This creamy-textured carrot soup couldn’t be easier to make, and it looks so pretty with a swirl of homemade parsley and almond pesto. It cooks with basic ingredients — carrots, onion, celery, and broth — that are blended to make a thick, smooth texture without using cream or milk.

Creamy carrot soup in a serving bowl, with chopped almonds and parsley garnished on top and a spoon.

How do you make creamy carrot soup without using a ton of milk or cream? The secret is to use a blender and just the right amount of liquid. This smooth-as-silk pureed soup tastes like the essence of sweet carrots.

Ingredients for a carrot soup recipe arranged on a surface, including carrot bunches with green tops, chopped celery, onion, a fresh sliced lemon, coriander and honey.

Key ingredients

All you need is a handful of everyday ingredients to make the best carrot soup. Aside from the carrots, a tasty soup can be made with pantry vegetables and this basic homemade vegetable broth.

  • Carrots: To make a pot of carrot soup to serve about six people, you’ll need 2 pounds of fresh carrots. If you buy carrots in bunches with their green tops attached, keep in mind their weight can vary anywhere from 6 ounces to almost a pound per bunch. Take time to weigh them on a produce scale in your market for the best accuracy.
  • Butter and olive oil: Butter and carrots taste magical together (hello, butter-glazed carrots!) I use a mixture of olive oil and butter for flavor, and prevent the butter from burning during the saute step.
  • Spice: Along with salt and pepper, I add ground coriander to add a subtle spice to the soup base. Coriander is the seed produced from flowering cilantro, which is a member of the botanical carrot family — you could say they’re made for each other!

Carrot soup prep steps:

  • Prepped carrots on a cutting board in the process of peeling and chopping, with a colander of scrubbed carrots in the background.
    1. Scrub the carrots and trim off the tops and root ends. You can peel them if they look especially gnarly or dirty. Chop them into 1-inch chunks.
  • Chopped celery and onion in a pot with butter.
    2. Put chopped celery and onions in a large, heavy pot with butter and olive oil.
  • Chopped celery, onion and spices cooking in butter and oil in a soup pot.
    3. Cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the coriander and honey.
  • Chopped carrots, celery and onions in a pot covered with vegetable broth.
    4. Add the carrots and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
  • Chopped almonds, parsley and green onions on a cutting board.
    5. While the soup cooks, make the pesto with chopped almonds, parsley leaves, and green onions.
  • A pot of carrot soup pureed with an immersion blender.
    6. Puree the soup until very smooth.
  • Two bowls of smooth pureed carrot soup, topped with chopped almonds and parsley.
    7. Serve the soup in bowls, each topped with a swirl of the almond-herb mixture.
Creamy carrot soup in a serving bowl, with chopped almonds and parsley garnished on top and a spoon.
5 from 1 rating

Pureed Carrot Soup with Parsley Almond Pesto

Karen Tedesco
This creamy-textured carrot soup couldn't be easier to make, and it looks so pretty with a swirl of homemade parsley and almond pesto. It cooks with basic ingredients — carrots, onion, celery, and broth — that are blended to make a thick, smooth texture without using cream or milk.
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Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 stalks chopped celery
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon honey, or maple syrup
  • 2 pounds (900 g) carrots, peeled if preferred, and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 5 cups (1.5 l) vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Parsley Almond Pesto

  • ½ cup (125 g) sliced or whole raw almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
  • 2 (50 g) green onions (scallions), green tops and white sections, chopped
  • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • ¼ cup (125 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt

Equipment

Instructions
 

Prepare and cook the carrot soup

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, stir in 1 cup chopped onion2 stalks chopped celery, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and black pepper to tastee. Cover the pot, lower the heat to medium and cook about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Pro tip: Covering the pot produces steam inside the pot, which softens the veggies faster without the risk of browning them.
  2. Stir in 1 teaspoon ground coriander and 1 tablespoon honey and cook 30 seconds. Add the carrots and 5 cups vegetable broth Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered, 15-20 minutes, until the carrots are tender. Remove from the heat.
  3. Puree the soup in a blender (in batches) until completely smooth, or use an immersion blender right in the pot. Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

Parsley pesto

  1. Briefly pulse the almonds, green onions, parsley, red pepper, olive oil and a good pinch of salt in a small food processor until the mixture is finely chopped.

Serving

  1. Serve the soup in bowls, topped with with spoonful or two of the pesto.

Notes

  • The soup keeps 3-5 days refrigerated or frozen for 1 month.
  • To toast almonds, spread them on a small baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 325F.

Seasoning variations:

  • Add 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger and/or 1-2 teaspoons of curry powder in step 2.
  • For an extra-creamy touch, stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream or thick full-fat coconut milk to the soup after it’s pureed.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 293kcal Carbohydrates: 27g Protein: 5g Fat: 20g Sodium: 688mg Fiber: 7g Sugar: 14g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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