With fall quickly approaching, you may be looking forward to seeing the leaves change color and fall off the trees or eating pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving dinner. This maple bacon sweet potato soup is a great recipe to turn your kitchen into a warm and homey atmosphere, complete with the fragrant scents of cinnamon, nutmeg and maple. While this recipe isn’t easy, neither is Berkeley — it’s definitely worth it!
Ingredients:
Serves: 6
- 4 strips of bacon
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, plus more for brushing onto the bacon
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- ½ of a yellow onion, diced
- 2 pounds of sweet potatoes
- ¼ tablespoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 3 cups of chicken broth
- Optional: heavy cream and/or cinnamon
Directions:
Lay the slices of bacon on a greased pan and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 400°F, flipping once halfway through. Then, once complete, dab off any extra oil and brush as much maple syrup as you want onto both sides of the bacon. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, depending on how crispy you’d like the bacon to be, and then cut up the bacon into small pieces and set aside for garnishing the soup with later.
Peel, wash and cut your sweet potatoes into small pieces. Melt the butter in a large pot and add the diced onion. Stir and cook the onions on medium heat until fragrant. Next, add the sweet potatoes, chicken broth and spices to the pot. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once it reaches this point, you’re going to bring the soup down to a simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes have softened. Lastly, stir in 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.
Carefully add portions of the soup into an immersion blender or blender of some kind, and blend until the soup reaches a smooth consistency. Garnish with heavy cream (optional), maple bacon and a sprinkle of cinnamon (optional).
