A Simple Carrot Soup Recipe
You are looking at the simplest carrot soup. One I love, in part, because it's an example of how a beautiful meal can come together with a bit of care, and an impossibly short list of ingredients. Carrots and onion form the base. The base is spiked with dollop of red curry paste, and then pureed into silky oblivion.
You are looking at the simplest carrot soup. One I love, in part, because it's an example of how a beautiful meal can come together with a bit of care, and an impossibly short list of ingredients. Carrots and onion form the base. The base is spiked with dollop of red curry paste, and then pureed into silky oblivion. Once pureed, you can flare it out with whatever you have on hand for the toppings. 
Choose the Best Carrots
Use bushy-topped farmers' market carrots or regular orange carrots, either will work. I personally prefer the heirloom farmers' market varieties, but this soup is delicious with just about any carrot.
Getting that Perfect Silky Texture
Part of what I love about this carrot soup in particular, is the silky mouthfeel. If you take the time to peel your carrots, it smooths things out beautifully. I'm going to argue it's a key component in taking this soup from really good to exceptional. That said, if you don't mind a slightly more rustic version, go for peels on and save yourself a step!
How to Blend Carrot Soup
A quick and easy way to puree this soup is with a simple hand blender. It's how I've made this soup for years. But, if there was ever a time to break out the serious blender, this is it. Recently, I started to use our fancy ultra-powerful juice blender for this soup. Blend for a while, it is completely worth the clean-up effort.
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A Simple Carrot Soup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or extra-virgin coconut oil
- 1 onion chopped
- scant 1 tablespoon red curry paste, or to taste
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped - 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 14- ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
- 1 1/2 cups / 360 ml of water, or to cover
- 1 lemon or lime
- micro greens / cilantro, chopped, toasted almonds , chile oil
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In a large soup pan over medium-high heat add the butter and onion. Stir until the onions are well-coated, and allow to saute until translucent, a few minutes. Add the curry paste, and then stir in the carrots. Allow to cook another minute or two, and then add the coconut milk, salt, and water, adding more water to cover if needed.
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Simmer until the carrots are tender, 10 - 15 minutes, then puree using a blender or hand blender until the soup is completely silky smooth. The next part is important, you're going to make any needed adjustments. For example, add more water if the consistency needs to be thinned out a bit. Taste for salt, adding more if needed. I also like to season this soup with a great big squeeze or lemon or lime juice. Serve topped with whatever you have on hand. Something crunchy like almonds is nice. Along with a final touch of something green, like micro greens & cilantro.
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Comments
Absolutely stunning! Thank you on a detailed recipe!
I make this soup all the time, and I absolutely love it. My family requests loves it, too. I don't even like to cook, but will go out of my way to get micro-greens.
Thanks Carol!
I made this last night and it was absolutely perfect. The carrot soup of my dreams!
Simple and lovely. This is a perfect soup.
Made this soup today, and it's SO YUMMY. It's going straight into my "memorize and make on the regular" file. (Where it will be in good company with your Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup). I really appreciate that, for this one and the Lentil, the quantities you use of each ingredient actually correspond to how we purchase food. I love using an entire onion rather than a portion of one, an entire can of coconut milk or tomatoes, an entire 1 lb. bag of lentils, etc. And for this one, I bought a 2 lb. bag of baby carrots and used those, didn't even cut them up, and it was a super convenient dinner for a crazy busy day. Just wanted to thank you for all that you do!
I made your carrot soup and pureed 3 roasted sweet potatoes into it--YUM. Today (next day), it was delicious with shredded cabbage and toasted almonds AND cilantro. Thank you!
I looove carrot soup......in fact I'm a big fan of puree soupes in the very cold winter months of my province in Canada (in French we call them pottages). I love changing up recipes once in a while. One of my current favorite is a cauliflower soupe with aged cheddar mixed in. I remember getting all four of my wisdom teeth pulled out at 19 (3 of them needed to go so the dentist decided to go for all of them in one go just to make it...balanced). I didn't swell either (surprisingly as I felt like I looked like a squirrel with it's mouth full of nuts). But my all time favorite after the dentist food is mashed potatoes with thyme.
