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.
This looks delicious! I bought a beautiful bunch of organic carrots at the farmer’s market and decided to make this for visiting friends this weekend. BUT…the forecast is for weather in the 80s. Could this soup be served chilled?
Hi Cathryn, that may be nice! Let me know what you think.
wow I’m speachless , so good, on my list of favorites.
This is SO good!! Especially with carrots straight out of the garden! It has become a regular in the house!
That’s great to hear, Hannah! I appreciate your review.
I made the version with both the curry powder and the ginger. What a great soup! I didn’t realize how sweet the carrots would become after being roasted. Roasting the carrots also darkened the color of the soup so the soup became an orangish-brown color. I needed to add a bit more water than the recipe because my soup was simply too thick. Once I thinned it down, it was excellent.
It’s August in Phoenix and ONLY 109 hahaha
Can I serve this soup cold?
Sure! Let me know what you think, Philip.
Serving the Carrot soup cold was a huge hit! I made it in the morning, which gave it time in the refrigerator to get cold before serving for dinner that night. Served with sliced toasted beget.
I like the recipe and I would like to know the caloric breakdown. I like it with curry and ginger together. It is tasty and I would make the recipe again. It goes with my weight watchers diet.
I just made the variation with Thai curry and this soup is to die for!! I’ve been looking for a way to enjoy carrots since they are my least favorite vegetable but my husband grows them like crazy. This is the best way I’ve ever had carrots!!
My toddler helped me make this tonight, which shows you how easy it was. We added some ginger and used vegan butter. It was delicious! My husband said it was one of the best soups I’ve made. I will definitely make this often.
How fun, Nina! Thank you for your review.
I made this today, and it was so delicious! Your butternut squash soup recipe is my favorite, but I had purchased two bags of carrots because they were on sale, so I decided to make this instead. I love how affordable and easy your recipes are, and they taste divine!
I tried the curry variation without ginger. I’m not a huge fan of it, but I might try the Thai variation next.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing, ALexis.
!st time I made it, it was huge success! I could not believe how good it turned out. Now my GF wants it every week :) I’m also trying variations with cauliflower or hokkaido pumpkin and it is delicious.
Roasting vegetables before cooking is THE WAY! <3 Thanks for recipe.
This is my second season making this soup with my homegrown carrots and really, hits it out of the park. Perfectly creamy, sweet, and no cream! Absolutely love it. Truly simple and healthy recipe. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Monica! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
Made this adding curry and fresh ginger and it was phenomenal. Used a bit over 2 lbs of locally grown organic carrots. The consistency was perfect. Served with a bit of goat cheese on top. Super delicious.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Rachelle! I appreciate your review.
Hello, all the way from West Sussex UK. I made this soup yesterday using homegrown carrots. Oh my goodness the soup was sooooo delicious! Roasting the carrots really brought out the sweetness. I found it hard to restrain from eating them straight from the roasting tin! They would make a fab side for a roast dinner!
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Garden produce is the best! Thank you for sharing, Lala.
Just made this and oh so good. Used chicken broth and half a small lemon. Don’t like to waste anything! This was wonderful. Soup fest worthy!
I normally don’t leave comments, even if a recipe is wonderful, but then I made and tasted your recipe. Holy nanners, that is the BEST soup I’ve ever tasted, much less ever made. I’m getting more carrots tomorrow cause this is going to be a staple in my fridge and freezer. I don’t know how you managed to make a fairly low calorie, yet decadent tasting soup that easily could be a meal and maybe made me lick my bowl. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’m glad you did, Vera! Thanks for taking the time to comment and review.
So happy to find your recipes! I have an abundance of carrots and really looking forward to Carrot Soup. Curry will be my add in.
I hope you love it, Susan!
This was amazing! The butter takes this next level! I have made this before but the butter is so good! I did carrot ginger and broth, no water. So good , thank you.
I made the Thai Curry version and it was both delicious and super easy!
