Chicken stock instead of water - Crunchy peanut butter - ~3.5 cups instead of the 2.5 - serves with a tuna sandwich

Wow, this is a flavor explosion! The lime juice and curry provide the perfect counterpoint to the creamy sweet potato-coconut bisque. I did omit the brown sugar, and I stirred in about a half-teaspoon of ground ginger and a tablespoon of fish sauce. Verdict: Delectable! I could see adding shredded leftover cooked chicken or topping the soup with crisp cubes of fried tofu and some Thai basil. It's hearty enough that you could even serve it over steamed rice or quinoa. Peace!

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