Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe

This tasty creamy carrot soup recipe comes together in under 1 hour and is finished with fresh herbs and crème fraiche for an unbelievably elegant simple soup. The ease of making this dish will blow you away and just how flavorful it is.

We are a soup family and make and eat it at least 2 times a week during the winter. If you or your family are similar, you must try my Ham and Lentil Soup or Avgolemono.

Carrot Soup

Carrot soup is a simple creamy dish consisting of fresh carrots, stock, and other ingredients that are cooked together, pureed, and finished with cream. This silky-smooth soup comes together quickly and is lighter than most soups due to its few ingredients. It is also very common to serve this soup with a blot of sour cream or crème fraiche which adds a little sourness to balance out the flavors.

While there are a lot of recipes for carrot soup that use a few spices or ginger, I like to keep it simple and ensure this soup is very carrot-forward so that it remains the hero of the dish. While the cream is commonly used to finish the soup, it can be made without a healthier alternative.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Carrots – Fresh carrots are best to use in this soup. However, you can use frozen carrots. I was able to use fresh from the garden.  
• Onions – I use a combination of yellow onions and leeks. You can substitute the yellow onions for shallots, white, or sweet onions. In addition, I use garlic in this recipe.
• Stock – You can use chicken stock or vegetable stock. Water is also an option, but not as flavorful.
• Cream – Heavy cream is the best option, but half and half can also be used. You will also need sour cream or crème fraiche to garnish the soup with.
• Herbs – Fresh thyme is very good in this soup. In addition, I garnish with parsley. Other herb options are dill, rosemary, sage, or chervil.
• Wine – A dry white wine like chardonnay, sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio is used to deglaze the ingredients before cooking. If you cannot have wine, replace it with stock or water.
• Fat – You can use olive or avocado oil, ghee, or clarified butter.
• Lemon – A little bit of clean lemon acid will brighten up the carrot soup.

How to Make Carrot Soup

Start by large dicing the onion and thinly slicing and rinsing the leeks.

Peel and roughly chop the carrots.

In a 7–8-quart rondeau or Dutch oven pot, cook the onions in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over low to medium heat while occasionally stirring until well browned, which takes about 35 to 40 minutes.

In a separate large 7–8-quart rondeau or Dutch oven pot, roast the carrots in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat while frequently stirring until lightly caramelized, which takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

Deglaze the carrot pot with 1 cup of white wine and cook over medium-high heat until it is almost gone, or au sec. Turn the heat off and set it aside.

Once the onions are well caramelized, stir in the garlic, cook for 30 to 45 seconds or until fragrant, and then deglaze with 1 cup of white wine and cook over medium-high heat until it is almost gone, or au sec.

Transfer the carrots to the pot with the caramelized onions.

Next, add in the thyme sprigs and chicken stock and cook over low to medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until the carrots are very tender.

Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the carrot soup using a beurre mixer or in your blender until smooth. It’s ok if it’s a bit thick at this stage.

Next, blend in or whisk in the cream. Adjust the seasonings with salt and ground white pepper.

Garnish with crème fraiche or thinned sour cream and optional minced fresh chives and thyme leaves.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this carrot soup up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: Cover the soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cover the soup and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: Place the desired amount into a medium-size pot and cook over low heat until hot.

Chef Notes + Tips

• You could make this soup with yellow or purple carrots as well.
• If, for some reason, your soup does not thicken, add in a mixture of 3 tablespoons of cornstarch whisked with 6 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry. Pour this mixture after the soup has been boiling for a few minutes and is not thickening.
• When using the blender, be sure to remove the center cap of the lid to let the heat escape. I usually hold a kitchen towel over the top so the soup doesn’t pop up once I turn on the blender.
• To thin the sour cream, mix 3 tablespoons of sour cream with 1 tablespoon of milk.
• If you want to keep this healthier, replace the amount of cream with stock.

More Soup Recipes

• White Chicken Chili
• Fish Chowder
• Lobster Bisque
• French Onion Soup
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup

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Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe

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5 from 7 votes

This creamy carrot soup recipe comes together in under 1 hour and is finished with herbs and crème fraiche for an elegant, simple soup.

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 large peeled yellow onion
• 1 large or 2 medium-sized leeks, green part and root end removed.
• 15 to 20 large carrots, this should equal 1 heaping gallon cut up
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 finely minced garlic cloves
• 2 cups chardonnay
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• coarse salt and ground white pepper to taste
• crème fraiche

Instructions

• Start by large dicing the onion and thinly slicing and rinsing the leeks.
• Peel and roughly chop the carrots.
• In a 7–8-quart rondeau or Dutch oven pot, cook the onions in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over low to medium heat while occasionally stirring until well browned, which takes about 35 to 40 minutes.
• In a separate large 7–8-quart rondeau or Dutch oven pot, roast the carrots in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat while frequently stirring until lightly caramelized, which takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Deglaze the carrot pot with 1 cup of white wine and cook over medium-high heat until it is almost gone, or au sec. Turn the heat off and set it aside.
• Once the onions are well caramelized, stir in the garlic, cook for 30 to 45 seconds or until fragrant, and then deglaze with 1 cup of white wine and cook over medium-high heat until it is almost gone, or au sec.
• Transfer the carrots to the pot with the caramelized onions.
• Next, add in the thyme sprigs and chicken stock and cook over low to medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until the carrots are very tender.
• Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the carrot soup using a beurre mixer or in your blender until smooth. It’s ok if it’s a bit thick at this stage.
• Next, blend in or whisk in the cream.
• Adjust the seasonings with salt and ground white pepper.
• Garnish with crème fraiche or thinned sour cream and optional minced fresh chives and thyme leaves.

Notes

Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this carrot soup up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: Cover the soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cover the soup and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: Place the desired amount into a medium-size pot and cook over low heat until hot.

You could make this soup with yellow or purple carrots as well.

If, for some reason, your soup does not thicken, add in a mixture of 3 tablespoons of cornstarch whisked with 6 tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry. Pour this mixture after the soup has been boiling for a few minutes and is not thickening.

When using the blender, be sure to remove the center cap of the lid to let the heat escape. I usually hold a kitchen towel over the top so the soup doesn’t pop up once I turn on the blender.

To thin the sour cream, mix 3 tablespoons of sour cream with 1 tablespoon of milk.

If you want to keep this healthier, replace the amount of cream with stock.

Nutrition

Calories: 440kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 9gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 402mgPotassium: 737mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 20397IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 1mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American, French

Author: Chef Billy Parisi