Creamy Curried Carrot Ginger Soup

Vegan carrot ginger soup with a curry twist—this sweet and spicy, healthy curried carrot soup is warm, creamy, comforting, cozy, and perfect for warming you up from the inside all year long! Even better, it’s loaded with nutrients and requires just one pot on the stove or in an Instant Pot!

Warm, Fragrant Vegan Carrot Ginger Soup With Curry Twist

As a blog focusing on economic recipes, you better believe we adore carrots. They’re humble, super low-cost, and wonderfully versatile to transform into coleslaw, carrot cake muffins, carrot ginger salad dressing, and with winter on the way, this curried vegan carrot ginger soup!

With a combination of carrots, ginger, curry powder, garam masala, and coconut milk, this spicy carrot soup has minimal ingredients but is BIG on flavor. It’s sweet, zingy, spicy, creamy, silky, and perfect for enjoying all year long, but especially on chilly days when you want something light but satisfying and cozy.

Using an immersion blender or stand blender, this creamy carrot soup is also velvety smooth, but you can adjust the consistency to your liking. That’s not the only adaptable thing about this curried carrot soup recipe, either. Keep reading for several ingredient substitutions, add-ins, and dietary modifications.

Best of all, this flavor-packed vegan carrot soup relies on just a few simple ingredients and pantry staples, one pot, and is perfect for getting you through cold and flu season or even for impressing as an appetizer or side at dinner parties and the holidays!

Carrot Soup Benefits

It’s easy to forget that soups as simple as this spicy vegan carrot ginger soup are also loaded with nutrients and plant compounds while remaining low on calories. Carrots, for example, contain gut-friendly fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, vitamin K, potassium, and beta-carotene, which are good for bone, heart, eye, and immune system health and can even lower the risk of several cancers.

Moreso, the main bioactive compound in ginger, gingerol, is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, with several medicinal properties and tummy-settling properties. Plus, coconut milk adds heart-healthy fats. This healthy carrot soup is also dairy-free, vegan, paleo, and whole30!

At their low cost, carrots have become a weekly staple in our kitchen, ready to whip up baked carrot chips, glazed carrots, carrot cake oatmeal, and pickled carrots & daikon radish. You might also enjoy reading our complete guide to carrots!

The Ingredients and Substitutes

This easy curried carrot ginger soup recipe relies on around a dozen simple and inexpensive ingredients for a flavor-packed, low-budget meal.

• Carrots: Regular carrots will work fine. You can use frozen (thawed) carrots, too.

If you have no carrots, this soup will taste delicious with sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or pumpkin!

• Celery: The combination of onion, carrot, and celery makes up a classic soup base to provide a more full-bodied flavor to this carrot coconut curry soup.
• Oil: Use any neutral cooking oil, like vegetable oil, olive oil, avocado oil, etc. Coconut oil also works.
• Aromatics: This carrot curry ginger soup relies on garlic and onion for added depth. Use garlic and onion powder in a pinch.
• Ginger: Fresh ginger is best. Adjust the amount to taste for zingy carrot soup.
• Vegetable broth: You can use vegetable broth or veg bouillon/stock pots mixed up with water to the equivalent amount. Use low sodium if preferred.
• Coconut milk: Use canned full-fat coconut milk for the creamiest vegan carrot ginger soup. Lite canned coconut milk should also work, though. If you aren’t a fan of coconut, other dairy-free creams will work.
• Seasonings: To make this carrot ginger soup extra spicy and aromatic, we’ve boosted the recipe into a curried carrot soup with the addition of:
  • Curry powder (we use extra hot curry powder, but regular works too)
  • Garam masala
  • Salt (sea salt)
  • Pepper (white or black pepper)

For a different flavor profile, replace the curry powder and garam masala with red curry paste for a Thai spicy carrot soup.

The Add-ins and Variations:

There are several ways you can add extra nutrients and flavor to this simple and budget-friendly spicy carrot soup.

