This 7-ingredient carrot ginger soup is one of our favorite recipes for brightening up cold days. Creamy & refreshing, it's a satisfying, cozy meal.
If you went to your farmers market over the weekend and came home with a beautiful bunch of carrots, then this carrot soup recipe is for you. They’re the main ingredient in this easy recipe, along with a few staples that you likely already have in your kitchen.
Carrot Soup Recipe Ingredients
This easy soup recipe is just 7 ingredients, and it’s so simple and delicious with no cream, no cashew cream, and no coconut cream (ok just a tad for garnish, but it’s really not necessary). The creamy base of the soup comes purely from the pureed carrots. Here’s what else makes it so darn good:
- Ginger adds a lovely freshness and plays well with the carrots’ sweetness.
- Onion and garlic give it depth of flavor.
- Extra-virgin olive oil adds richness.
- Apple cider vinegar or orange juice makes it bright & tangy.
- And veggie broth gets the blender moving and ties it all together.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add a bit of maple to sweeten it up, if you wish. That’s it!
Carrot Ginger Soup Serving Suggestions
I made this carrot soup a full meal by serving it with a simple massaged kale salad made of leftover brown rice, a few carrot curls, dried cranberries, a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. I also smashed some avocado on toast and topped it with dollops of pesto. It would be excellent with herbed farro as well. For more salad inspiration, check out this post.
The soup is great on its own, but it’s extra tasty with scoops of pesto that I made out of the carrot tops. I’ve made carrot top pesto before, but this is the first time I’ve made it with only the carrot greens and no other herbs. Because who has basil this time of year?
Like most soups, this carrot soup keeps well in the fridge for a few days, so it would be a great make-ahead Thanksgiving starter or weekday lunch. See this post for my best meal prep tips and this one for more lunch ideas.
If you love this carrot ginger soup recipe…
Make sure to try this butternut squash soup, vegetable soup tomato soup, potato soup, curried lentil soup or any of these 25 favorite soups next!
Carrot Soup Recipe with Ginger
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onions
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 heaping cups chopped carrots
- 1½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 to 4 cups vegetable broth
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (optional)
- coconut milk for garnish, optional
- dollops of pesto, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and a generous pinch of salt and pepper and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the smashed garlic cloves (they’ll get blended later) and carrots to the pot and cook about 8 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the ginger, then add the apple cider vinegar, and then add 3 to 4 cups of broth, depending on your desired consistency. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the carrots are soft, about 30 minutes.
- Let cool slightly and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add maple syrup, if desired.
- Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk and/or a dollop of pesto, if desired.
I’m actually slightly gutted that there is not a market near me that does not take the tops off of carrots now.
Keeping the ‘tops’ draws stored nutrients from the root to keep the leaves alive and most people throw them out or compost them anyways. It makes sense for the carrot, but if you have rabbits or like to juice them/ make pesto then good excuse to pop some seeds in the ground! Low maintenance and you get that fresh garden carrot experience. Worth it in my opinion
this looks like the perfect soup for colder nights 🙂 We recently launched the world’s first online platform called visit.org, where you can book tours&activities with nonprofits, and at the moment we are giving away our cookbook with recipes from nonprofits for free to everyone who signs up here http://bit.ly/1WESVQ1 ! We would be honored if you could check our recipes! 🙂
I’ve never made carrot top pesto but I love the idea. This looks so vibrant and elegant- I’m dreaming about making this for lunch today.
Everything looks amazing, love the idea of using everything from the carrots.
Can’t wait to try it, pinning! 🙂
Diana
This looks delicious! I’ve never made carrot soup before.
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Carrot top pesto…now that’s something I’ve never heard of! It looks absolutely delicious though! Beautiful styling as well.
I just made the carrot pesto this year for the first time after going to Stone Barns and they had it there. It came out delicious and now I have a great carrot recipe to use with it, thanks!!!
I love the sound of that pesto!! Such a delicious topping for this soup 🙂
Sounds and looks absolutely amazing!
/Ulrica
What a beautiful and vibrant soup! And the pesto sounds delicious. I can’t wait to give this one a try – thanks for sharing.
Grace | http://www.eatwriteexplore.com
This sounds delightful! I’ve been fighting a bug all week and would love to cuddle up with a bowl of this soup!
I’m sorry to admit it, but I’ve never eaten carrot tops. I imagine they’re a little bitter?
they are a little bitter (and a bit grassy), but once you mix them up with the other ingredients you can make them delicious :). (You can always start with half basil, half carrot tops if you’re worried about the flavor!)
This looks beautiful. Do you mind if I ask what kind of photo equipment you’re using? I’m just starting to get serious about a blog I’m working on.