Wonderful soup! The generous splash of lime is a requirement IMO. Dressed it with toasted almonds and spouts. Thanks!
Mmmm. I love simple recipes. And healthy too. This is great for the cold weather we've had lately.
Yummy! Have you ever made this with rainbow carrots by any chance? I have a bunch in the fridge and I am wondering if I should give them a go with this soup, or if the soup would be a brownish color.
Oh now that is my kind of soup! This one has been printed and put in the recipe file! We are forecast a meter of snow tonight with temps of -18c so I will be cooking up a batch of this to keep us warm!
Thank you Heidi! I work on a farm and have an abundance of carrots that I am working through. The touch of chili paste and toppings gave the soup a tasty tropical flavor. I even added some additional paste for extra spice. Your yummy soup is getting me through this cold New England blizzard and one I'll be sure to share with our CSA members!
"Stumbled over" your www and made your carrot soup with home-grown organic ingredients, directly out of my New Zealand vegetable garden - except the coconut milk of course... simply stunning! This will be a "keeper".
I absolutely love carrot soup. It's the perfect meal for a dreary winter day like today. Beautiful photography!
Looks great and simple to make.
I used up the bag of mini carrots that was just starting to look suspicious, together with both curry powder and some minced ginger rounding it out. So good that I had a bowl for breakfast with some sliced almonds sprinkled on top! Thanks, Heidi.
This is a *phenomenal* creation. My husband and I enjoyed mugs full as we awaited this east coast storm. Surprisingly to me, the butter is key: infuses the carrots, gently softens the curry paste, boosts an underlying creamy tone. Another genius soup in the arsenal -- thank you Heidi!
I made this soup today and it's delicious, thank you! I used full-fat organic coconut milk, per your recipe. Does the soup suffer if "lite" organic coconut milk is used, instead of full-fat? I welcome your thoughts. Want to stay healthy and am trying to get back to "whole foods" (which makes me wary of "lite"), but also want to cut back on fat when possible.
The coconut milk sounds like an amazing addition! I adore making carrot soup too!
oh wow, this sounds amazing! and i love the simplicity of it!
I just made this for an easy Saturday supper and it is delish! The recipe made plenty for tomorrow too. I can see this in my work-week lunch bowls with rice, tofu and steamed veggies. Yum. Thank you Heidi :)
Heidi - Glad to hear that your wisdom tooth extraction went well. Hope you have a quick recovery. I actually have a question for you. Is there something else that I can use other than the coconut milk? I am allergic to coconut but my husband can't have dairy products either, so I need to find something else to replace it. Hope you can help, please?
Hi Rose - You could make a cashew nut cream by blending 1 cup of cashews with 2 or 2.5 cups of water...and use that in place of the coconut milk.
When I worked in the industry, I used to make a carrot soup something like this. But not with the coconut milk (which I love). I'm looking forward to trying this.
Even though this only takes 10 minutes to cook, I opted to try it out in my slow cooker today and it was amazing. I cooked the onion and oil in it for about an hour while I chopped the carrots and dealt with a sick toddler. Then added everything else and cooked on high for 3 hours. Blended it in the blender, served over leftover rice and topped with toasted pepitas - the most delicious thing I have made in a long, long time!!
this is great! i just made it last night. the leftovers held up well today, too. i used jamaican curry powder (about 1.5 tbsp), juice from a half lime, and added a can and a half of water (using the coconut milk can) and that seemed to work perfectly. i threw on some greens, chopped almonds, and served with garlic bread on the side. my new favorite, along with the classic glazed wine and vegetable lentils recipe, of course :)
My comment is a bit of a twist. I'm western, my son is half Thai and he was brought up 50% Thai / 50% western food and today he's a mean cook of both cuisines. His Thai wife had never eaten a western dish until she started to come to our house, and at first she was not adventurous to eat anything not Thai. Slowly my son got her to try some western basics. Today she absolutely loves carrot and pumpkin soups, goulash and roast meats and more. Often nowadays she sees things in magazines etc., and places an order for my son or me to cook it. I did make this carrot soup recipe and it got full marks from DIL and my two Thai granddaughters and my son.
