Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 1, 2024
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 in your repertoire.
You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that this creamy soup is actually made without cream. It’s a light and healthy soup, not to mention budget-friendly, too.
I tried making the soup with sautéed carrots instead of roasted, but roasted carrots give this soup magical powers. If you’re a fan of my butternut squash soup or cauliflower soup, the method for this recipe will be familiar already.
Since I can’t help but play around with flavors, I came up with three fun and simple variations—carrot ginger soup, curried carrot soup, and Thai curried carrot soup with lime. You’ll find details in the recipe notes. It’s about time this food blog had a proper carrot soup recipe, and it’s really four in one!
How to Make the Best Carrot Soup
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here are a few key factors.
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. (If you’re out of coriander or cumin, though, you can omit them.) Cooking the spices in oil for about 30 seconds wakes them right up, while it mellows the garlic.
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. If you’re cutting costs or watching your sodium intake, water is a great option here. I’ll share my notes on this subject in greater detail soon.
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. I don’t like cleaning extra dishes, either, but the resulting texture is worth the effort. You can find my favorite blenders in my Amazon shop (affiliate link).
Be careful while blending. Let the soup cool for a few minutes before transferring to a blender, never fill past the maximum fill line (it could explode), and be careful near the steam escaping from the lid (it’s hot!).
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.
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. It does not taste boring!
1) Carrot Ginger Soup
Another classic! 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. You can also add some ginger to this variation, if you’d like.
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.
Please let me know how your soup turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Wondering what to pair with this carrot soup? Here are a few suggestions:
- Arugula and Wild Rice Salad with Zippy Lemon Dressing
- Farro and Kale Salad with Goat Cheese
- Green Salad with Apples, Cranberries and Pepitas
- Kale Pecan Pesto over pasta
- My Favorite Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Mujadara (Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)
Looking for more creamy, lightened-up soups? Here are a few more favorites to bookmark:
- Classic Tomato Soup (Lightened Up!)
- Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Watch How to Make Carrot Soup
Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
This homemade carrot soup recipe is ultra creamy (yet cream-less) and full of rich, roasted carrot flavor! It’s the best carrot soup you’ll ever have. Recipe yields 4 bowls or 6 cups of soup.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 cups vegetable broth (or water)
- 2 cups water
- 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup, if desired.
- 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).
- Place the carrots on the baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Toss until the carrots are lightly coated in oil and seasonings. Arrange them in a single layer.
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!)
- 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.
- This soup keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about four days, or for several months in the freezer.
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.
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 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. 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.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
MMM! This is so good. I didn’t have 2lbs of carrots so I cut this recipe way down but I’m so glad I went ahead with making it even in a smaller batch. I roasted my onion and garlic along with the carrots to make it even easier on me. I love the roasted flavor in the soup. I already bought more carrots to make it again!
I love how simple this is to make and it’s done so quickly. It is super comforting to eat and feels great in the tummy. I will be adding this recipe to my regular rotation. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Very bland tasting, used water instead of vegetable stock. So disappointed
Well. This recipe taught me that kids are the gifts that keep on giving, long after they leave home. Followed the directions to the blender stage. After I hit the puree button, I found that someone had broken the cap that keeps the blade and seals in the blender, without letting me know. I had pureed carrot soup everywhere. So, I scraped up that half as best I could, put it back in the pot with the other half and carried on. The soup I ate isn’t blended totally but the flavor is great and I will definitely make it again. I like the different options to change it up and I like that it’s low-calorie. I’m sure the all-blended version will be great as well. I’m ordering a new blender now. BTW, the “kids” in question are 40 and 38. Jeez!
Oh no! That sounds like quite the mess, Salli. I’m happy you were able to salvage some of it. Thanks to reporting back and sharing your experience!
Made the ginger version with even more ginger
as we like some heat and upped the garlic too,
this recipe is a keeper, my husband and I loved it!!
Lovely recipe, made this soup for the first time today; very tasty and filling… easy to make, all the family loved it inc my two year old grandson
We made this recipe with the carrots we grew in our garden this summer and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
I’m making this right now. My kids keep getting baby carrots in their school lunches that they won’t eat and I told them I was going to make them into carrot soup if they didn’t eat them raw. Lol. I didn’t have coriander, but I did have caraway seeds and I think they will add a nice touch as well. It’s cooling now, so we haven’t tasted it, but it sure smells good!!
I bought a bag of carrots from Costco so I made soup and muffins!!
