The BEST way to eat carrots!! The humble carrot makes an amazing creamy carrot soup – but when you sneak bacon in, it makes it over-the-top delicious!
This is a terrific carrot recipe to serve as a meal. Thick and creamy, savoury and sweet, Carrot Soup is quick to make, healthy, freezes brilliantly, and the only thing it needs is hot crusty bread for dunking. And I love the colour!
Creamy Carrot Soup is the BEST way to eat carrots!
When the end of the week rolls round and the cupboards are pretty bare, I can still bank on having carrots, onion and garlic.
And there are a handful of terrific meals that I can think of making with these 3 things – Carrot Pilaf, sautéed carrot in garlic butter tossed through pasta, a golden fluffy omelette stuffed with buttery julienned carrots, and this creamy carrot soup.
Clocking in at just 351 calories for a big bowl, Carrot Soup is creamy deliciousness that’s full of nutrition!
Bacon is the secret ingredient!
Though this creamy carrot soup does have a wee bit more in it than just carrots, onion and garlic, they are mostly pantry essentials with the “other” things being optional.
Like – bacon. 🙂 Crisp up some bacon in the pot before adding all the carrot soup stuff, and it makes the most amazing flavour base ever. It really takes the humble carrot soup to another level.
So I’m really hoping you have some bacon stashed away in the freezer (and if not – why not?!😉)
Health benefits of carrot
As rabbits well know, carrots are GOOD for you!! Here’s why:
- High in antioxidants which are important for good health
- High in vitamin A – for general well being and specifically, vision and immunity
- Rich in other vitamins, minerals and fibre
Carrot Soup looks pretty much like Pumpkin Soup. In fact, you could interchange the two photos and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference (errr, well except for the fact that I took those photos so I know which is which 😂)
There are also similarities in the flavour. Naturally sweet with undertones of savoury, and the same thick, creamy texture – even if you don’t use cream. I do use a bit of cream in this recipe – but it’s optional. It adds an extra touch of richness that can be substituted with a dollop of butter – or left out.
When I’m trying to be “healthy”, I leave the cream out of the soup then drizzle just 1 teaspoon on the surface. It tricks my simple mind into thinking there’s more cream in it than there actually is!
Also – don’t forget Soup Dunkers. Always an essential part of a soup eating experience! Here are a few of my favourites.
Soup Dunkers
– Nagi x
Creamy Carrot Soup
Watch how to make it
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Creamy Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 4 slices streaky bacon (~120g/4oz)
- 1 onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 5 large carrots , cut into 1.5 cm / 3/5″ chunks
- 1 litre / 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth (4 cups)
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml cream
- 3/4 cup / 185ml milk (any fat %)
- Salt and pepper
Serving:
- Fresh thyme or chopped parsley
- Cream , for swirling
- Crusty bread
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until golden. Remove from pot, cool then chop.
- Add onion and garlic into the bacon drippings. Cook for 2 minutes until onion is translucent but not browned.
- Add carrots and stir well to coat the carrot in the oil.
- Add broth, then stir. Cover with lid, adjust heat so it is simmering energetically (about medium). Cook for 20 – 25 minutes until carrot is very soft.
- Remove lid, turn heat off. Use a stick blender to puree the carrot (or cool slightly and do in blender).
- Add cream, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Adjust thickness with milk (or water), if desired.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with swirls of cream, bacon and parsley or thyme if desired. Serve with crusty bread.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More healthy creamy soups
Ultra low cal Creamy Vegetable Soup – a creamy soup broth without butter!
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Life of Dozer
Enjoying the warm sun….
Very nice soup. I made with guanciale instead of bacon for extra flavour. Do not forget to rewarm the soup after adding cream and milk at the end. Mild taste will not offend those who are wary of carrots.
Delicious and super easy. We reduce how much processed meat we eat because it’s carcinogenic so I leave out the bacon most of the time – still delicious!
Absolutely delicious! I used coconut milk instead of cream and also added minced ginger with the onion and garlic. I will be making this again soon
ok this is delicious. i only had 1 rasher of bacon, so i left it in for the entire cook. took it out before i blitzed it. ABSOLUTELY delicious!!!!
I used up carrots from our Farmer’s box. I don’t eat cooked carrot but asked my husband to describe this in 3 words: yummy, very yummy, doesn’t taste like carrot, had a nice little kick! In the interest of using up what I have I didn’t use bacon or cream. GASP! Made 1 slice of bread into croutons. Used Pho stock with chicken stock. Sprinkled with quality coriander powder. I used reconstituted powdered milk.
Made this in the Thermomix. He has given the tick of approval to make more.
This soup was delicious. I will definitely make it again. I did add a potato to make it a bit thicker.
There’s a bomb cyclone outside and I was stuck indoors with a bag of carrots and one onion.
Made this soup and felt so cozy.
No bacon or cream; subbed with some sesame oil for toasty flavor and soft tofu to add creaminess.
Super comforting while the storm howls outside today. Thanks!
Bomb cyclone outside and I was stuck indoors with a bag of carrots and one onion.
Made this soup and felt so cozy.
No bacon or cream; subbed with some sesame oil for toasty flavor and soft tofu to add creaminess.
Super comforting while the storm howls outside today. Thanks!
This was really, really good and easy to make. I do find using an actual blender vs the stick blender makes a huge difference – way creamier. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Tonight I have made this for the second time. I didn’t use any bacon but instead added medium spice paste and a little curry powder to the onions. The result was a lovely soup with a Indian spice flavour, it was delicious and on my favorite list. Thanks Nagi for another top recipe.
Made this a few times and is one of my favourites. Would highly recommend making it. Tonight I added some left
Over roasted sweet potato to the pot 🤤 delicious!
Thanks Nagi!
Your recipes are the best x
1st time making carrot soup. Honestly, carrot soup didn’t sound good but I was pleasantly surprised. Easy and quick to make and had a delicious flavor. Grateful I tried it. I will make this again.
Another delicious recipe. My family love this.
Omg this soup is beautiful, another winner.
What a revelation! We get a regular vegetable box delivered, and this time of year it always includes several large carrots, more than we’d usually go through. I thought we’d exhausted all our roasting, stir-fry and carrot cake options, but had never thought of carrot soup. This was delicious! A lovely combo of sweetness, depth and warmth. Instead of bacon we added cumin as suggested, and for variety a squirt of sriracha sauce to the leftovers.
It tasted great even before adding the cream and milk – less sweet, with a stronger carrot flavour – so I think you could leave the dairy out and experiment with other flavours if you wanted to make this soup vegan.
This will be a staple for us whenever we have carrots in the fridge!
One of my new favourite recipes! Absolutely delicious!
Just made this and it was so delicious! I still added some ginger (I had a frozen ginger root, and I grated it in at the end). Didn’t have cream on hand, so just used milk. Will make again!
Made this absolutely delicious and flavoursome carrot soup following the recipe and garnishes today. Another family favourite, after making your two pumpkin soups last week. Making your mushroom soup tomorrow, can’t wait!
This was a delightful surprise. I wanted to use up some carrots and gave this a go. It is delicious and now I’ve got some yummy lunches for the work week.
Another delicious soup in our house thanks to Nagi! My toddler has loved this since he was a baby and devours it every time. A good way to increase his (and my) veggie intake too!