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 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 this farro salad as well.
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 lunch-packing tips.
If you love this carrot ginger soup recipe…
Make sure to try this tomato soup, this cauliflower soup, or this curried lentil soup next!
- 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 or freshly squeezed orange juice
- 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)
- 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 chopped 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.
- Garnish with a drizzle of coconut milk, 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.
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.
Apparently I may be the first person to try this recipe and post any result. Amazingly, our CSA delivered EXACTLY the carrots with tops intact to make this – just yesterday. Feeling a synchronicity, here I am. The pesto is NOT bitter. Truly fresh and clean carrot greens / tops are very parsley like to me. I am a person who enjoys the elemental flavor(s) and loved the pepita / garlic / lemon / carrot green combo without need for maple syrup. your mileage may vary. Soup is still cooling before the blend. The apple cider vinegar smell is a bit strong, but I think the ginger prevails. Yum to come.
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 🙂