I combined this recipe with the one for roasted butternut squash soup since I still had a half one kicking around, and did it ever taste good. Since there are different techniques and different spices, I just did what was easiest while I was also making muffins at the same time! I followed the technique in this recipe as far as roasting first and adding the veggies to the stock (I used chicken) then blending afterwards. I used coriander and ginger, and it was so tasty! THANKS :)
Mine turned out good. Thank you.
I didn’t have coriander so instead I added fresh parsley & dill. I would make it again.
Made this soup for the first time this morning. Have to say I was a bit skeptical but must say that I’m ever so glad I chose your recipe over the others I looked at. It is fantastic! I chose the fresh ginger option as I did not have coriander. I did use chicken broth. I used cumin and one teaspoon of grated ginger. Next time will add more ginger. Even though roasting the carrots takes a bit of time, there is very little hands on chopping to be done as with other soups.
This was delicous. Very warming autumn soup. Even the hubby, who normally prefers chunkier soups was impressed with this one.
Thank you for sharing.
I made this soup with curry and ginger, I used carrot pulp after juicing carrots, roasted pulp in a baking dish. Very happy with the way it turned out. Will definitely make it again and will try with whole carrots.
HI,I used this recipe, added a roasted pepper..absaloutley scrumptious…thank you steve
I made this with a modification – I didn’t have enough carrots so I also roasted a butternut squash. Next time I’ll omit the cumin. I find it’s all I can taste.
This soup is so good! Perfect way to use the carrots up from the garden!
I made this for the second, or maybe third time tonight. This time I used rainbow carrots, and instead of dicing and sauteing the onions I roasted them with the carrots. For spices I added about two teaspoons of garam masala as well as salt and pepper. I skipped the lemon juice at the end because I didn’t have any. Oh and I used chicken broth because it was what I had on hand. The first time or two I did it I stuck pretty close to the recipe. I might have changed up the spices a bit here and there. I do recall I did not add enough liquid because I remembered the amounts differently, but the soup went quickly between myself, my fiance and his mother, who lives with us. I have a feeling this batch will go just as quickly.
Made the Thai curry version of this soup with my recently harvested carrots and a leftover sweet potato. I was skeptical about the small amount of curry (even though I was using a powdered spice mix instead of a paste), but it creates big flavor! My husband said this was a Panera level soup–it was that good!
I’m happy it pleasantly surprised you, Katie! I appreciate your review.
VERY good. Just tried this out for the first time today. I used my ninja to blend the soup in two batches and it came out great! So thick and creamy with an amazing buttery undertone.
I’ll be serving this at Thanksgiving and Christmas for sure!
Thanks so much for sharing this.
This one would be great for the holidays! Thank you for sharing, Ty.
I made the carrot ginger version tonight and it was delicious! We be making this again soon, thank you for another winner!
Wonderful, Denise! Thank you for your review.
Just made It and it is delicious. Thank you for this recipe and I shall use your website when searching for more recipes.
Great recipe. The only thing I would change is to increase the carrots to 3 pounds. I double the batch so I could freeze some for a cold winter day.
A great one to have on a cold day! Thank you for your review.
I accidentally ordered 5 pounds, not 1 or 2 pounds of carrots. This recipe was magic–and transformed 2 lbs of carrots into deliciousness!
I’m happy you loved it, Martha! Thank you for your review.
This is such an amazingly simple recipe to do and so, so good! I used up the last of our gigantic carrots from the garden to make my 2nd batch of this soup, this time adding a bit of ginger. Love how thick and rich this soup is. Thanks for a great recipe!
There are soooo many carrot soup recipes online and I went back and forth between the NYT recipe and Rebecca Katz’s recipe until I landed here. Roasted the carrots but then used coconut oil instead of olive for the onions, garlic, ginger and spices. Also added a little turmeric and cayenne and a healthy hit of kosher salt. Served with lime wedges and cilantro and it was a hit!! Thanks so much!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Brandi.
Had an abundance of carrots and lots of fresh snow on the ground so a perfect day for this. So delicious! I made the Curry version. Thrilled to have leftovers.
The leftovers are delicious! Thank you for sharing, J.
Absolutely DELICIOUS!! I love this recipe. No butter for us. It’s really sooo yummy.
I’m glad you loved it!
Kate,
This was excellent as written. I thought it was perfect, my husband and 3 children enjoyed it also but said it was a touch thicker than they like so I may add an extra cup of water/stock next next time. It really shows that you test your recipes, I haven’t had one fail me yet.I look forward to trying some of the variations.Thanks for another keeper. Best.
You’re welcome, Holly! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Great soup.A friend grows too many vegetables so gave us a big fresh box of carrots and onions.Just finished making the soup to use all this veg.Delicious with home made rolls.
That sounds like the best way to use such fresh produce! Thank you for sharing, Nick.
