Make this warming carrot and ginger soup for cold days, as quick and convenient lunches, or just because it’s an amazing, warming soup. This is a quick to make recipe that is versatile, and great for freezing or meal prep.
Winter soups are a fun way to use up storage vegetables. Carrots are a decent storage vegetable, as is winter squash, butternut squash, beets, and other root vegetables. Whether you’re storing them in a root cellar, a bag of damp sand, or just in your fridge, carrots can last for several months after harvest with minimal effort.
Carrot ginger soup has a sweet taste, especially if the carrots are roasted before the soup is assembled. Other complementary and similar flavors include yam or sweet potato, and baked squash or pumpkin. Either of these winter vegetables can be added to the soup, or substituted for the carrots for a similarly sweet and warming, ginger based, soup.
Carrot and Ginger Soup:
Make a creamy, carrot and ginger soup for warming meals in the colder months. Follow this basic carrot ginger soup recipe and then feel free to customize it to your tastes too. This soup is easy to make gluten-free, and is also dairy-free.
Total time to prepare this recipe is around 3 hours. Stack the baking of the carrots, and the hand’s on cook time is only about one hour.
Warming Carrot and Ginger Soup for Cold Days
Description
A basic, adjustable, carrot and ginger soup that’s great for cold days, meal prep, and using up all your winter stored carrots.
Ingredients
- 6 cups carrots
- 2 sweet yellow onions
- 4โ piece ginger, grated
- 1 can coconut milk or 2 cups broth or stock(optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Toasted almonds or sunflower seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Peel and chop the carrots into 1โ pieces. Chop the onion and grate the ginger, if using fresh ginger.
- For extra sweetness, start by combing the carrot, onion, and ginger in a roasting pan, or sheet pan, with 1 cup water and roasting until carrots are tender, about 1 hour. Drizzle roasting carrots with olive oil too, if desired.
- Then using a high powered blender, like a vitamix, blend the baked veggies until smooth. Or, use an immersion blender. The vitamix will give a smoother texture, while an immersion blender will give a slightly lumpy texture.
- Add coconut milk to help with the blending and increase the creaminess and nutritional value of the soup. Or, if you prefer a lower fat option, use vegetable broth or chicken bone broth.
- Pour blended soup into a pan, and heat on medium heat until it reaches a simmer or low boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Dish up into a bowl, or bowls and top with roasted nuts or sunflower seeds for protein and red pepper flakes for a bit of kick. Or add a bit of sour cream or yogurt for a creamier soup.
- Serve hot. Store extra servings in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, freeze leftovers immediately if desired.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 6 cups carrots
- 2 sweet yellow onions
- 4โ piece ginger, grated
- 1 can coconut milk or 2 cups broth or stock(optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Toasted almonds or sunflower seeds (optional)
Directions:
- Peel and chop the carrots into 1โ pieces. Chop the onion and grate the ginger, if using fresh ginger.
- For extra sweetness, start by combing the carrot, onion, and ginger in a roasting pan, or sheet pan, with 1 cup water and roasting until carrots are tender, about 1 hour. Drizzle roasting carrots with olive oil too, if desired.
- Then using a high powered blender, like a vitamix, blend the baked veggies until smooth. Or, use an immersion blender. The vitamix will give a smoother texture, while an immersion blender will give a slightly lumpy texture.
- Add coconut milk to help with the blending and increase the creaminess and nutritional value of the soup. Or, if you prefer a lower fat option, use vegetable broth or chicken bone broth.
- Pour blended soup into a pan, and heat on medium heat until it reaches a simmer or low boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Dish up into a bowl, or bowls and top with roasted nuts or sunflower seeds for protein and red pepper flakes for a bit of kick. Or add a bit of sour cream or yogurt for a creamier soup.
- Serve hot. Store extra servings in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, freeze leftovers immediately if desired.
Additions: You can add additional spices to this basic carrot and ginger soup to expand the flavors or tweak the flavors to your preferences. Garlic is a good addition, alongside the onions. Use 2-4 cloves to help round out the flavor if you enjoy garlic. Turmeric or cumin can also be added, I use 1 teaspoon of turmeric in the batch and up to 2 teaspoons of cumin.
Why is My Carrot Soup Bland?
There’s a few reasons for bland carrot soup, first, you boiled the carrots instead of roasting them first. Roasting brings out the sugars and flavors of the carrots to a greater degree than simply boiling them.
Second, you used only water in the recipe instead of coconut milk, broth, or stock. Each of these liquid options has additional flavors, as well as nutrition, to add to your soup. Use homemade broth, not store bought, if you’re concerned about sodium levels. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, make vegetable stock to use instead of bone broth, or stick with the coconut milk. For extra creamy carrot ginger soup, use coconut cream.
Third, you’ve avoided all salt. Some salt is necessary to fully bring out the sweetness and flavor of the carrot and ginger soup. Even just 1/2 teaspoon in the pot can make a huge flavor difference. Obviously, if you need to be super low sodium then still omit the salt. However, I’d add two stalks of celery to the soup in that case. Celery can enhance flavor in the same manner as salt, but without the sodium.
Soups for Meal Prep:
Due to it’s blended and smooth texture, carrot and ginger soup is a great option for freezer meal prep. Simply make a double or triple batch ahead of time, and freeze in individual or meal sized portions. Make sure to use an airtight container. This soup is a great option for light winter lunches, or for quick evening suppers and even for afternoon snacks. Coincide roasting the carrots for this recipe with making something else in your oven, to reduce prep time and also reduce oven use.
To reheat your frozen carrot and ginger soup, thaw first for several hours, then simply heat in the microwave for 2-5 minutes for a single serving. Time will depend on your microwave. I prefer reheating soups on the stove top or in the instant pot, on low, though this takes longer than the microwave.
Other great soups for meal prep include Grandma’s chicken soup, with all the vegetables and bone broth goodness readily available. You may also like to try a hearty chili, or bean based soup.ย If you’re adventurous, you can even try chicken feet soup, it’s actually not hard to make and still tastes like chicken.
If you do pantry meal prep, or use a pantry storage method, then a cream based soup may also be great for your meal-prep and pantry planning goals. A dry cream soup base like this one is easier to store than cans, and takes up less space. It’s also just as easy and quick to use as canned cream soup, but without the hassle of recycling the can too!
If you’re exploring soup recipes, this homemade soup is super charged with nutrition and is just as quick and easy to make as the carrot and ginger soup too.
Back to You:
What is your favorite comfort soup recipe? Leave a comment and let us know.
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