Roasted Carrot Soup
Six of the nine ingredients: onion, olive oil, ginger, thyme, carrots, and garlic. (Missing from the photo: vegetable stock, salt and pepper.)
We cut our carrots into 1-inch rounds. If your carrots are fat like ours, you may want to slice them into 1/2-inch pieces to ensure they're nearly cooked through by the time the broiler works...
Amanda neatly arranges carrots on a baking sheet.
They get tossed with a little olive oil and some salt.
And then under the broiler!
Smashin' garlic.
We put the thyme and the ginger into the stock to infuse.
After about 5 minutes under the broiler, our carrots looked like this. We flipped them and put them back in the oven.
After about 15 minutes in the oven, our carrots looked like toasted orange marshmallows. We scraped off any spots that seemed especially charred but left most of the browning.
Amanda browns the onions to start the base of the soup.
Once they were soft and caramelized, she added the garlic.
And we tipped in the roasted carrots.
In goes the infused veggie stock -- sans ginger and thyme sprig.
After a 5 minute simmer, we tried to blend the soup, but our fat carrot chunks proved too much for this immersion blender.
So, we resorted to the trusty Waring.
Much better!
Time to taste!
See how happy we are during this second batch of blending, fortified with spoonfuls of delicious soup?
If your soup is too thick, just add some water or more broth and reheat gently before serving.
Author Notes: A toasty warm version of a traditional style carrot soup. - Reeve —Reeve
Food52 Review: When we first tasted this soup, we were puzzled. How could a dish that calls for only seven ingredients (not counting salt and pepper), and just five simple steps, be so complex in flavor? Reeve has devised a soup that can be put together in about half an hour, yet would be a great first course for a dinner party. It's dairy-free, but supple and creamy, and roasting the carrots gives them sweet, earthy depth. We especially love Reeve's technique of infusing the broth with ginger before making the soup, ensuring a gentle but pervasive heat. We used a good quality vegetable stock, and we recommend you do the same -- since there are so few ingredients here, each one really counts. - A&M —The Editors
Serves 4
- 6 to 8 large carrots (about 1 3/4 pounds)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt
- 6 cups vegetable stock (good quality, not too high in sodium)
- 1 piece ginger, an inch long, peeled
- 1 sprig thyme, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Peel and cut the carrots into 1/2-inch rounds. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Set an oven rack 6 to 8 inches from the heat source and turn on the broiler. Broil the carrots until they brown and soften, turning them over with a spatula every 5 minutes or so; this should take 15 to 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil, add the ginger and the sprig of thyme and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Put the onion in a medium stock pot with the remaining olive oil. Brown the onion over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, and then add the carrots.
- Remove the ginger and thyme from the stock and add the stock to the pot with the onions and carrots. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the carrots are soft enough to puree.
- Use an immersion or a standard blender to puree the mixture until smooth. If the soup seems too thick, add more stock or water and reheat gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. To serve, garnish with chopped fresh thyme.
- Your Best Carrot Recipe Contest Winner!
More Great Recipes: Olive Oil|Soup|Soups|Vegetables
Topics: Soups
3 months ago Cheri Mayell
This really yum yum , had a few times now. Sometimes added half & half carrot butternut squash, still lovely. Calling on Tawney Duckworth you said you were serving this with a Morrocan carrot salad love to know how you make that!
4 months ago Claire Swarthout
Surprisingly good for how simple the recipe is - worth trying out!
7 months ago Helena
Hello Cheryl :-)
Can l please ask you how do you make your own veggie stock?
Thank you!! Helena
7 months ago Cheryl
Certainly! And it couldn't be easier. I save all of my vegetable scraps (be sure to wash the whole vegetable before peeling): potato peelings, onion skins, tops of leeks & carrots, unused broccoli stems, cilantro/parsley stems, core of cabbage, etc. I save these in a plastic bag in the refrig during the week.Then I also look in my refrig for the unused veggies that are heading past their prime: carrots I need to replace, tired celery, old garlic. Just any vegetable I am never going to use. Put everything in a pot and cover with water. I add teaspoon or so of whole peppercorns and no salt, but you could salt it. Cover and bring to a boil then simmer. I like to simmer for 3 hours, but you could do less. Then strain and there you have it. Freeze if you're not going to use within a few days/week. Couldn't be easier and healthier. Hope that helps.
8 months ago Cheryl
Just delicious! But initially I didn't think so. After cooking, I added salt and I felt that the salt overpowered the inherent sweetness. So I set it aside in the refrigerator. Pulled this out for lunch today and reheated. How wonderful this is! I doubled the ginger and like others pureed it back into the soup. I also used my homemade vegetable stock (I am really on a roll making vegetable stock now from scraps, etc.). Thank you!
