In this article, the fractional derivatives are described in the modified Riemann–Liouville sense. We propose a new approach, namely an ansatz method, for solving fractional differential equations (FDEs) based on a fractional complex transform and apply it to solve nonlinear space–time fractional equations. As a result, the non-topological as well as the singular soliton solutions are obtained. This method can be suitable and more powerful for solving other kinds of nonlinear fractional FDEs arising in mathematical physics.