Looks amazing! Beautiful color and taste must have been great too.
It looks so delicious that I am even thinking of making this soup tonight. I will just add some more garlic in it to make my husband even happier :). Creamy soups, consumed with some rusk have always been my weak spot, thank you for this lovely recipe.
Your website is amazing and so is the food. Would have struggled to become vegan, and stay vegan, without Love and Lemons. Beautifully photographed, fantastic tasting food – with light, bright and sparkling commentary! Thank you.
Thanks Fiona 🙂
I made this soup today. It is amazing! I didn’t have carrot tops either, but I garnished with coconut milk. I am so glad I discovered this blog. Every recipe I have made is phenomenal. Thank you!
Thanks Lynda! I’m so glad you liked the soup 🙂
This carrot soup has real depth and is incredibly delicious. I did not have any carrot tops to hand – but love the idea from nutritional point of view. The pesto sauce still worked beautifully. Thank you! Looking forward to making, and eating again.
Looks and sounds wonderful…just curious about the nutrition, especially the protein.
Is this information available? Thanks!
This soup came out really good and spicy- the ginger had quite a kick. I added some cayenne at the end plus a little coconut milk, lemon and lime juice when blending.
I don’t have a food processor and I didn’t want to wash the blender twice so I made a pseudo pesto with the immersion blender. Carrots didn’t have tops so parsley stepped in with garlic, olive oil, lemon and lime juice. Then I strained most of the bright green liquid from the pesto and used it for drizzling. It made a bright, zesty topping!
This soup would be great if you’re sick!
Thanks Jeanine!
I added 50 gm of cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon dripping or goose fat to add its taste. I need to say that it’s one of the tastiest dishes which I have tried till now. I tried baby-kale-raspberry-salad for the first time, and my son loved it,. I shared your website with my colleagues Kately and Silvia who just enjoys trying out these types of recipes with carrot.
Kately suggested to me a website with varieties of Lebanese recipes which look delicious. I have tried carrot pie made in Lebanon style and yes it was really awesome dish. I am sharing the link for those who want to try out different cuisines
http://www.nestle-family.com/recipes/english/levant-recipes.aspx
Happy New Year to L&L, if slightly belated! Made this soup this pm – looks so vibrant and alive on this rather grey, grainy rainy day in the UK! I have eaten lots of different carrots soups, some very good, and made some myself. This is easily THE BEST. (Didn’t have basil to hand) so used small handfuls of kale and gem lettuce. Still absolutely delicious. Love how L& L makes you think and experiment.
Hi Fi, I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! I love kale pesto, that was so clever to sub kale in place of the basil 🙂
Looks absolutely scrumptious, especially on a cold winter day. When simmering the soup, should this be done covered or uncovered? Thanks!
Hi Elaine, uncovered – I hope you enjoy!
Absolutely loved this soup. Followed the instructions and recipe to a T this time, but I think in the future I’ll put the carrots and the onions in at the beginning together (unless there’s a reason to not do so that I’m not aware of). Added a few tablespoons of coconut milk in at the very end, but it could go with or without. Only added 3 cups of stalk and let it cook down to about half its size. The apple cider vinegar was a great addition. The acidity really balanced out the sweetness. One of the best carrot ginger soups I’ve had.
Hi Juliana, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
Hi! I’m making soup to feed about people Monday to Friday next week (18-20) a day. I am serving this as the vegan option on Monday and Thursday. If I make ahead and freeze the portion for Thursday will the freezing cause it’s consistency to change once it’s defrosted? Thanks in advance!
I have never made a vegetable soup before, and this being my first was outstanding! Very easy to do, and the black pepper in the beginning resulted in a bit of a kick. Will surely make again and again:)!
Hi Mariam, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
This was delicious! Loved the ginger addition!
I’d definitely check your vegetable broth – a pinch of salt with the onions shouldn’t take it over the top. If you prefer less, a low-sodium broth might be a better option.
This was absolutely DEE licious. Doubled the recipe but not the garlic. The taste was amazing
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one.
Thank you for the carrot soup recipe! It was flavorful and easy to make.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Just made this. Very good – a good swirl of the coconut milk on top really finishes it. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Just made this tonight. Added some diced jalapeno and served it on top of shredded chicken, arugula, and turmeric rice. It pleased everyone in the house, which is a rarity lol
Made this tonight and realized after blending that I used too much ginger. What can I add when reheating that would mellow the ginger? Thanks! Love your blog and cookbooks.
Hi Stacey, try stirring in coconut milk when you reheat it to help dilute the extra ginger flavor.
This soup is delicious. This was my first time making carrot soup and I’m loving the flavor. Mine came out dark orange. I did not have and therefore did not use any of the optional ingredients.
