Appetizer

Sweet Potato Soup with Seafood and Pancetta

A creamy sweet potato soup with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. Perfect dinner for chilly fall nights!

To recipe
Sweet Potato Soup with Seafood and Pancetta
Recipe insights & TIPS

A creamy sweet potato soup with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. This easy to make soup is topped with giant chunks of Pancetta ham and fresh oregano.

A creamy sweet potato chowder with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. This easy to make soup is topped with giant chunks of Pancetta ham and fresh oregano.

Guys, I have so many sweet potato recipes lined up but don't want to dump them all out on you at once. So let me know if things get out of hand or you just can't face the weird shaped orange spud anymore. And I'll stop. Well maybe I'll just slow down because man, I love me some sweet potatoes!

I love them baked with huge amounts of cheese like these Dauphinoise Style. I love them with slow cooked short ribs and I love them just mashed with buckets of butter. But this time I made soup.

I thought about calling it a Sweet Potato Chowder because it does have seafood and cream in it, and it's thick and delicious just like a good clam chowder. But this soup is much more, I was completely blown away by the flavor and I'm not a huge soup guy to begin with. This is your Thanksgiving soup right here.

A creamy sweet potato chowder with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. This easy to make soup is topped with giant chunks of Pancetta ham and fresh oregano.

Preparing to make sweet potato soup

I started the recipe the same way I make any soup and that's by roasting the veggies. Soup is so easy to make if you have a decent blender or food processor. Roast the veggies in the oven and blend with stock until you reach a consistency that you like. The flavor will depend on what you roast, and how long you roast them for. Add some cream and seasoning and that's it. You could make this sweet potato soup up until that point and walk away with a super-amazing soup. You can skip the seafood all together, but I recommend you keep it.

Should the sweet potatoes be peeled?

For soup they should be peeled as the final consistency needs to be silky smooth. Usually I'd just scrub the sweet potatoes and leave the peel as it's loaded with nutrients. For example, mashed sweet potatoes, baked or sweet potato fries are all great with peel still attached.

Are sweet potatoes also called yams?

Yams are a type of sweet potato and can be recognized by their lighter, more white color. Sweet potatoes are more red skinned with an orange interior. If you're looking for the healthiest, choose sweet potatoes over yams!

Can you freeze this sweet potato soup?

Yes you can freeze it but it would be better frozen without the seafood. Once reheated you can add the seafood and enjoy it at its freshest.

A creamy sweet potato chowder with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. This easy to make soup is topped with giant chunks of Pancetta ham and fresh oregano.
A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Recipe

A creamy sweet potato soup with jumbo shrimp, pan seared scallops and fresh crab meat. This easy to make soup is topped with big chunks of Pancetta ham and fresh oregano.

Course:
Appetizer
COOKing TIME:
80 minutes
Total TIME:
125 minutes
CUISINE:
American
PREP TIME:
45 minutes
SERVINGS:
4

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into cubes
  • 1 large shallot peeled and sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 ½ tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 slices of Pancetta about 1 inch thick each slice
  • 6-7 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 8 large shrimp peeled
  • 8-10 scallops
  • 2 cups fresh crab meat
  • 1 tomato seeded and diced
  • 1 cup corn

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Place the chopped sweet potatoes on the pan along with the shallot and garlic.
  3. Sprinkle the oregano and tarragon over the potatoes and drizzle evenly with the olive oil.
  4. Season with salt and black pepper.
  5. Roast in the oven for about 50 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and caramelized.
  6. While the veggies are roasting chop the Pancetta into good sized chunks and add to a small pan with a drop of olive oil.
  7. Cook the Pancetta until crispy and transfer to a pepper towel to drain.
  8. Set the pan aside because you’ll use it again to cook the seafood.
  9. Once the sweet potatoes are ready, transfer everything from the baking sheet to a Vitamix or heavy duty blender.
  10. Add about 2 cups of chicken stock and blend until it starts to get smooth.
  11. Keep adding the stock and blending. This soup is quite thick but with 7 cups of stock, I liked the consistency.
  12. Pour the soup into a large pot and bring to a slow simmer.
  13. Add the cream and whisk through, followed by the paprika and cinnamon.
  14. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if desired.
  15. Place the Pancetta pan back on the stove over a med-high heat.
  16. Season the shrimp and scallops with any of your favorite seasonings.
  17. Place the shrimp in the pan and cook for about two minutes on each side until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the scallops.
  18. To serve, place some corn and tomato in each bowl along with a small scoop of the crab meat
  19. Using a a ladle, scoop the warm soup into the bowls.
  20. Top with a few shrimp and scallops.
  21. Garnish with some Pancetta chunks and fresh herbs.
A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @foodnessgracious on Instagram and hashtag it #foodnessgracious so we can see all the deliciousness!