Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup

Carrots – As the base of the soup, you’ll need about 1 ½ pounds of carrots. I recommend standard orange carrots and not heirloom ones as the added colors can muddle the color of the final soup. Since you’ll be roasting and blending the carrots as well, you can peel and chop whole carrots or save time with baby carrots.

Veggies – In addition to the carrots, I use a yellow onion, garlic, and fresh ginger in this recipe. For a deeper flavor, some of these are roasted with the carrots, and the rest are cooked on the stove.

Olive Oil – Toss the roasted vegetables in some extra virgin olive oil before roasting and use some more to cook the rest on the stove. Optionally, you can cook the vegetables on the stove with butter if you’re not sticking to a vegan recipe.

Seasoning – In addition to the olive oil, toss the vegetables you’re roasting with some salt and pepper. Add additional pinches of salt and pepper to the sauteed veggies again when you add the broth. Always season in layers. Additionally, I use a bit of cumin, coriander, and turmeric for more flavor.

Broth – Use vegetable broth to thin out the carrot puree into a soup. Because I cook and reduce the liquid a bit on the stove top, I use both vegetable broth and water. If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan, chicken stock adds a nice flavor as well.

Cream – Here I use coconut milk to add a creamy flavor to the carrot soup. Again, if you’re not worried about keeping things vegan, feel free to use heavy cream instead.

Lemon – This is optional, but 1-2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice added at the end can give the soup a pop of acidity to brighten the flavors. If the soup tastes flat or dull to you, a bit of acid could be what you need.

Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

If you’re using whole carrots, start by peeling them, cutting off the root end, and slicing them on a bias into roughly ½” thick rounds. This makes it easier for them to cook at the same time when they’re roughly all the same size. If using baby carrots, there’s no prep work involved.

Cut the onion in half. Slice off the root-end of one half and cut into 4 large quarters. Place these and the carrots into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the olive oil and toss, then add the salt and pepper and toss again to fully coat them. Scatter them on the baking sheet. Dice the other half of the onion and set aside.

Thinly slice off the root-end of a few cloves of garlic without peeling them and place them on the baking sheet as well. Set the baking sheet in the oven and roast the vegetables for 30-35 minutes, tossing them about half-way through cooking.

While the vegetables are roasting, place a stock pot or Dutch-oven on the stove over medium heat and add the rest of the olive oil. Add the diced onion with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté until almost translucent but not browned, about 5-8 minutes.

Take about 1-2 inches of ginger and peel it, then slice off a few rounds. Slice the rounds into small sticks, then dice into smaller pieces. Add the ginger and the seasoning to the onion and continue cooking for about a minute longer.

Slowly pour in the vegetable broth while stirring, then add the water. Season with a bit more salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes until slightly reduced and fragrant.

Once the vegetables are done roasting, remove from the oven and let them rest and cool slightly, for about 5 minutes. Take the broth mixture off the heat as well, so it can cool a bit also.

Squeeze out the garlic and add the vegetables and broth mixture to a blender. You may have to do this in two batches depending on the size of your blender. Remove the plastic cap from the blender top and cover the hole with a towel. Blend at high speed for about 2-3 minutes, until fully pureed.

Pour the carrot soup back into the pot or Dutch-oven and bring to a simmer again. Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Taste the soup and adjust for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed, and a bit of lemon juice until you’re happy with the flavor.

Serve in bowls and optionally top with things like fresh black pepper, some coconut milk, croutons, chopped parsley or cilantro, etc. Alternatively, allow to cool completely and store overnight in the refrigerator and serve the next day. This soup has even more flavor after resting for a day.

Dutch-Oven – A large stock pot is good to have in your kitchen, but for soups like this I prefer an enamel coated Dutch-oven. They’re a bit wider and the light color of the enamel coating makes it easier to see what you’re doing, and they’re great for even heating and cooking.

Blender – While a professional blender is great, they can be quite expensive. You don’t have to have a fancy, $400-500 blender, but I also don’t recommend trying to puree soups with a cheap $20-30 blender either. I recommend a decent, mid-priced blender for most home cooks and you’ll see a night and day difference from the cheaper ones.

Immersion Blender – As mentioned above, you can also make this soup by adding the roasted vegetables to the pot/Dutch-oven and puree everything in one pot with an immersion blender. It’s a bit more hands-on work than using a regular blender but is also a great option if you don’t have a higher quality blender.

Once the roasted carrot soup has cooled completely, you can store any leftovers in airtight containers in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you use dairy like heavy cream in the soup, it is best eaten within 3 days, but if you skip adding any dairy to the base, it can last up to 5 days instead.

To reheat the soup, simmer portions in an appropriately sized pot in medium low heat to the desired temperature. Alternatively, you can also reheat the soup in heat-proof bowls in your microwave for 30 second intervals until it is at your desired temperature.

For longer storage, you can also freeze carrot soup for 3-4 months. If using plastic containers or glass jars, be sure to leave at least 1-inch headspace for expansion as it freezes. You can also freeze in smaller, single serving portions. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as above.