Creamy carrot soup recipe with coconut
This easy and delicious carrot soup is lactose free and creamy due to the use of coconut milk. It’s vegetarian but can easily be adapted to your needs.
Carrot soup
I have this love for all things carrot. It’s such a delicious vegetable all on it’s own and simple recipes like this one with roasted carrots is so so delicious. I recently even made a carrot tarte tatin with nduja which must have been the greatest surprise at how insanely good that was. It’s the combination of the sweet I think with the crunchy. Anyway, for this recipe for a delicious carrot soup I’ve given it a small Asian twist.
Table of Contents
What do you need for the carrot soup
Let me first say that some of the ingredients are optional. If you want to leave out things that are not readily available to you, that’s totally fine. At the bottom of the post you will find some recommendations for additions and variations.
- fresh carrots
- lemon grass
- coconut milk
- vegetable broth
- olive oil or coconut oil
- immersion blender
- fresh garlic
- onion
- ginger
- Pumpkin seeds
- basil
While this soup is perfect for a cold day, due to the sweet carrots it kind of also works really well in summer.
Making the carrot soup
Now this is a pretty easy recipe. So to start you place a large soup pan on the stove on medium heat. If you don’t have a soup pot you can also use a dutch oven instead. Add a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil into the pan and first add the sliced onions. Sauté them until slightly translucent before you add the garlic and the ginger. Chop all the carrots to a smaller size. I usually slice them thumb size thickness but at the end of the day it doesn’t really make a lot of difference. It will change the cooking time though.
Once the carrots are all sliced you add them to the pan with the vegetable stock. Add the orange zest and the bruised lemon grass stalks. Those will be removed before blending the soup. Don’t forget or your soup will be too strong!
I did once forget to remove the oranges and was a bit surprised by the slight bitterness of the soup. Until I remembered. Haha.. It’s not a drama if you forget the oranges but forgetting the lemon gras won’t be so tasty. So take it out.
Now once all the ingredients are in (except the coconut cream) you increase the heat to medium-high heat and bring to the boil.
Blending
Once the carrots are soft enough (which should take roughly 20-30 minutes depending on how big or how small you cut your carrots) you take out the lemon grass and the orange and add a can of coconut milk. Using an immersion blender blend it into a creamy and smooth soup. You can also use a high-powered blender or a food processor, but I always prefer the stick blender for this job. That’s easier I think with hot liquids.
The soup will have a pretty rich flavor and you serve it with the toasted pumpkin seeds and the basil leaves over the top.
Additions and variations
Now as mentioned this soup is vegetarian and even vegan but you could substitute the coconut milk for heavy cream if you’re not into the coconut flavor. In terms of creamy soups this is definitely one of my favorite soups.
Roasted carrot soup
If you’d like and have extra time on your hands you can turn this into a roasted carrot soup. That will deepen the flavor of this great recipe and give you extra flavor from roasting. I would increase the amount of carrots used though as roasting gets rid of moisture and will reduce the amount of carrots. I used about a pound of carrots so I would increase with 50% extra for a roasted version. Roast the carrots on a baking sheet and then add them to the soup and continue in the same way. The total cooking time will be way shorter as the roasted carrots are already soft.
Serve with crusty bread
This soup is delicious with crusty bread and is great alongside a cheese sandwich. I actually also like adding some parmesan cheese to the soup at the end. But then I love anything with parmesan. It’s worth making this into a double batch as it’s such a delicious soup and you can save the rest of the soup in an airtight container and freeze for another time. I like to freeze it in individual portions so it is easier to take out and reheat whenever I need a pick me up.
You can freshen things up if needed by adding a splash of lemon juice. Check for the full recipe and nutritional information in the recipe card.
If you love carrot, you might want to check these recipes too!
Carrot soup with coconut milk
Equipment
- Immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 1 red chili deseeded and chopped
- 2 tsp curry powder plus extra
- 500 g carrots trimmed and sliced
- 2 stalks lemongrass bruised
- 2 strips orange zest
- 700 ml vegetable stock
- 400 ml coconut milk
- salt and pepper
- 4 tbsp pumpkin seeds roasted
- few basil leaves optional, for serving
How to make the carrot soup
- Heat the oil in a large pan. First add the onion and saute until slightly translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and cook for about 3-5 minutes until soft. Tip in the onion, garlic, ginger and chili, then cook for 3-5 minutes until soft.
- Add the curry powder, the carrots, lemon grass and the strips of orange and then cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
- Once the carrots are cooked, remove the lemon grass and the orange and add the coconut milk in. Heat everything up and once hot, use an immersion blender to make a smooth soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the soup with the pumpkin seeds and the basil leaves on top
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
