Chorizo & Sweet Potato Soup

Happy New Year’s Eve! I’ve never been a huge fan of NYE (probably because I don’t really drink), but it feels refreshing to have a new beginning. 2016 hasn’t been particularly excruciating for me as it has to many around the world, but it wasn’t the most pleasant either. I’m definitely glad to see it go!

I’ve been busy this New Year’s Eve cooking for the week ahead. We’re going more healthy and heart healthy this year in our household, and that isn’t a New Year’s resolution—we’ve just ate terribly this holiday season. The plan was always to get back into shape after the holidays, in preparation for our big wedding day next October.

While roasting some cauliflower and chopping some cucumbers, I remembered I had prepared this recipe to blog about a few weeks ago. It’s been really mild here in Oklahoma, in the 50’s and 60’s during the day, so I haven’t been making very many soups and stews. I did whip this simple soup up, though, and it was a nice change of pace from our unhealthy holiday eating.

Chorizo isn’t necessarily the pillar of “healthy”, but when paired with sweet potato and spinach, it makes a nice paleo/low-carb meal. We aren’t targeting the paleo diet per se, but we’re just trying to make some healthier adjustments to our diet where we can. This soup offered that, and it was actually really good! I had one good avocado to top it with, and made my own tortilla strips out of corn tortillas so I could control the salt intake (bagged tortilla chips are soooo salty).

This soup would be a perfect meal to kick off your New Year, especially if your resolution is to eat healthier or lose some weight!

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Soup

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 40 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A spicy, low-carb Mexican soup made with chorizo, tomatoes, sweet potato and spinach.

Ingredients

• 6 corn tortillas, cut into strips
• 1 TBS. olive oil
• 1 lb. chorizo, casings removed
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups baby spinach (fresh)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the tortilla strips with olive oil. Spread out on a baking sheet in a singly layer and bake until crispy and golden, about 12-15 minutes. Season with salt immediately and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add chorizo (chorizo is extremely greasy, so you don’t need to cook it in any oil) and cumin and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until chorizo is browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sweet potato cubes, chicken broth, tomatoes, and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the spinach and lime juice and season with salt. Divide among bowls and top soup with tortilla strips and avocado.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss tortillas with olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until crispy and golden, about 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and set aside.

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and cumin and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned, about 4-5 mintues.

Add sweet potatoes, chicken broth, tomatoes and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until the sweet potato is tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the spinach and lime juice and stir to combine. Season soup with salt.

Divide soup among bowls and top with tortilla strips and avocado.