7 months ago Helena
a half a minute agoHelena
Hello Cheryl :-)
Can l please ask you how do you make your own veggie stock?
Thank you!! Helena
8 months ago Dale
Oh my goodness that is heavenly! I left the ginger in and love the depth of flavor. I used my bullet to puree. I did add water at the end as it was quite thick. So easy....yum.
8 months ago cheribarry
I made this soup this afternoon and it is just delicious. Thanks.
9 months ago MargaretB
This was a really, really interesting soup-- in a good way! As other commenters noted, I reserved about 1/4 of the ginger and a few leaves of the herb (tarragon-- the store was out of thyme) to puree into the soup. I added those with the garlic to briefly saute. Made a delicious office lunch the next day.
One note-- don't be like me and read "6 to 8 carrots" and then just not weigh them! I picked up a bunch of 7 carrots at the store without measuring, and even cutting the liquid down to 4c made for a fairly thin soup. It was still delicious, but next time, I'll go by weight.
about 1 year ago Lisa Besse
OMG, this soup was amazing!! I used carrots from the CSA and the soup was phenomenal. I did add about 1/4 of the ginger to the soup to be puréed. I will be making this over and over again throughout the Fall!
over 1 year ago Brenda Nejedlo
Oh, my goodness. This was fabulous! I tossed the chopped carrots with just enough truffle oil to cover them. My husband sampled it first and exclaimed, "Oh, my...well, I don't know what you're having for dinner, but I'm having this!" Thank you for a great recipe that I will be making over and over.
over 1 year ago Leslie
I took the advice of others and added the ginger and thyme from the simmering broth and added it into the soup. I also roasted the carrots at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes instead of broiling them. This came out beautifully; a richer take on the carrot ginger soup I normally make.; perfect for the cold temperatures!
over 1 year ago Tawny Duckworth
Turned out perfect, I looked at the other comments and doubled the thyme and ginger. Removed the thyme and puréed the ginger. I did add an additional cup of broth to avoid overly thick soup, but overall pretty awesome. I am partnering it with Plenty Moroccan Carrot Salad for a veggie forward dinner party!
over 1 year ago Joyce Parkes
I made this recipe recently and was swimming in oil by the end of cooking.. I think its just too sweet for me too which is a shame as it looks so inviting.
over 1 year ago Monica
I just made this for dinner using virgin coconut oil instead of olive oil and it is AMAZING!
about 2 years ago Liza
really tasty... but this one is my personal favorite carrot soup http://www.bonappetit.com...
about 2 years ago Liza
I usually substitute the thai chili sauce for red curry paste since I'm not a huge fan of spicy food
over 2 years ago Andrea Meehan
Lovely! Thanks!
over 2 years ago Remy Smith DeVito
Phenomenal. Added slight touch of coriander and cumin seed (ground) because I was too lazy to go out in my yard. Thanks for a great recipe.
over 2 years ago cniklas
Similar recipes historically result in overly thickened soup which will require thinning and added flavoring. One would think such a simple recipe would be able to produce the desired flavors and consistency ,but no such luck.
over 2 years ago christina vincent
Antonia, I have made this soup with Kitchen Basics unsalted vegetable stock and unsalted chicken stock. Both were excellent. I also suggest using organic or baby carrots that are bright orange and tender. Some carrots are too woody and lack flavor.
I garnish the soup with thyme leaves for added flavor.
over 2 years ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
What brand of stock does Food52 use for this? I have made this twice now, each time using a good, flavorful homemade stock, and frankly, have been underwhelmed. I use only the freshest vegetables from the farmers' market, juicy ginger that's locally grown, and I pick English thyme from my bush minutes before dropping in the pot. I broil the carrots until just black on some of the edges. Still, I cannot understand what all the fuss is about. I'm wondering if perhaps I should try this with a commercial stock. Also, is the thyme supposed to disappear? I notice the ginger, but not the thyme. ;o)
over 2 years ago LeeLeeBee
I prefer this soup thicker than specified (probably about 4 cups of stock?), double the ginger and thyme, a dash of ground cumin or coriander, and with a hit of acid added right before serving. I use verjuice when I have it, lemon or lime juice when I don't.
over 2 years ago LeeLeeBee
Oh, and I just saute the ginger and garlic together - I love a big hit of ginger, not just an infusion.
10 days ago robin lewis
I'm going to try this tonight using Trader Joe's Hearty Vegetable Broth...will report back here w the results...
over 2 years ago Wanda
So good!