Creamy Carrot Soup with Leeks and Ginger
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Creamy Carrot Soup with leeks and ginger is a velvety soup that is incredibly healthy, perfect in every season, but most especially for spring feasts. Smokey, slightly sweet with a zip of fresh lemon flavor, this soup cooks in 10 minutes in an Instant Pot or in 15 minutes on the stovetop.
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Delightfully flavorful, it’s a soup I love to serve at Easter or when thoughts of carrots are top of mind.
Made with simple ingredients, this is a delicious and healthy soup bursting with flavor.
Carrot Soup Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this delicious soup. The exact measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Fresh carrots
- Leek (white and light green parts)
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger (or ground ginger)
- Ground cumin
- Paprika
- Butter
- Lemon juice
- Sea salt and pepper
How to Make Instant Pot Carrot Soup
There is no need to saute the vegetables when making the carrot soup in an Instant Pot.
Step 1: Add the Ingredients to the Pressure Cooker
Add the carrots, chopped leeks, garlic, ginger, water, sea salt, cumin, and paprika into the pressure cooker insert. Stir to combine, set the lid in place, and turn the vent to the sealing position.
Step 2: Cook on High Pressure
Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. When finished cooking, naturally release the pressure.
Step 3: Blend
Transfer the soup to a blender. You can use an immersion blender, but the results are not as creamy. Add the butter and lemon juice into the blender with the soup. Blend until completely smooth and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you want the soup a bit creamier, add another tablespoon of butter.
Healthy Benefits of Carrot Soup
While I love to serve this soup for its utter deliciousness, it’s also incredibly healthy. Here are a few health benefits of the ingredients in this soup.
Carrots: They are a great source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants. They also have a number of health benefits and have been linked to lower cholesterol levels and improved eye health.
Leeks: Rich in vitamin k, leeks contain heart-healthy compounds shown to reduce inflammation, cholesterol, blood pressure, and the formation of blood clots. They’re also high in provitamin A carotenoids important for vision and immune function.
Ginger: Antioxidant-rich, ginger is known for numerous health benefits like digestion, managing blood pressure and blood sugar levels, nausea, headaches, motion sickness, and more. While it’s especially delicious as in Lemon Ginger Tea, it’s a wonderful flavor addition to recipes.
How to Make Carrot Soup on the Stovetop
In a medium-sized soup pot or Dutch oven, saute the leeks and carrots in 1 tablespoon of neutral oil until soft. Then stir in the garlic and ginger; saute for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
You will need 6 cups of liquid, which is different than the Instant Pot method. You can stir in 4 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water, or 6 cups of water. Add the sea salt, cumin, and paprika.
Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce to maintain a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until the carrots are fork-tender. Carefully transfer the soup, butter, and lemon juice to a blender and blend until smooth.
Tips for Making Carrot Soup
- Adjusting the consistency: while I love carrot soup with a thicker consistency, you can thin the soup during the blending process with additional water, broth, or up to 1 cup of coconut milk for added richness.
- Leeks: if you prefer, you can substitute a medium onion for the leeks.
- Lemon juice: it isn’t absolutely necessary but I love the added freshness it brings to the soup.
If you love healthy, delicious, pureed soups, and Panera Bread happens to be a favorite, when the weather turns chilly, I love to make our Panera Autumn Squash Soup with simple ingredients and so cozy for fall days.
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Creamy Carrot Soup with Leeks and Ginger
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs carrots peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 8 carrots)
- 1 leek white and light green parts halved and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1½ teaspoon ginger grated 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- fresh parsley for serving
Instructions
- Add the carrots, chopped leeks, garlic, ginger, water, sea salt, cumin, and paprika into the pressure cooker insert. Stir to combine, set the lid in place, and turn the vent to the sealing position.
- Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. When finished cooking, naturally release the pressure.
- Transfer the soup into a blender. You can use an immersion blender, but the results are not as creamy. Add the butter and lemon juice into the blender with the soup. Blend until completely smooth and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you want the soup a bit creamier, add another tablespoon of butter.
- If you need to thin the soup, add additional water, vegetable broth, or up to 1 cup of coconut milk. I like the consistency without thinning the soup. Ladle into bowls, garnish, and serve.
Video
Notes
Ideas for Garnish:
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Red pepper flakes
- Swirls of heavy cream or coconut milk
Making the Soup on the Stove Top:
To make this soup on the stovetop, saute the leeks and carrots in 1 tablespoon of neutral oil until they are soft. Then add the garlic and ginger; saute for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. You will need 6 cups of liquid. You can stir in 4 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water, or 6 cups of water. Add the sea salt, cumin, and paprika. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce to maintain a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until the carrots are fork-tender. Carefully transfer the soup, butter, and lemon juice to a blender and blend until smooth.Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
The flavors and texture are spot on and fulfilling. I made the recipe exactly as written and it was beyond delicious! I will be making this one again.