I really love this post. Adore carrot soup! And you know, it's funny; my dentist is also a bee keeper!
Beautiful and healthy looking soup.
I made this soup tonight -- oh, my! It's absolutely delicious! I was not a creamed soup fan until I starting cooking from your blog. Your Simple Tomato Soup is a regular in my house. In fact, I served that soup in tiny glass cups -- two sip cups -- at my husbands 60th birthday party, topped with a little oregano drizzle and a couple of almonds. It was gorgeous. You have such a way with combining flavors, and you top really wonderful, but simple, soups with all of these things that put them over the top. What about a cookbook of these layered soups? I'd buy that cookbook in a heartbeat.
If I had red curry paste, I would make this gorgeous soup right now. It sounds fabulous!
This is great! I made it tonight and it was as easy and tasty as promised! I halved the recipe but forgot to halve the curry paste and it was perfect for us! Thank you so much!
Hi Heidi, Your soup recipes have never failed me! I had carrot ginger soup on the mind right before I checked to see if you had a solid carrot soup recipe. Kismet! I made this last night (adding ginger, garlic, and indian curry powder while browning the onions) and added chopped almonds with lemon juice to finish. I'll have to try sprinkling toasted white sesame seeds and green onions with tonight's leftovers. Thanks for making your recipes so simple, adaptable, and richly rewarding. -Marcine
If this is anything like that wonderful tomato soup that uses coconut milk, I'm in! That's one of our favorite soups. Glad to hear the tooth extraction went well.
Thank you for the recipe! It's just what I needed to tackle these 10lbs of carrots I have.
This recipe sounds so good for the times when all of us need time to heal and nurture ourselves from all kinds of afflictions...I wanted to be sure to remind folks about using different kinds of squash and also the use of turmeric, garlic and any of many kinds of curry not only for physical ailments, including preventative and wellness actions we can use or do to remedy sore joints, inflammations. These ingredients are also good for mental relaxation and stress and anxiety reduction. These conditions are also prevalent in many inhabitants of our world today like they found out hundreds of years ago in recipes and cures used in Asia. It would be great if we could at least try to solve some of our problems and conflicts starting with the food we eat and sharing with our neighbors in communities and our planet at large too
All the full fat coconut milk available to me has gums added for thickening, which for digestive reasons I try to avoid. Does your favorite brand have them? Have you been able to find one without?
HS: There are a number of organic coconut milk brands here free from additives...I always look/use those. Happy hunting.I can't say I've ever had carrot soup! Weird, but I love the coconut and curry paste. Perfecto for this cold dreary weather.
You always take presentation to great heights Miss! This looks absolutely fantastic with the garnish. The coconut and lime goes so well with carrot, and I just bought chili oil the other day, result :D Thanks for the recipe, I am glad to hear the operation went well :) x
I love the idea of using Thai curry paste in carrot soup -- normally I go with the classic coriander. When it comes to texture, I've found passing the soup through a sieve really does help make it silky. It's a bit of chore, but I think it's always worth it for the end result.
This looks delightful! A strange (but brilliant) restaurant tip I read some years ago, I believer from Thomas Keller, was around blended soups: in a nutshell, he said to blend a soup until you think it's smooth, then let 'er rip for another 5 minutes. The result is the creamiest, smoothest base with a mouth-feel that makes you think it's full of cream.
Delicious! The perfect dish for cold and dark winter days! I'd probably add some ginger to make it a little bit spicy ;)
I can't get enough of soups for dinner lately thanks for this suggestion. Happy healing.
I made this soup today and it was absolutely delicious - I had to lick the pan :-) The coconutmilk and the carrots are a great mixture! Thank you :-)
This sounds wonderful . . . Except I cannot have red curry paste. :( could Madras curry be substituted?
Yes, absolutely! Sounds wonderful.
Hi Heidi, do you have a particular brand of curry paste that you favour?
