Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Like carrots? You’re going to love this carrot soup recipe. It’s luxuriously creamy and full of incredible roasted carrot flavor. This classic carrot soup is a wonderful soup to serve with your favorite winter salads, sandwiches, and even holiday entrées. Since carrots go well with so many other flavors, it’s a versatile soup to keep…
- Total time
- 1 hr 5 min
- Active time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 4, 4 bowls
- Difficulty
- Medium
Ingredients and Constraints
Ingredients
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Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Sea Salt
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, to taste
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Yellow Onion
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Garlic
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Unsalted Butter
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, to taste
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Lemon Juice
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Black Pepper
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
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Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Additional ingredient notes
Notes
Recipe adapted from my creamy roasted cauliflower soup and roasted carrots recipe.
CARROT GINGER SOUP VARIATION: Add freshly grated ginger with the garlic and ground spices. Use 1 teaspoon for subtle ginger flavor, 2 teaspoons for more prominent flavor, or 1 tablespoon for relatively spicy carrot-ginger flavor.
Method Overview
Structured method notes that are separate from the step timeline.
1) Roast the carrots
Roasting the carrots condenses their flavor, which brings out the carrots’ best sweet-and-savory notes.
This step makes all the difference between a ho-hum carrot soup and a why-is-this-so-good carrot soup.
2) Cook some aromatics and spices
Meanwhile, we’ll sauté some chopped onion in oil until tender.
Then, we’ll add some fresh garlic, plus ground coriander and cumin. The spices make the soup taste more interesting in a subtle way.
3) Simmer to bring it all together
Then, we’ll add vegetable broth, water, and the roasted carrots when they are out of the oven.
We’ll gently simmer them all together for 15 minutes to bring all the flavors together. Of note: I’ve been experimenting with using water instead of vegetable broths in soups, and I rarely miss the broth.
Method Timeline
Prep
ActivePrep
15 min
Prep time from the source recipe card.
Cook
ActiveCook
50 min
Cook time from the source recipe card.
Total
PassiveTotal
1 hr 5 min
Total time from the source recipe card.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup, if desired.
Step 2
To prepare your carrots, peel them and then cut them on the diagonal so each piece is about ½″ thick at the widest part (see photos).
Step 3
Place the carrots on the baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Toss until the carrots are lightly coated in oil and seasonings. Arrange them in a single layer.
Step 4
Roast the carrots until they’re caramelized on the edges and easily pierced through by a fork, 25 to 40 minutes, tossing halfway. (Heirloom carrot varieties will roast in as little as 25 minutes, but regular carrots are more dense and typically require 35 to 40 minutes.)
Step 5
Once the carrots are almost done roasting, in a Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and turning translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
medium heatStep 6
Add the garlic, coriander and cumin (if following a variation, see recipe notes for additions). Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pour in the vegetable broth and water, while scraping up any browned bits on the bottom with a wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula.
Step 7
Add the roasted carrots to the pot when they are out of the oven. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
high heatStep 8
Once the soup is done cooking, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Then, carefully transfer the hot soup to a blender, working in batches if necessary. (Do not fill past the maximum fill line or the soup could overflow!)
Step 9
Add the butter, lemon juice (or lime, if following the Thai variation), and several twists of black pepper. Blend until completely smooth. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary, to taste. Add another tablespoon of butter if you'd like more richness, or a little more lemon juice if it needs more zing. Blend again, and serve.
Step 10
This soup keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about four days, or for several months in the freezer.
Handling and Storage
Reviewed hold, storage, make-ahead, and service-timing guidance.
5) Finish with butter and lemon
You won’t believe how much difference a tablespoon of butter makes at the end.
Once blended into the rest, it makes the soup taste more luxurious without dulling the other flavors like cream does (did you know that soups could be this creamy, without cream?). Adding some lemon juice brightens up the finished product and brings it all together.
Learn More
Extra cooking notes, tests, and source details kept out of the step-by-step method.
Why this works
Quick kitchen reasons behind the main choices.
Three Delicious Carrot Soup Variations
You know me—I couldn’t help but play around with this recipe.
Here are three truly delicious variations on the “basic” recipe. Actually, let’s call the “basic” version classic instead.
1) Carrot Ginger Soup
The carrot ginger variation is especially good if you are under the weather, or trying to warm up from the inside out.
Add freshly grated ginger along with the garlic (see amounts provided in the recipe notes).
2) Curried Carrot Soup
This might be my favorite option.
Simply add some Indian curry powder along with the other ground spices. Carrots and warming curry spices are a perfect match.
3) Thai Curried Carrot Soup
You guessed it—add some Thai red curry paste for a lively carrot soup with irresistible Thai flavors.
At the end, blend in some lime juice instead of lemon. This variation is especially beautiful when garnished with chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro leaves.
Article photos
Photos used with the article notes.
Source: Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Testing notes
Useful tests and side-by-side notes after the method is clear.
4) Blend in a stand blender
Stand blenders always yield ultra creamy results.
Immersion blenders don’t come close! That’s why I always recommend blending soup in a stand blender instead.
Recipe structure
Components and intermediate outputs created by the method.
Main recipe
Recipe card ingredients and steps.
4, 4 bowls
Mixture
Source step 7 creates or uses mixture.
Extra useful notes
Short source-backed recommendations and facts that do not need a step.
Recipe adapted from my creamy roasted cauliflower soup and roasted carrots recipe.
Recipe adapted from my creamy roasted cauliflower soup and roasted carrots recipe.
CARROT GINGER SOUP VARIATION: Add freshly grated ginger with the garlic and ground spices.
CARROT GINGER SOUP VARIATION: Add freshly grated ginger with the garlic and ground spices. Use 1 teaspoon for subtle ginger flavor, 2 teaspoons for more prominent flavor, or 1 tablespoon for relatively spicy carrot-ginger flavor.
CURRIED CARROT SOUP VARIATION: Add some curry powder with the garlic and ground spices.
CURRIED CARROT SOUP VARIATION: Add some curry powder with the garlic and ground spices. Use 1 teaspoon (mild) or up to 2 teaspoons (somewhat spicy), depending on your preferences. For curried ginger soup, also add 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger at this time.
THAI CURRIED CARROT SOUP VARIATION: Add Thai red curry paste with the garlic and ground spices (be sure to choose a vegan/vegetarian option if you’re avoiding fish produces, such a
THAI CURRIED CARROT SOUP VARIATION: Add Thai red curry paste with the garlic and ground spices (be sure to choose a vegan/vegetarian option if you’re avoiding fish produces, such as Thai Kitchen). Use 1 ½ teaspoons (mild) or up to 1 tablespoon (relatively spicy), depending on your preferences. Substitute lime juice for the lemon. You might like to garnish your bowls of soup with some chopped roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro leaves.
MAKE IT DAIRY FREE/VEGAN: A few options. One, if you enjoy the flavor of the blended soup without butter, you can skip it altogether.
MAKE IT DAIRY FREE/VEGAN: A few options. One, if you enjoy the flavor of the blended soup without butter, you can skip it altogether. For more richness, you could blend in a tablespoon of good olive oil or use cashews instead of butter. Soak ¼ cup cashews for 4 hours, then drain and rinse them (if you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, you can skip this). Add the cashews when you would add the butter.
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Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
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