This soup was born from the good intentions of my husband. He went and checked out the local farmer’s market in our new area on his way home, as per my request. He saw a gigantic bag of “seconds” carrots for five dollars (probably about 40lbs of carrots!) and came carrying it into the house proudly with a goofy grin on his face.
He doesn’t even like carrots. Ha!
I wasn’t totally sure what I would do with my new carrot bounty, but I had broth in the fridge to use up. Carrot soup it was! I was inspired by a simple carrot soup recipe from Pioneer Woman, but made lots of tweaks and twists and turns to customize it completely to my own tastes. Her original recipe is far too plain for me.
I also did some experimenting with different flavours and add-ins, like using coconut milk instead of cream (I actually prefer it this way), and adding an apple to bring out the sweetness in the carrots. I also added a few potatoes to give it a thicker consistency, and to make sure the carrot flavor didn’t overpower.
I think it turned out amazingly. My carrot-hating husband tried it reluctantly, and looked at me with a shocked expression and said “you made carrots edible!” So basically a five-star review from the world’s toughest critic.
Personally, I absolutely love it, and can’t wait to make it again!
Have you ever made carrot soup before?
Creamy Carrot Soup with Browned Cumin Butter
Ingredients
- 4 quarts chicken bone broth homemade, see note below
- 12 cups peeled and chopped carrots
- 5 Large potatoes peeled and quartered
- 12 cloves garlic pressed or diced finely
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk see notes for my brand recommendations
- 1 apple
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- Bring carrots and potatoes to a boil in broth, then simmer and add garlic.
- When carrots are soft, add the salt, nutmeg, apple, pepper, and stir.
- After soup has been simmering for 10 minutes, minimum, add coconut milk and stir. Let rest for 10 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender or in a high-powered blender (I used my Vitamix).
- While the soup is getting cozy, make the toasted cumin butter by toasting cumin seeds in a cast-iron frying pan briefly. When they start to get fragrant and brown, remove from heat to a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder) and grind into a fine powder.
- Add ¼ cup butter to the pan, cook until butter is browned, and then add ground cumin back in. Stir and simmer for one minute, then remove into a small bowl for serving at the table.
- Serve soup and drizzle cumin butter on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Frances
Delicious!
Angela
I have never seen cumin seeds sold in my local grocery store. Would it work to brown cumin powder in a dry pan and then add some butter?
Beth
I don’t think it would work to brown the powder, but you could add the powder to the melted butter while it’s browning. That might be ok (though I haven’t tried it!)
Lisa/SyncopatedMama
OhMyGoodness! This post couldn’t have come at a better time, because we just picked up 50 lbs. of “seconds” organic carrots this past weekend (although ours were $17, so you really got a great deal, because $17 was a good deal for around here!) We’ve gotten this bag before and juice a lot of them, but I still find myself having a difficult time coming up with things to put them in (and I put them in EVERYTHING). I will be making this soup next week! (I’d make it this week, but we also got 10 pounds of mushrooms, and I’m turning those into soup today.)
Beth
Mmm, mushroom soup sounds amazing, too! Hope you enjoy the carrot soup!