Just happened to come across this recipe while looking to use up an abundance of carrots. I used the standard recipe and it’s absolutely lovely! I did think oh gosh that’s a lot of liquid but I was surprised to use near enough all of it (I like my soup on the thicker side).
Excited to try the variations of this recipe!
YUM!!! The butter really enhances the creaminess, so delicious, don’t skip it! I used only 4 cups of just water (no broth), maybe I had a bit less than 2 lbs of carrots (?), I just eye balled from the weekly CSA allotment. Who knew carrot soup could taste so good! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you loved it, Jessica! I appreciate your review.
Hi Kate,
I am putting this recipe in my newsletter with “recipe by Cookie & Kate. I hope that is acceptable to you. We have delicious carrots in Alaska, so I thought your recipe would be great.
Hi Joan, please review my Photo and Recipe Sharing Policy
This needed so much tweaking!! Not enough herbs, salt, or pepper. Added dill and ginger. I never use water to make a soup. I used 1/2 vegetable stock and half chicken stock. Thank goodness!! Added juice from one small lime. Just my. Opinion on this soup.
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, Tamara. I appreciate your feedback.
Can you add the butter and lemon juice to the soup pot and mix it in before moving the soup to the blender? I’m just not seeing how to add the butter and lemon juice if I can’t fit all the soup in at once into the blender.
Hi Lauren, you may need to work in batches, then pour back into the pot in the end.
I made this soup 3 times in a space of one week. My kids, husband and I absolutely love it. Brilliant and simple recipe, so smooth and creamy!!
That’s great to hear, Hobbs!
It says that you don’t use cream but I actually have cream that I want to use up. Would it still be nice with cream?
Sure, you could add a little bit to each serving if you like.
Made the curry carrot soup #2. Should it be puréed super creamy or could you leave minuscule bits just the size of say, sea salt not as big as a pepper corn. I puréed it and then strained it Have a Brain mixer/purée machine and also a nutribullet.
The soup was yummy and my husband loved it. All I did was substitute milk for the water.
I made this! My wife and I loved it. Paired it with a grilled cheese and a Caesar salad. We were lucky because we were able to use fresh carrots from our garden. Truly delicious! I’d never had Carrot Soup before but I have so many carrots from our garden and needed a recipe that would help me use a lot of them. This did that and really was scrumptious!
Thanks for sharing!
That sounds like a delicious combination! Thank you for sharing, Vince.
Just made this with the XL box of carrots my parents gifted to us and WOW! One of the best soups I have ever had and it tastes as if there is cream in it. I will confess though, I may have added an extra tablespoon of butter and slightly extra lemon. If you haven’t made this yet – run dont walk!
I think I’m just not a fan of carrot soup but I didn’t like this very much – still giving you 4 stars because I love the way you write recipes, and I love all your other recipes! I think it just wasn’t to my taste. Trying your tomato soup tonight! :)
I’m sorry you didn’t love it, Eloise. I appreciate you sharing your feedback.
How many does recipe feed?
HI Monica, see the nutritional information and recipe details – it serves 4 bowls.
Wow! My kids never eat spicy food, but I took a gamble and did the curry version of this dish. Sooo amazing. Roasting the carrots is really an imperative step. Fabulous sound and exactly what I was craving.
Thank you for sharing, Ashely!
This soup is wonderful. I especially love it when there is snow in the forecast, so I will make this tonight.
I do sometimes add an apple, a variety with some tangy flavor. Thank you for another great recipe.
Absolutely Delicious! Thanks so much.
This recipe is gold. I have made it a couple of time mostly for dinner and it’s perfectly light and satisfying, warms my heart. My husband loves it as well. Thank you!
I’m glad you loved it, Addy! Thank you for your review.
Loved this soup, so easy and flavorful. I had no coriander so I added extra cumin. Also, I added a roasted acorn squash to the carrots.
Hi! I am thinking I’ll make this as my starter dish for Thanksgiving. Sounds delish! Question – can I use an immersion blender to blend? I don’t currently own a blender. I can buy one if need be. Thank you!!