• Lemon/lime wedges: To serve with the soup and add brightness and depth.
• Turmeric: Just a pinch for subtle flavor depth and immune-boosting benefits.
• Maple syrup: To enhance the natural sweetness of the carrots, add a drizzle of maple to the curry spiced carrot soup (to taste).
• Orange juice: Add sweet-tart depth by replacing a small amount of the broth with orange juice (just 2-3 tbsp).
• Apple: Another way to further increase the sweet-tart flavor of this healthy carrot soup with added tang is with 1 shredded apple, like a McIntosh, Golden Delicious, or Granny Smith.
• Other vegetables: To add more flavor, depth, and extra nutrients, pair the carrots with another vegetable in this spicy carrot soup, like:
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Parsnips
  • Butternut squash
• Lentils: Making spicy carrot and lentil soup with red lentils makes for a thicker, heartier soup loaded with plant-based fiber and protein. We recommend adding ½ cup of lentils with an additional 1 ½-2 cups of vegetable broth to cook the lentils.
• Vegan butter: Stir in a small amount at the end for richness and silky mouthfeel.
• Noodles: Check out our recipe for curried carrot noodle soup.

How to Make Vegan Carrot Ginger Soup

Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions.

• 1) First, rinse, peel, and dice the carrots, celery, and onion into small ¼-inch pieces and mince the garlic and ginger.
• 2) Then, heat the oil over medium heat in a large heavy-based pan (like a soup pan or a Dutch oven). Once hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger, and celery, and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• 3) Then, add the curry powder, garam masala, and salt & pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes.

• 4) Add the carrots and vegetable broth and increase the temperature to high to bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the curried carrot ginger soup for between 20-30 minutes or until the carrots are very tender.

• 5) Transfer the soup in small batches to a high-speed blender (or use an immersion blender directly in the pan) and blend until creamy.

If using a blender, only fill it halfway, hold the lid down with a tea towel while blending, and pause it occasionally to open the lid and allow steam to escape (or hold the tea towel over the hole in the lid to allow it to escape but not splash).

Be careful if using an immersion blender, as the liquid is HOT.

At this point, taste the soup and adjust any of the seasonings to taste.

• 6) Finally, add the coconut milk, stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes before the carrot coconut curry soup is ready to serve!

Enjoy the soup as is, or add your favorite soup toppings. Like fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, green onions), cracked black pepper, croutons, roasted carrot, kale chips, crispy roasted chickpeas, a swirl of vegan yogurt or coconut cream, roasted pumpkin seeds, etc.

FAQs

Recipe Notes and Tips

• Adjust the sodium: Based on if you’re using regular or low-sodium broth, adjust the amount of added salt, to taste.
• Adjust the consistency: How much broth you add and how much you blend the soup will determine its texture and consistency. I.e., for a slightly chunky carrot coconut soup, only blend ⅔ of the soup.
• For oil-free soup: Use a splash of vegetable broth instead.
• If it’s too thick: Add some more vegetable broth.
• Adjust the heat: You can use mild, medium, hot, or extra-hot curry powder and adjust the amount to taste.
• Waste reduction tip: If you have carrot greens, turn them into pesto. Other vegetable scraps will work for homemade vegetable stock.
• To save prep time: A mandoline will make chopping even-sized carrot slices a breeze.

What To Serve With Spicy Curried Carrot Ginger Soup

While this curried carrot coconut milk soup is super warm and cozy, it’s also very light and perfect for enjoying alongside:

• A slice or two of crusty bread, baguette, focaccia, or flatbread (for dipping) with or without vegan butter
• Cornbread
• A simple green side salad or grain salad, like this strawberry kale salad and southwest quinoa salad
• Vegan grilled cheese
• Other sandwiches and wraps
• Avocado toast

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions

To give all the flavors a chance to meld, we highly recommend preparing this soup a day in advance. Alternatively, you can just cut down prep by chopping and storing all the veggies/aromatics, ready to use the next day. Store them in separate containers in the fridge.

Store any vegan carrot soup leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Enjoy it chilled or reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm.

You can also freeze this carrot curry soup for 3 months by allowing it to cool, then transfer it to freezer-safe bags/containers or an XL silicone ice-cube tray. Thaw it In the fridge overnight before reheating.  

More Easy Vegan Soup Recipes

• Matzo Ball Soup
• Creamy Curried Butternut Squash Lentil Soup
• Hearty Kale and Bean Soup
• Cream of Broccoli Soup
• Veggie-packed Potato Leek Soup
• Kale & Quinoa Soup
• Potato Lentil Turmeric Soup

You might also enjoy browsing this collection of 18 cozy vegan soup recipes!

Photos by Alfonso Revilla