Carrot-Ginger Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Last week a friend and I met for lunch at The Placid Baker in Troy. We did as we always do: ordered a lot, shared everything, contemplated dessert — macaron? frangipane tart? chocolate cake? — then split that, too. Everything, as always there, was delicious but the soup of the day, a curried coconut-ginger number, had me scraping the bowl, wiping the crock’s creases with the last of the freshly baked baguette. Heaven.
Several days later, I called to see if I could get some details. Tom, the owner, answered and kindly shared: they roast the carrots with curry, coriander and turmeric; they cook celery, onions, and ginger stovetop; and they use coconut milk for creaminess. The soup, incidentally, is vegan.
I set to work scrubbing the carrots, sweating the aromatics, toasting the coriander seeds and before long, the soup was nearly done. Before puréeing it, I borrowed a trick from Julia Turshen’s recipe for curried lentils: after dumping the can of coconut milk into the pot, I used the empty can as a measure, filling it up twice with water and adding it to the pot.
There is nothing unusual about the flavors in this soup — carrot and ginger, a common match, often are found with curry and coconut — but I still find this extraordinarily good and exactly what I want to be eating right now. It’s a reminder, too, how layers of flavors — slowly sweated aromatics, roasted vegetables, toasted spices, big-flavor ingredients such as coconut milk — can build into something more than the sum of its parts. There is no stock in this soup, and there is no need for it.
This soup comes together in about 45 minutes and you can prep as you go: while the carrots roast, chop the onions onions, celery, and ginger; and while those vegetables sweat, toast the spices. The carrots should finish roasting at about the same time the aromatics finish sweating. Once all the vegetables are cooked, you are minutes from completion.
PS: ALL the soup recipes right here → Soup
Here’s the play-by-play: gather your ingredients:
Give your carrots a scrub; peel them if they are especially dirty.
Roughly chop the carrots; toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper; roast at 425ºF for about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, finely chop the onions, celery, and ginger.
Sweat them slowly in a few tablespoons of olive oil.
Meanwhile, gather your spices and …
… toast some coriander seeds, if you wish.
Add the spices to the sweated vegetables.
When the carrots begin caramelizing at the edges…
…add them to the pot.
Add a can of coconut milk, then fill it up with water and add it to the pot, too. (Do this twice).
Bring to a simmer…
…then purée.
Serve with lots of bread, olive-oil toasted if you wish.
Carrot-Ginger Soup With Curry & Coconut Milk
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 3.5 quarts
Description
Inspired by a soup served at The Placid Baker in Troy.
*Only peel the carrots if they are especially dirty. My CSA carrots, even with a good scrubbing, must be peeled before using. Post peeling and trimming, my carrots weigh around 1.5 lbs.
If you don’ have curry powder on hand or don’t feel like buying it, you could probably get away with this mix: 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon ground or whole coriander, 2 teaspoons ground or whole cumin, 1/2 teaspoon paprika. If using whole spices, toast first in a dry skillet, then crush with a mortar and pestle.
Ingredients
- 1.5–1.75 pounds carrots, washed well and unpeeled*, see notes above
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste, divided
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 small onions, finely diced to yield 2 cups
- 4–5 stalks celery, finely diced to yield a heaping cup
- a small knob ginger, peeled, and minced to yield 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed or ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, such as Madras
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425ºF. Trim the root end off each carrot. Roughly chop the carrots into 2-inch pieces. Cut lengthwise through the carrots at the thicker parts. Transfer carrots to a rimmed sheet pan. (I line mine with parchment paper, because they are in bad shape.) Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Transfer pan to oven and roast for 25 minutes or until edges begin to caramelize in places.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat with the onions, celery, and ginger. As soon as you hear a sizzle, turn the heat down to low, season with a pinch of salt, stir, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid every so often, letting the condensation drip back into the pot, to check on the vegetables; stir to be sure the vegetables aren’t sticking or browning — the goal here is to get the vegetables soft, not to brown them (though a little browning is fine).
- If you are using whole coriander seeds, toast in a small skillet until fragrant and beginning to brown. Use a mortar and pestle to grind them into a fine powder. Once the onions, celery, and ginger have cooked for 15 minutes, add the coriander, curry powder, and turmeric. Stir to combine.
- Add the roasted carrots and the can of coconut milk. Fill up the empty can with water and add to the pot. Do this once more. Add the remaining teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a simmer. Use an immersion blender to purée until smooth. Alternatively transfer to a food processor and purée in batches.
- Taste. Adjust taste as desired. Simmer to thicken if necessary; add more water if too thick.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: baked, sauté
- Cuisine: Indian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
95 Comments on “Carrot-Ginger Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk”
This soup is wonderful. Two recommended tweaks: grate the ginger with a microplane and never, ever add water to anything – but especially soup. If you’re vegan, use veggie stock and if not, use chicken stock. Otherwise, it’s fabulous! 🙂
I was wondering if this soup could be served cold/chilled and if as a result there would be any recommended changes to the recipe
thank you
Hi Deborah! I certainly think it could. My only thought is in regard to the thickness of the soup. It thickens up considerably as it sits/chills, so you may just need to thin it, either with more coconut milk or water (or a mix of the two) before serving.
