Curried Swede Soup is a perfect winter warmer bursting full of flavour. Packed with garlic, fresh ginger & curry powder it's a perfect way of using swede.
Being all year round soup fan I go absolutely crazy for it in the depths of winter when I turn to my favourite root veggies and create new concoctions as often as I can. My Curried Swede Soup puts this delicious if slightly less popular vegetable to a good use and transforms it into spicy, curried warmer-upper.
Since I've bought my Instant Pot*, it has become my favourite "vessel" for soup making. It's so quick and efficient and with the amount of soup I make on a weekly basis it was worth buying just for that sole purpose! You can, of course, easily make this soup in a regular pot/stock pot and below you'll find the instructions for both methods.
Cooking with swede
Personally, I really like swede a lot although as a root vegetable it's being, in my opinion, slightly overlooked.
Having said that, who hasn't heard of Scottish "neeps" (mashed swede) which together with "tatties" (mashed potatoes) makes a delicious accompaniment to famous Scottish haggis.
I would say that you can use swede in any way you would potatoes. Try mashing, roasting, using in bakes and thinly sliced in gratin type dishes. They are perfect for bulking up any root vegetable based soup or can be a proper star like in this very Curried Swede Soup.
Make sure to check out my Carrot and Swede Soup too!
How can I adapt Curried Swede Soup?
This soup as any soup really is very flexible. I have added a potato and a lone parsnip I had kicking around in the fridge plus onion and couple of celery stalks. Leeks would work just as well here. You could add a carrot or two or perhaps a chunk of celeriac.
I usually make my soup with my homemade chicken stock but you could use veggie stock instead to keep it vegetarian. If you're after vegan soup you could simply substitute dairy milk with coconut one or any other nut/oat milk. Coconut oil would be perfect for frying your onions in and its gentle coconut flavour works really well in this curried soup.
📋 Recipe
Curried Swede Soup (Instant Pot / Stovetop)
Ingredients
- 1 large swede (approx. 700g / 1.5 lb unpeeled weight) peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 celery stalks roughly chopped
- 1 small parsnip peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 medium potato peeled and cubed
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves peeled and sliced
- 1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger (approx 14g / ½ oz) peeled and roughly sliced
- 3 teaspoon (quite generous ones) curry powder I used mild one
- 600 ml chicken or veggie stock fresh or from cube is fine
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon rapeseed/ sunflower/ coconut oil
- splash of milk/cream/coconut milk to adjust consistency
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Prepare all the vegetables as per instructions above.
- Heat oil of your choice in your Instant Pot using Sauté function (it should be set on High, 30min) and fry your onion until softened but not coloured stirring from time to time (approx. 5-8min).
- Add chopped celery stalks, garlic and ginger, quickly followed by the curry powder. Let these fry for a couple of minutes until the curry powder becomes really fragrant.
- Add a little bit of stock just to deglaze the pot (use wooden spoon to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom). Turn the pot off by pressing Keep Warm/Cancel button.
- Add cubed swede, potato and parsnip and pour in the remaining stock giving everything a mix. Try and prod your chopped veggies so that they sit in the stock and don't protrude out too much (a little bit is fine).
- Put on the lid and lock it in place making sure that the black, steam releasing valve is pointing to "Sealing". Set your Instant Pot to "Manual" or "Soup" setting for 8 min on high pressure. It will take approx. 10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure if you've used cold stock (less if you used hot).
- When the time is up turn the pot off by pressing Keep Warm/Cancel button and do Quick Pressure Release (QPR) by moving the black, steam releasing valve to "Venting". Please take care during this process.
- Puree the soup until smooth using stick blender/ liquidiser, adding some salt and pepper to taste.
- Adjust consistency as per your liking by adding few splashes of milk or cream of your choice if you think the soup is too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Stovetop / Hob Instructions
- Follow the steps as per above only in your stock pot or large pot with a lid. Once you've added all the vegetables and stock, bring the soup to boil and after that lower the heat and simmer for approx 30 min until all the vegetables are very tender.
- Puree the soup until smooth using stick blender/ liquidiser, adding some salt and pepper to taste.
- Adjust consistency as per your liking by adding few splashes of milk or cream of your choice if you think the soup is too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Notes
- Calories are approximate and meant as a guideline only.
- Feel free to swap mild curry powder for any type you like. I found that mild type together with fresh ginger provided just right amount of heat for our liking.
- To make this soup vegan simply use veggie stock and substitute dairy milk/cream with coconut milk (or any other dairy free milk you like).
Nutrition
OTHER SOUPS YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Roasted Celeriac & Sweet Potato Soup
Roasted Tomato & Fennel Soup Recipe
Instant Pot Creamy Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Instant Pot Ginger Spiced Beetroot Soup
Jerusalem artichoke & Carrot Soup
Butternut Squash & Chestnut Soup
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Have you tried my Curried Swede Soup? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post, I love reading them! You can also come and say hello over on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest
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I'm linking my Curried Swede Soup with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Jacqui at Recipes Made Easy
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie and co-hosted by Suzanne at apuginthekitchen
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Rita says
This is such a boon for veggie lovers. Nice recipe to have around. Thanks for posting on fiesta friday.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Rita! 🙂
Geetha Priyanka says
I have used swede only for stir fry, never imagined it can be used to make soup. Never know swede is such a versatile veggie. Curried soup looks so delicious and definitely a must try in this chilly weather.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Geetha! 🙂 Swede is a little bit of an underdog and it is such a shame as it's delicious and there is definitely so much you can do with it. I hope you enjoy the soup if you decide to give it a go. 🙂
Corina Blum says
I don't cook with swede very often but I can imagine it would be lovely in soup and especially a curried soup like this one. I had real success with getting Little Miss Spice to eat some vegetables in a thick curried soup recently so I'm definitely going to be making more soups like this! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
joskitchenlarder says
We are huge fans of thick root veggie soups here too and now is definitely the best time of year to embrace them. Perfect veggie vessel for fussy eaters! 🙂
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
Oh I love swede but I don't think I've ever tried making soup with swede. Must try that! Yours looks so warming and inviting, perfect for chilly winter days. My favourite swede dish is making carrot and swede mash to go with a roast!! Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Eb! 🙂 I find myself cooking a lot with swede during winter months and use it in many dishes I would use potato in although I must say mash, gratin and now this soup are my firm favourites! x
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
Ive just spent a chilli day in the garden this soup would be just perfect now.
Happy New Year and thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
It would definitely warm you up Jacqui! I popped some in the flask for hubby last week as he spends fair bit of his working day outside and he absolutely loved it with its gentle heat, fragrant spice and heartiness!
Kat @ Kat's 9 Lives says
I have never had swede, but this soup looks delicious! Thanks for giving both the Instant Pot instructions and the stovetop instructions. I am thankful that you brought this to Fiesta Friday!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Kat! 🙂 Swede is one of less appreciated root veggies and I'm hoping to show that it really is delicious, quite versatile and should be cooked with more. 🙂