I freezer prepped this as an easy lunch in the first weeks after my daughter was born. Today I finally ate it and WOW this is delicious! Super flavorful but still light enough to not put you in an afternoon slump (key when you have a 4 wk old, haha). I’ll definitely be making this again!
Should we peel the carrots??
Tried it today, loved it! My kitchen smelled amazing!
Hi Josue, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
Delicious I added several sprigs of fresh thyme during simmer just because I like it 😀
Hi Barbara, I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup!
I’m honored to be the 1st person who actually made this!! ( I only read 15 reviews so maybe someone else was first)
Made as recipe written.. Only variation was a sprinkle of dried red Thai chili. Will serve with the coconut milk and micro greens on top for color. Very easy and will freeze nicely.
I made this tonight after searching for a simple soup recipe for a late summer evening that felt like Fall. This was so perfect. I added the coconut milk and really loved it. After we ate it, I realized this is vegan – an added bonus!
This was delicious!!! Wish I had doubled the recipe to have some leftovers. Will be making it again soon!
Simple and delicious! I added chili flakes for a little spiciness.
I’m not a huge carrot fan but this is amazing! My favorite recipe so far! I followed your recipe exactly. Added coconut milk at the end instead of pesto. I will try pesto next time.
Extremely good and tasty soup. My husband was delighted with it
I LOVED this soup! It was just want I needed on a cool fall evening. I did go rouge and added fennel, russet potato, cinnamon, clove and curry. And then I added the coconut milk to the blender to mix in with it – absolutely delicious!
Super delicious and very simple to make.
Delicious! I added extra light coconut milk and used the maple syrup. Next time I will double the recipe to have leftovers!
I usually love anything with coconut cream/milk and ginger, but in this occasion the cocount milk was a bad addition. The carrots are sweet enough already per se, so I didn’t add the maple syrup. And for me, the coconut milk was a killer in sweetness.
I liked how it tasted with out the maple syrup and without the coconut milk, so I’ll keep the recipe with that change.
Hi Claudia, this soup doesn’t have coconut milk (I think you maybe have meant to comment on the Carrot Coconut Soup recipe). You might like this one better.
Hi Jeanine,
Thanks for the follow up . You do suggest coconut milk (“a tad”) for garnish. I may had placed more than “a tad”, and just didn’t like it. However, previous to that it was good. Thanks for sharing all your recipes!
Amazing
Best soup I’ve ever made!
I’m so happy to hear that!
This soup is absolutely delicious!! We’ve made it twice in the last month already! The only difference I made the second time was I roasted the carrots by tossing whole baby carrots with some oil, salt and pepper and roasted fir about 30-40 mins at 375. Thank you for sharing this scrumptious dish!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Do you think this would work with canned carrots? We have quite a few canned carrots that my husband bought that are about to expire and I am trying to figure out how to use them.
Hi Beth, I don’t think I’ve ever had canned carrots so I’m not sure how different it would taste. I think it could work.
Delicious!
good
This is delicious! I have turkey stock frozen from Christmas so I used that! didn’t need the syrup or pesto, yummy as is. And super easy! Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. I added a thai chilli and doubled the ginger because I LOVE ME SOME GINGER, and threw in some white beans and a handful of spinach at the end because they were about to go bad in the fridge and needed using. Recipe was super simple to make and SO DELICIOUS! Honestly it was fantastic before I altered it, I just grew up on spicy ginger everything and was feeling nostalgic lol. Thanks so much! Definitely going to try out some of your other recipes!
This soup is so delish with the pesto sauce a garnishment! My son made smoky gouda savory biscuits as a side! Very fancy!
This was delicious! Also made the carrot top pesto ( no cheese) and swirled in some coconut milk ithey were the perfect compliment . Simple but delicious recipe with the perfect balance of flavors imho.
Hi Jen, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
I don’t have fresh ginger. Would ground ginger work and how much should I use?
I’d start with 1/2 teaspoon, you could add more to taste after that if you wanted.
Excellent!!! So unexpectedly yummy!!!
A delicious soup. Thanks, so much!
Very tasty and filling. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! I am embarressed to say i was looking for a carrot siup recipe to use up my covid frozen carrots up, which were nasty.
I look forward to using fresh next time – but we soooo enjoyed this. Yummy! Thank you for helping us turn nasty into delicious beyond belief
Simple and delicious!
Hi, can I use ginger powder as I don’t have fresh one. I am making it tonight.
Thanks,
Claire
Hi Claire, I haven’t tried it with ginger powder (I usually only use it for baking), the soup just might not be as flavorful.
My fiancé, who doesn’t really like carrots, gave this a thumbs up – even without the pesto. So thank you!