A smooth carrot soup with ginger, orange and chicken stock.
I think this soup works best when it is puréed until perfectly smooth. This is best achieved using an upright blender. If you use an immersion blender, just keep working at it until the soup is as smooth as you can make it.
We use chicken stock in this recipe, but you can easily use vegetable stock for a vegetarian option.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots (6-7 large carrots), peeled and sliced thin
- 2 cups chopped white or yellow onion
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 3 large strips of zest from an orange
- Chopped chives, parsley, dill or fennel for garnish
Method
1 Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat and cook the onions and carrot, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let the onions or carrots brown. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the carrots and onions as they cook.
2 Add the stock and water and the ginger the strips of orange zest. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the carrots soften, about 20 minutes.
3 Remove the strips of orange zest and discard. Working in small batches, pour the soup into a blender and purée until completely smooth. Only fill the blender bowl a third full with the hot liquid and keep one hand pressing down on the cap of the blender to keep it from popping off. Add more salt to taste. (You will need more salt if you are using homemade unsalted stock or unsalted butter.)
Garnish with chopped chives, parsley, or fennel fronds.
Yield: Serves 4-5.
This looks wonderful! I’m loving carrots this time of year and can’t wait to try this.
This soup was a hit! My family enjoyed it and now I have a new recipe to share!
This sounds terrific! Thank you for all the easy scrumptious vegi recipies. They are helping me to shop and eat with care.
This soup it´s great. In our country we use to take it in winter…however we use the mediterranean way, changing the butter for Extra Virgin Oliva Oil. try it! it´s healthy and delicious too.
The simplest recipes are always the best. Love the flavors, the short ingredient list, and the gorgeous color of this soup!
I made something similar last weekend. Except I based it on a potato and leek soup that I added to. The orange zest is an interesting idea. I think I will try this version too.
I make a very similar soup which has 6-7 carrots, a head of cauliflower florets, chopped onion, olive oil to saute onion, water or chicken broth, bay leaf, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper. Start carrots first as they take longer, then add cauliflower florets. Puree when vegetables are cooked. The soup is thickened naturally and served garnished with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and fresh chives. This recipe with the ginger and orange zest and carrots is also absolutely delicious. Totally different and refreshing. Thanks!
I happened to have all the ingredients for this, so I just made it, and I thought it was excellent. My kids (4 and 2) loved the color and each ate a small bowlful — this was a great way to get vegetables in them.
I always use an upright blender to puree soups but always extra things to wash. Would you recommend purchsing an immersion blender for these recipes? Wondering if worth the splurge…
Boy is it worth the splurge! I got a Waring. The small size (7″) works well in a home kitchen. Tough as nails commercial grade, but small enough for home kitchen use and big enough for my biggest pots.
This makes me want to rush out and look for a kilo of organic carrots. I have a couple of Meyer’s lemons lying here, and I am tempted to try some zest from one of them…
Valerie, I prefer using an upright blender which makes soup as smooth as cream. Using my immersion blender does a good job but IMHO, the finished product is never as smooth as with a standard upright blender.
Not saying this to be rude at all, and I’ll readily admit that I need a new pair of glasses. But when I first looked at the posted picture of your soup, I thought there was a tiny green cricket or grasshopper floating on top! I really MUST call the ophthalmologist for an appointment!
I make zest with a micro plane, what are zest strips? Going to make this for my wife who loves the Thai dishes with ginger.
Just use a vegetable peeler and peel off a few long (1 inch by 3 inches) strips of zest from the orange.
Oooo! Another riff on carrot soup! Maybe I’ll make this tonight to serve with our big ole dinner salad….And I’ll top it with dukkah, which marries so well with carrot and ginger. Thank you!
Have you ever roasted the carrots first? Do you find it makes any appreciable difference, if so?
I have not tried roasting the carrots first, but it sounds like a worthy experiment!
Just made this soup, I added a can of coconut milk…yum!
This is the perfect dish for a cold day!
I make a similar soup with pumpkin, but without orange zest and I also add a little bit curry powder.
Or use an immersion blender. Third best power tool in my kitchen (after the KitchenAid mixer and my reliable old food processor)
Soup looks extremely healthy and perfect for dinner after a heavy lunch..Going to make this for today’s dinner..
Serve this right out of the blender? You don’t return it to the pot at all?
Since you are blending in batches, I would transfer the blended soup into a large bowl.
This was incredibly delicious, yet so simple. I loved the use of the orange zest strips – added a subtle flavor. I used all veggie broth instead of the chicken broth and water combo. Also, blending it up in my Vitamix gave the soup incredible texture. Thanks for another great recipe!
It was good, although personally next time I make it I will omit the orange peel and add more ginger – wasn’t my thing
Made this last night. Easy to prepare and taste wonderful! This is a keeper. Yum!
Well, Elise…ya did it again. Posted a recipe that coincidentally I had all of the ingredients on hand and needed to use up. It was like getting a “free” meal. ::giggle:: Turned out great. I didn’t have orange peel so I used 2 Tablespoons of orange juice. Would also be good using leeks instead of onions, and since I was having issues with my blender (id10T error), the “homestyle” texture was acceptable. Froze the remaining since DH didn’t like it – he didn’t like the “ginger” without “Marianne”. ::rolling eyes:: This recipe is a keeper for sure…one day I’ll use coconut milk with a dollop of Thai green curry… nom nom nom
Hah! Has he been on any “3 hour tour”s lately? ;-)
This soup sounds wonderful, Elise. Have you tried it chilled at all? It sounds like it’d make a great summer soup as well.
I have tried it chilled but I prefer it hot.
Just finished making this and it’s AWESOME and so insanely easy. Thanks a bunch!
This was beautiful, easy, tasty, and luxurious.
I imagine this would be perfect with silly little sandwiches and tea! I added a touch of coconut milk at the end to silken it up. Even the husband ate it all up. Yay for a wonderful dinner! Boo for no leftovers.
I had great results with a handblender (though I did add the soup in batches to the plastic measuring cylinder [which I thought was useless] the blender came with and pureed the soup in there).