Hi Jennifer! You can use an immersion blender. It may not get as creamy, but it will still be delicious!
Took over two hours, but I made it yesterday. Two of us ate all but about a cup. Used bone broth. Poured it on a scoop of left over ground chicken stir-fry. Very good!
A wonderful bowl of deliciousness!!! A little time-consuming but so easy to make. I used baby carrots to save time. Ate it with avocado toast on sprouted bread. Definitely a keeper.
Just like the rest of your recipes, delicious! I didn’t peel the carrots because I hate to waste and I like the skin. This soup was light & silky! I topped with a dollop of mascarpone, shaved roasted brussels sprouts, & some pepitas for some crunch!
Sounds delicious, Katie! Thank you for sharing.
Single-veggie soups can be kind of boring sometimes, right? Tomato, butternut squash, etc…. NOT THIS ONE! I tried the ginger variety and I am hooked!! And it’s so easy… and cheap!
I can’t wait to make/share this with someone. I topped it with pepitas (always!) and some crushed red pepper. It would definitely be nice with a small dollop of vegan sour cream in the middle. And I paired it with a slice of rosemary focaccia bread.
I’m hooked.
I agree with you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
Delicious soup! Thank you so much for this recipe. Using butter instead of heavy cream was a great call. I made some toasted spiced seeds to top this soup and it gave it some nice warmth for the fall season. It’s still delicious without any toppings.
I made your Curried Lentil, Tomato and Coconut soup , but I didn’t have potatoes so I added Barley instead.. very good I enjoyed it very much, thank you, Today I’m making Carrot soup.
Betty Keeling
I made this today, 1.5X, just as described, and it turned out FANTASTIC! There is great balance between all of the ingredients, with none dominating. I made the ginger curry option, using the lesser amount of curry powder. One might think getting good balance could be difficult, as either of these can easily dominate. But it was an ideal blend, imho. of every ingredient in the recipe. Adding the butter and lemon juice at the end, when one can make adjustments, is a good idea, too. THANK You for this recipe. I have LOTS of garden carrots from which to draw this fall and winter.
Wonderful to hear, Cynthia! Thank you for sharing.
I just made this tonight, served with grilled cheese sandwiches and my husband and I loved it! We grew carrots this year, and I had a lot in the fridge ready for something and this recipe was perfect. It tasted so fresh and had great flavors from roasting the carrots. I did have add a few store bought carrots to make the full recipe but we will be growing more carrots next year and I will definitely make this again.
That’s great to hear, Samantha!
Love the carrot soup! I added the cumin parsley fresh ginger and turmeric with some cereal milk at the end. It’s delicious. Substitute the water and liquid with some chicken bouillon
Can I use peanut butter or cashew butter instead of soaking cashews.
Thank you for all of your delicious recipes.
I made this a day ahead for a Sunday lunch, just as written, and it was delicious! I love the flavour from the caramelized carrots.
I’m glad you loved it, Gail! Thank you for sharing.
Made this for the second time, adding the ginger and curry (and a full 2 tsp of cumin). It is SO delicious. This time I needed to use up some celery, so I finely diced several stalks and added it with the onions & garlic to saute. I had some bacon leftover from breakfast and cut it up into small pieces and stirred it in after blending. I used veg broth the first time, but today chicken broth instead, for a little more savory flavor, and only 1c water as I found the first time it was a little too thin; the consistency was perfect this time. I had with it some rosemary artisan bread that I sliced, buttered and heated in foil. Very “more-ish”!
Made the Thai curry variation of this carrot soup with low sodium vegetable broth and lemon juice. I made it extra spicy. It is so unbelievably good. I wasn’t expecting to love it and I do. Will definitely be making it again.
OMG it is SO good!! My husband is NOT a soup person but he ate 1.5 bowls of this and asked me to make more tomorrow. I had no coriander so I replaced with dill weed.