I was wondering if the 1.5 lbs of carrots is raw (that’s what it looks like) or after trimmed and cooked? The weight is less than half after roasted, so I was just wondering. I am in the process of making this soup – it looks so delicious.
Hi Bonnie! Yes, it’s pre-trimming, pre-cooking. Hope the soup turns out well. I love this one 💗
I just finished making this soup according to the recipe. It is delicious! Next time I will try a couple of tweaks; lite coconut milk rather than regular, vegetable stock rather than water, and I will simmer a bit longer so that my immersion blender will do the job. I needed to blend this batch in my Vita-Mix because I wanted a smoother texture. This soup is fabulous! You won’t be disappointed!
Great to hear, Teri! Thanks for writing and sharing your notes 💕💕💕💕
Ali, your vegan carrot ginger curry soup is delicious! And so easy! It’s the perfect thing to make on a cold, snowy day.
So nice to hear this, Peg 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing. Hope all is well 💕
Your recipes featured multiple times in my and my friend Karen’s Galentines’ Day baking and eating weekend. In addition to the incredible Focaccia we baked together, we had multiple soup meals and this was one. Super easy and very tasty!
Based on your recommendation, I bought Madras curry powder and am glad I did; so much better than the stuff I had on hand (and Fatema approved). Great idea to roast the carrots to build flavor; I’m going to remember that. Used chicken stock instead of water. Next time I may add a little more ginger, some cilantro and finely chopped preserved lemon. Apparently my love of cilantro and preserved lemon has no limits.
I got confused between this and your Vermont Cheddar cheese soup (which we ate the next day) so this one had a sprinkling of pancetta on top (but really didn’t need it).
Accompanied by cheesy bowl bread (added Aleppo pepper this time instead of cayenne) this soup made for a great tasting and very satisying lunch/linner.
I will definitely make it again; thank you for another great recipe!
Susanna in Seattle
So fun to read all of this, Susanna! Love that you added Aleppo pepper to the cheesy bowl bread — one of my favorite breads, and I cannot get enough of Aleppo pepper. Great to hear about the Madras curry powder, too. It’s what my mother has always used. I love the tin, too. This is my favorite line ever though: “Apparently my love of cilantro and preserved lemon has no limits.” 💕💕💕💕
One of my favorites to makes d eat… lives my family and friends… 6 ⭐️ ‘s.
Great to hear, Doris! Thanks for writing. I love this one so much, too 🙂 🙂 🙂
Made today – SO GOOD!
Great to hear, Cindy! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Made this last night, just as written, and it’s delicious. Can’t wait for leftovers for lunch. I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand, this will be made again.
Thank you for yet another winner!
Great to hear, Jeannie! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Question: My husband hates coconut so I never use coconut milk. Would straight milk work?
Possibly! Coconut milk also lends a richness, so I might consider using some heavy cream in combination with milk.
SO good! Incredibly easy and with ingredients that I already had. Definitely in the winter rotation. I don’t know how I missed this the first time but really glad it was part of a post on winter soups.
Great to hear, Anne! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Great Soup! I added red lentils ( for protein) with extra liquid & red pepper flakes for spiciness. Topped with Cilantro and toasted pumpkin seeds. Very yummy!
Yum! Sounds wonderful. Thank you for writing 🙂
Couldn’t believe how so few ingredients taste so complex! I added some gochuchang to spice it up. Thank you!!!
Yum!! Fun idea. Love it.
question:
How many oz of coconut milk?
Hi! Typically 1 can of coconut milk is 13.5 ounces.
The soup sounds so delicious; however, I have a severe sensitivity to coriander (also cilantro…same plant) and cannot tolerate it. What can I substitute for coriander? Thank you.
Hi! I would just omit it. You could toast come cumin seeds, which I think would be nice, but the blend of spices in the curry powder should be enough.
Hi Ali I made this today and it was so yummy even though I made a couple of mistakes. Left the carrots in long lengths instead of 2″ pieces so had a really hard time blending them. Next time I make it I’ll cut them shorter and roast longer. I’m also going to double the recipe because it was so good!
So nice to read this! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂
I was serious impressed by this recipe, it’s “hands down” the absolutely the BEST carrot soup ever tasted!!!
I changed only 2 things = added 2 cans of chicken broth (Better than Bullion) instead of water + grated the ginger instead of mincing, which made it a tad spicier, but no complaints there!
Served as a,soup, but would also consider serving up large individual shots of it as an appetizer at a tapas party…. YUM!!!
Great to read all of this, Jennifer! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Love your individual soup-shot idea 🙂
How many calories are in a serving?
Hi! I don’t have that info, but this calculator is great: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I have made this fabulous soup multiple times now and it’s always a hit. I use water as directed and don’t find a need to add stock as some other reviewers have suggested; all the flavours shine through beautifully. My only addition is a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end for some acidity. Today I used my nutrition blender instead of my immersion blender and the soup has come out wonderfully creamy and smooth. This batch is going to a dear friend who has just had surgery. Nutrients and flavour at its best. Thank you Alexandra for this “go-to” recipe.
So nice to hear this Kelly! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Fresh lemon juice as a finisher for soups so often is just what they need. Will try!