Comforting, easy Roasted Carrot Soup recipe is a lovely weeknight dinner since it's ready in less than one hour. This vegetarian, gluten free soup is creamy and flavorful and can be served as a side dish or main meal. Skip the parmesan to make this dairy free and vegan.
Disclosure: I might make a commission for purchases made through links in this post at no extra cost to you.
Excerpt from The 30-Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: 101 Easy, Flavorful Recipes for Lifelong Health, published by Rockridge Press. Copyright © 2018 by Serena Ball, MS, RDN, and Deanna Segrave-Daly, RDN.
My amazing friends Deanna and Serena of Teaspoon of Spice have a new cookbook, and it's a good one -- The 30 Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook!
And by "diet" they don't mean eat a certain amount of calories or restrict things or any of that nonsense. The "diet" they're referring to is the general kinds of food a person regularly eats; a lifestyle.
I've tried a few recipes from the Teaspoon of Spice blog in the past and had great success, so I knew their cookbook would be wonderful. And of course, I was right 🙂
This cookbook is ideal for anyone looking to cook wholesome meals at home without a lot of fuss. The recipes are full of plants, nutrients, and flavor. You will not feel deprived with these recipes. Plus, the Mediterranean Diet has been shown to have multiple health benefits including the reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
The lovely ladies share more about the Mediterranean Diet in their book, so be sure to grab a copy! And they also let me share one of their cookbook recipes with you today... Roasted Carrot Soup with Parmesan Croutons. And if it's any indication of the other recipes, then you need this book in your kitchen as soon as possible.
Why you should make Roasted Carrot Soup
Is there anything better than a warm bowl of creamy soup on a cold night? Only when that soup is a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, and topped with cheesy homemade croutons.
This soup recipe is a delicious way to get more veggies into your day plus it's very budget friendly. It was about $6 for everything, and I bought my ingredients at Whole Foods. [I usually don't do that but I needed groceries delivered and Amazon Prime Now delivers groceries for free over $35 from Whole Foods in 2 hours]
How to Make Easy Carrot Soup
What I love about this recipe is that it is really streamlined. No time is wasted, and it comes together quite quick.
- Preheat the oven with the baking sheet in the oven.
- Toss together your carrots and oil
- I used the soup pot to toss together the carrots and oil.
- This keeps me from having to wash another bowl, and you're going to be adding oil and eventually the carrots back into this pot so it doesn't matter.
- I used the soup pot to toss together the carrots and oil.
- Add the carrots to the preheated baking sheet (carefully) and roast.
- Meanwhile, saute the onion in the pot.
- Add the spices, broth, and water. Boil.
- Add the carrots to the pot and remove from heat.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Or use a blender.
- Sprinkle bread with parmesan cheese and broil. Cut into bite sized pieces.
- I like to toast the bread a little bit on both sides before adding the cheese to get maximum crunchiness, but that's just my personal preference.
- Serve soup with parmesan croutons.
Tips for Making this Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup
Make Ahead Tips
This soup is wonderful made ahead of time like pretty much all soups are. I always love leftover soup because the flavors have developed even more.
However, do not make the parmesan crouton topping until immediately before serving to keep them from getting soft.
Variations & Substitutions
I used water instead of broth, and I added a few extra spices to make up for the lack of flavor.
To make this dairy free and vegan, skip the parmesan on the bread. You can use a non-dairy cheese or omit.
To make this gluten free, be sure to use gluten free whole grain bread or skip the bread altogether.
Alternative prep & cooking methods:
I love my immersion blender and use it quite often in the fall and winter months. However, you can certainly use a blender to prepare this soup.
Be sure to let the liquid and carrots cool a little bit and very carefully transfer them to your blender. Also, do not completely close the lid -- leave a crack for heat to escape and use a kitchen towel to keep from splattering soup all over your kitchen.
Storage Tips:
Store this soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to one month.
I don't recommend making the croutons until right before serving because they don't stay crispy. If however, you make them in advance, do not top the soup with them until immediately before serving. And you can reheat them and get them a little crispier by popping back in the oven for a minute or two at 400*F.
What to serve with this dish
This roasted carrot soup is a complete meal; you've got veggies, carbohydrates in the bread and carrots, and protein from the cheese and bread.
You can skip the cheese and bread, and replace it with cooked shredded chicken, shrimp, or tofu for another source of protein to round out your soup.
Final thoughts:
This thick and creamy roasted carrot soup is rich and flavorful. Roasting the carrots helps to bring depth to the soup while adding a caramelized flavor.
I love the balance of the sweet carrots with the spicy red pepper flakes. And the parmesan cheese croutons add texture and really rounds out this whole meal. YUM!
MORE CARROT RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE:
- Coconut Carrot Coffee Cake
- Spiced Roasted Carrots
- Carrot Fries
- Coconut Curry Carrot Soup
- Carrot Cake Protein Pancakes
- Rosemary and Garlic Carrots
Roasted Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 pounds carrots unpeeled and chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth or water
- 4 slices whole grain bread
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese shredded (about 2/3 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450*F with the baking sheet in the oven.
- Toss together your carrots and oil in a bowl. [I used the soup pot to toss together the carrots and oil. This keeps me from having to wash another bowl, and you're going to be adding oil and eventually the carrots back into this pot so it doesn't matter.]
- Add the carrots to the preheated baking sheet (carefully) and roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
- Meanwhile, saute the onion in the pot for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the spices, broth, and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer until carrots are ready. [this should happen around the same time that the carrots are done]
- Add the carrots to the pot and remove from heat.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup. Or use a blender.
- Sprinkle bread with parmesan cheese and broil. Cut into bite sized pieces. [I like to toast the bread a little bit on both sides before adding the cheese to get maximum crunchiness, but that's optional.]
- Serve soup with parmesan croutons. Enjoy!
Notes
*Makes 6-7 cups
*For gluten free, use gluten free bread or skip making the parmesan croutons. Top soup with parmesan cheese if desired.
*For dairy free, skip adding the parmesan cheese and toast bread for croutons. Sprinkle nutritional yeast for extra flavor if desired.
What to use in this recipe:
Meme
Doesn't this recipe look good?! You should probably pin it for later:
Nutrition à la Natalie says
I LOVE carrot soup and those croutons look to die for! Def going to add this to my menu.
Holly Marie Pelton says
This soup is so delicious on a cool fall day!! And the croutons on top add the perfect crunch!
Liz Shaw says
This whole post screams health and convenience. I LOVE it! I cannot wait for some carrot soup for dinner 🙂
Lorie says
Word to the wise: don't skip the cheese bread. Best combo ever with this soup!!!!
Lindsey says
Loved this simple, delicious soup - and those croutons!!!
Emily Kyle says
I got a whole bunch of carrots from the Farmers Market up the road to make this - sooooo good! Love the 30-Minute Mediterranean Cookbook!