Creamy Carrot Soup

Creamy ginger-scented carrot soup topped with a swirl of cream and fresh chives makes a cozy vegetarian lunch or dinner. You’ll love this soup!

This beautifully hued creamy carrot soup is so satisfying, nutritious, and absolutely delicious. With a pound and a half of carrots, it’s bursting with goodness and lots of Vitamin A (16,488 IU per serving!). You may think a creamy soup like this would be high in calories but a one cup serving is only 137 calories. And it’s gluten-free.

Carrot soup is a nice change from tomato soup. We love tomato soup and have it often. One of our favorites is this smoky roasted tomato soup with smoked paprika and our Instant Pot tomato soup is so creamy and easy to make, too.

But enough about tomato soup! We’re here to sing the praises of this creamy carrot soup. It isn’t difficult to make, and isn’t it beautiful?

How does that phrase go? Oh yeah, “When the cat’s away, the mouse will play.” Well, when my husband is gone for an evening I get really crazy. Are you ready for this one? I’m not sure you are….

Okay, I’ll tell you. If you promise not to say anything to my hubby.

I cook vegetarian food. Gasp! I know, I’m a crazy woman.

I’m not actually a vegetarian, as you might have realized from this blog, but I don’t need meat at every meal. In fact, I could eat popcorn as a meal. Okay, I actually do eat popcorn as a meal. All the time.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. When my husband isn’t home for dinner, I also like trying new recipes that he might not necessarily enjoy and this is one of them. He doesn’t know what he’s missing!

Serve this soup as a vegetarian entrée with a thick slice of whole grain bread or homemade corn muffins. I often serve it with crackers and protein-rich edamame dip. It also goes really well with air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches. Try it tonight!

About this Recipe

Making this soup isn’t at all difficult. The carrots do have to simmer for about a half hour so they get nice and soft but that’s all hands off time.

You’ll need a stick blender or a regular blender to make the soup nice and smooth. Please be careful of hot spatters!

I’ll run through the recipe here and give you lots of helpful hints. Keep reading for the recipe card near the bottom of the post. It’s printable, has complete instructions, and nutrition information.

What You’ll Need

• Carrots: Lots and lots of carrots! Buy regular carrots. I like the big ones so I don’t have to peel as much (that’s my lazy tip!). Canned carrots are a possible shortcut and I’ve included instructions for those in the recipe card.
• Onion: Use a medium-sized onion. Any type of onion is fine but regular yellow cooking onions are economical and perfect for soups.
• Garlic: There’s just a hint of garlic in the soup, only one clove.
• Olive Oil and a Pinch of Salt: The carrots and onions are sautéed lightly in oil before a longer simmer to tenderize them.
• Vegetable Broth: Choose low-sodium if you can find it. If you’re not vegetarian, chicken stock or broth is fine too.
• Dark Brown Sugar: The molasses-like flavor of dark brown sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the carrots.
• Ground Ginger: To keep things easier, we use ground ginger. Fresh ginger is a good option too. If you love curry, substitute a teaspoon of curry powder.
• Heavy Cream: A half cup of cream makes this soup wow-worthy.
• Fresh Chives, for optional garnish.

How to Make This Recipe

You’ll need a large soup pan. While this carrot ginger soup looks kinda fancy, it’s pretty easy to make.

Begin by prepping the carrots, onion, and garlic. The carrots should be peeled and chopped into fairly uniform slices. Warm up a little oil in the soup pan and add the carrots and onion, sautéing them about ten minutes or until they are beginning to soften. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for one more minute.

Add the broth and a cup of water. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the veggies for about thirty minutes, or until the carrots are soft. Test the tenderness by forking a carrot out of the pot. You should be able to mash it pretty easily with the fork.

Stir in the brown sugar and ground ginger. Carefully use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it’s very smooth. A regular blender works but you will have to do it in batches. Be very careful while pouring the hot soup.

Return the pan to the stove with the heat turned very low. Stir in the heavy cream and serve topped with chopped fresh chives or parsley, if desired.

This soup goes well with a sandwich, too. Try curry chicken salad or turkey salad on croissants for a hearty soup and sandwich meal.

FAQs

Make It Your Own

• If you’re in a hurry, use canned carrots. They’re pretty soft already so you won’t have to cook the soup as long, and they’re already peeled. See recipe notes for details.
• This creamy carrot soup can be topped in a variety of ways. Homemade croutons are always a good topper for soup. Try roasted pepitas, candied pecans, or sliced almonds. This homemade savory granola is really unique and is nut-free. Fried sage leaves, crispy shallots, or crumbled bacon are good toppers, too.
• Instead of heavy cream, use Greek yogurt thinned with a bit of milk. Take the soup off the heat before adding yogurt or it may curdle.
• Omit the cream for a vegan or dairy free soup. I’ve made this soup both with and without cream and it’s good both ways. Omit the extra cup of water which is added with the broth. If you would like it to be thicker, stir in a couple tablespoons of potato flakes. Or try this carrot ginger soup made with coconut milk.

Make-Ahead Ideas

To get a head start on making this soup, prep the carrots and onion a day or two ahead of time. Put them in a covered bowl or resealable bag in the fridge.

This soup can easily be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Carrot soup will keep in the refrigerator in covered bowl for up to three days. Reheat slowly over low heat until the soup is warmed through.

If you’d like to make soup to freeze, omit the cream. The soup can be frozen for up to 6 months. To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat over low heat until the soup is hot, then turn down the heat and slowly stir in the cream.

More Vegetarian Soups

• Red Lentil Soup
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Potato Soup — so creamy and delicious!
• Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Recipe
• Lentil Soup Recipe with Pasta
• Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Pumpkin Curry Soup (20 minute recipe!)
• Vegetarian Lasagna Soup (VIDEO)
• Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup with Tortellini
• Copycat Panera Squash Soup Recipe
• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup [vegan]

Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes this recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan (#3). You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!

We’ll be adding a new meal plan weekly. If you’re interested, browse all of our meal plans.

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

Get the Recipe: Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

7 servings

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Creamy ginger-scented carrot soup topped with a swirl of cream and fresh chives makes a cozy vegetarian lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and chopped (see note)
• ▢ 1 medium onion, chopped
• ▢ 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 carton reduced sodium vegetable broth (32 oz.)
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground ginger (see note)
• ▢ ½ cup heavy cream, more for garnish if desired
• ▢ Chopped chives, for garnish if desired

Instructions

• In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions become translucent and carrots are beginning to soften, about 10 minutes.
• Add broth and water, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer until carrots are very tender, about 30 minutes.
• Stir in brown sugar and ginger. Using an immersion blender, purée until very smooth. You can use a regular blender too, but be careful, and do it in batches.
• Stir in heavy cream, taste and check seasoning, and keep warm over very low heat until ready to serve.
• If desired, garnish with a swirl of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh chives. Makes about 7 cups.

Notes

• A quickie shortcut is to use canned carrots. You’ll need 3 (14 oz.) cans, drained. Add them to the soup with the broth and shorten the simmering time to ten minutes before puréeing.
• If you prefer, fresh ginger root can be substituted for ground ginger. Chop finely or grate peeled ginger root. You’ll need a rounded tablespoon. Add it to the soup with the garlic.
• Omit cream for vegan or non-dairy soup. Omit the water, and stir in a couple tablespoons of potato flakes if desired, to thicken.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cup, Calories: 137kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 160mg, Potassium: 357mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 16488IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 52mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

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