Heidi, you will forever be inspiring to me; the way you write and the way you make simple food look gorgeous and special and "handle it with care" as you say. I love coconut carrot soup and make something similar with sweet potato added in. Must try this one though with the red curry paste. Heal quickly!
Sounds divine and if you don't need to peel then that's even better. Think I may substitute the almonds for roasted cashenuts though :)
I love anything simple and this looks and sounds delicious. And I bet it's even better when it helps nurse you back to health!
Love the picture! The recipe sounds perfectly delicious.
Try subbing 3-4 (or more!) Tablespoons of grated fresh ginger for the curry paste--it's my all-time favorite (and most-requested) soup-
Simple soups are so satisfying. This sounds delightful!
Finally a different kind of carrot soup! Thanks for sharing! I love the microgreens on top. Where do you buy them? Also, did you make your own chili oil or buy it somewhere? One of the hardest parts of cooking these types of recipes if often finding the ingredients...
This soup looks so simple, healthy and easy to prepare, Eager to try. In tooth news, my husbands tooth cost us 10 grand! out of pocket. 10 g's, and we actually have really good insurance. So teeth are serious!!
Thank you, Heidi. I've been sick in bed for over a week and craving soup but lacking energy or even the ability to stand for long. This was just the ticket! I'm enjoying my first mug now, and it's really lovely.
The soup is stunning in its simplicity. I particularly love the toppings you've piled on - cilantro, almonds, micro greens, and what looks like a drizzle of paprika oil? The result is like a painting I could admire for hours.
Heidi: Can I use curry powder instead of curry paste? Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
HS: You certainly can Phyllis - just add a bit at the beginning, and then more at the end, until the flavor is to your liking - some curry powders are stronger that others, so just keep in mind, you can always add more, but it's harder to take away ;)Thank you - you rescued me from just staring at the computer screen, knowing I needed to get moving, but still not doing it. With lots of carrots from the CSA in the fridge and a quick soup to use them in, none of my excuses could hold up. I made it even quicker by using the pressure cooker so I added the curry and coconut milk afterwards, in the vitamix. Really nice combination of flavors, so once again - Thanks!
This carrot soup is maybe simple, but your topping make it so yummy!
What a beautiful soup. I have a simple carrot and ginger soup which I make regularly this time of year. I love the idea of adding curry paste to soups, it's something I have started doing recently and it really brings out the vibrant flavours and is so warming.
Oh, dear Heidi, I hope you're healing well, and feeling better by the day. Pesky teeth. They're great, when they work! Once again, soup love, as much for its ease as for its language: "flare it out" -- YES!! A phrase, finally, for that special, brilliant last-minute addition of bits and bobs, that turns any smooth, silky soup into something extraordinary and special, and unique every time. We've been doing just this with spinach leek soup, of late (http://www.remedialeating.com/2015/01/hello-green.html), and loving all the different possibilities. Clearly, the only thing to do next is, cue the carrot. Healing thoughts to you, xx, Molly
How lovely! Simple soups are the name of the game in our house currently. Can't wait to make this.
Beautifully smooth and simple. Love the look of those toppings, just gives it that extra bit of fanciness in taste and presentation.
This looks restorative, but very simple. Lovely. Hope the pain of the wisdom tooth extraction has now passed...
Your simple recipes often become my absolute favorites! Thanks for sharing another great one! I hope you're feeling better after the tooth extraction. I wish I could bring you more soup :)
This is utterly divine, Heidi. I'll take it everyday. The tooth extraction, though? How about never? Hope you're feeling better! xo.
Coconut milk and carrots is a marriage made in heaven. I like to add a pinch of turmeric to my carrot soup, it brings a touch of earthiness that I love!
Seems divine! Soups are all the rage right now, and this recipe seems so on point. I can't wait to try it! :)
Yum! I make this with pumpkin puree instead of the carrots, and saute grated fresh ginger and garlic with the onion. Roasted mushrooms make a great topping as well.
this sounds like a heavenly combination! I'm a sucker for coconut milk in soups.
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