I made the curried version and used 1/3 teaspoon of the cumin. My husband and good friend raved about it. I used fresh carrots from my garden. I plan to pick the rest of the carrots and make more of this delicious soup.
Thank you for your review, Valerie!
Delicious! Halved the recipe, added fresh ginger and also curry powder. Into my blender and strained a lot, but not all before finishing. So good! So healthy!
I’m glad you loved it, Anne! Thank you for your review.
Made the curry version tonight. Delicious, easy, can’t wait to make again. Everyone loved it!
I’m excited it was a hit, Jenna!
Seriously, this soup is completely delicious!! And very easy to make
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Nao!
I loved your recipe. Had no vegetable stock so used mushroom powder as stock. Added a bayleaf. Made sure to add salt and tasted throughout. Very creamy.:)
made this today with organic carrots. I added crushed cardamon seeds instead of cumin – nice, but I think I overdid it!,
Soup was a lovely texture though and I will try it next time without butter, to add to my weight loss recipes!
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear you added a little too much seasoning. I’m glad you still enjoyed the texture!
It was very good. I’m not sure I have ever had carrot soup but my partner likes carrots a lot and it’s fall, so because of the ratings I decided to check it out. I didn’t have any vegetable stock so I substituted chicken stock. I used all the spices that I had on hand that were mentioned in the variations and also garnished it with cilantro and chopped radishes. I really liked it with the garnishes. I will definitely make it again.
My daughter, who HATES carrots, said this soup is really good!
That’s a win! Thank you for sharing, Sally.
Thank you for this lovely recipe! I had some carrots in the fridge staring at me accusingly for a few days, and I felt uninspired until I came across this!
I did so much “tasting” during the making of it that I didn’t have nearly enough to save as leftovers!
I’ve made the carrot n ginger but forgot the ginger. I think you should do separate recipes instead of a list of the variations below. But it is what it is. Would’ve loved to have had carrot n ginger but will see what the family think of it when they come home
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. I appreciate your feedback on layout, but I have found that this has worked best for a majority of readers based on feedback.
Hi Katie. We had the carrot soup and it was beautiful. I Will remember next time to add the ginger but yeah big hit. Thank you
Jane x
I made this soup and absolutely loved it. So easy, very delicious. Just learned that carrots are even more nutritious than I thought. According to Dr. William Li, who studies “angiogensis” (that is the process by which new blood vessels form, allowing the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the body’s tissues):
Carrots are among a select group of foods rich in the compound chlorogenic acid which may block the genes supporting cells that fuel cancer. Carrots are also a rich source of powerful bioactives called carotenoids and are ‘powerhouses’ of antioxidant activity.
The combination of vitamins A, B, C, D, and E found in carrots makes them great for DNA, with one UK study showing five carrots a day for three weeks is enough to increase the DNA repair activity you need to fight disease.
Yay carrots!
I was looking for a carrot soup recipe and found yours. Naive question: I have baby carrots on hand, can I use them to make this soup? I don’t know if a carrot is a carrot or if that taste is altered.
Hi! Yes, you can use them you just want to make sure you use the correct amount listed. Baby carrots have the same taste :) I hope you love it!
How could I slow cook this recipe?
Hi Sophia, I don’t have slow cooker directions for this, sorry!
Hubby says, “I’m not really a fan of carrot soup.” After tasting this recipe, hubby says, “It’s a winner! Let’s add it to the rotation!” Once again, your recipes are outstanding, Kate.
Hooray! I love that this one won him over. Thank you for your review, Nancy!
Great recipes but can you add to ALL a metric equivalent for your European followers? Degrees (C) for oven and grams (g) for weight?
Hi Andrew, I am hoping to do so someday! Waiting on my plugin provider to offer better options. I’m afraid that doing it manually for hundreds of recipes may introduce some errors. Thank you for your feedback!
Just made this soup. It is so creamy and tasty! Thank you so much for the recipe, Kate!
We can’t eat onion n garlic so I used green pepper and half a chilly pepper instead, also sprinkled parmesan over.
Today we finished the soup, but used it as a pasta sauce( added pasta directly to soup n a bit more water n cooked for 10 mins)
So easy to prep, thank you!
I’m glad you were able to get creative, Tracey! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Huge hit! Easy to cook and the taste was amazing. Thank you!
Made this today and my husband literally licked the bowl clean!
I love that! Thank you for your review.
That was scrummy thank you soooooo much for this recipe
Will the taste be drastically different if I just use water?
Hi Karen, I find you can use water here as well. Slight variation, but I do enjoy it all the same!
Its absolutely amazing
Thank you, Denise! I appreciate your review.