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 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
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 pound carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup, optional
- coconut milk for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, 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 8 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the ginger, apple cider vinegar, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Let cool slightly and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth. If your soup is too thick, add a little water. If you would like your soup a little sweeter, add the maple syrup.
- Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk, if desired.
So creamy and with a subtle kick. It tastes like more. Thank you.
Hi Monique, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
What a wonderful soup I really enjoyed the recipe and reading everyone’s additions. I added turmeric, honey, red pepper flakes amazing! The ginger was so tasty! Thank you for sharing
I’m so glad you loved it!
I want to thank you for this recipe! My husband was recently served a form of this soup in the hospital and loved it so I decided to see if this would compare. He raved over this!!! He has just been diagnosed with diabetes and he can have this!! Thank you!
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad he enjoyed it!
Simple to make and so tasty! I added an extra tsp of ginger and it was so good. I also added a cup of water and half a cup of milk at the end. The tsp of maple syrup gave it a very nice flavor. I will be adding this to my regular soup rotation this winter and will be freezing some as well.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I am absolutely obsessed with this recipe, in the fall/winter I make it about once a week. It’s so cheap, delicious and easy. I’ve never added the maple syrup or coconut milk, but I have started adding some red pepper flakes for a sassy spice (and occasionally a pinch of nutmeg) – but that being said it’s perfect as written. I find the leftovers to be even better than when eaten on the day of cooking, but I have yet to be able to make it and not have a bowl. We don’t have a blender so the immersion mixer works perfectly for us.
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad you’ve loved it so much!
this soup is such a banger!! i added some spices (chili, tumeric, paprika, and curry) and used lemon juice instead of vinegar, and it’s wonderful ☺
That sounds delicious! I’m so glad you loved it.
Loved the way this came out. I added a whole sweet potato, used the whole onion, and added an extra cup of veggie broth and two cups of chicken broth to smooth out the consistency and yield more soup. I used about 2 tsp of ginger and substituted lemon juice for the apple cider vinegar. Also added a dash of turmeric and a pinch of cayenne pepper at the end.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Outstanding. Due to some food sensitivies, I used onion powder and skipped the garlic altogether. But it’s all about the ginger!!! Try sprinkling on a few pepitas for serving.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I love a carrot soup but think the ACV made the flavor too funky and less pleasant. This was a miss for me.
Can this soup be frozen?
yep!
I made this, but included a small chopped red sweet pepper with the onions, added in 1/4 tsp of chili flakes and left out the maple syrup. It was amazing. I’ve never made a pureed soup before and this is a keeper!
Hi Laura, I’m so glad you loved it!
Tasty! I was a bit short on carrots so added a small sweet potato. I also threw in some red lentils and a dash of turmeric. Turned out really good! Thanks!
Hi Kara, so glad you loved the soup! Your variation sounds delicious.
Love this recipe and your suggested pairings!!!! :0)
I’m so happy to hear that!
Followed the recipe, but the soup came out grainy. Tasted good, but not sure why the texture was so off
I made this recipe – it’s great but not nearly enough ginger – I made it 2 tablespoons of ginger and added it with the onions and garlic, it adds a nice spice. I also used the whole yellow onion.
Delicious soup, love the sweetness of carrots combined with the warmth of the ginger. I also added celery sticks. No Maple syrup required and only a little lemon for brightness. Just what my recovering from illness body is craving. Thank you 😊
Hi Kate, I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
This soup is fantastic! I took a couple of reviewer’s suggestions and made the following changes:
Added 3 chopped celery stalks to the onions to saute, added 2 generous teaspoons of red curry paste, cut vegetable broth to 2 cups, then added about 1 1/2 cups coconut milk after blending, to thin to desired consistency, lemon juice instead of vinegar. Since we are in the heat of the summer here in Texas, I served the soup cold in chilled bowls, and it was loved by all.
Sounds good but this is literally a completely different soup LOL
I tripled this recipe when I made this soup for a group of volunteers’ morning tea. They help every week to pack fruit and vegetables for Co-ops I manage. They loved the soup. Rather than using vinegar, I used lemon juice. It brightens the flavour of the soup, and helps the carrot flavour to shine. I added 3 celery sticks at the onion frying stage. Celery added a nice little bite of spice and savoury-ness to the soup. I’ve also made the soup using curry pastes, Thai, Indian and Japanese curries work beautifully.
I don’t think it needed any apple cider vinegar. It was delicious until I added that. It completely changed the taste in the negative.
Hi Paula, thanks for your comment! Feel free to scale back or omit the vinegar in the future, or try rice vinegar for a milder flavor.
Guess what I ended up doing? I saw your recipe for Carrot coconut soup across the banner at the top of the page and added Thai red curry paste and coconut milk and I LOVED it! That’s a recipe I will definitely make again, so tasty.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I agree, vinegar was a little too much. Lemon juice worked very well instead. I added it a little at a time, to make sure it didn’t over power the the delicate flavour of the soup.
This is sooooo good. Only difference I made was I added about 1/2 cup of cream. I love the addition of the apple cider vinegar, I think it brings out the sweetness of the carrots.
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar was too much, and I had to add about 1 cup of cream to hide the flavor, then it was perfect. I probably also added about 1 cup of water to make up for what evaporated during cooking.