My daughter, Brittany, asked me to make a batch of pumpkin soup, a family favorite, this fall. “No problem,” I promised, yet I put it off. Cooking a large pumpkin to use as the main ingredient was a pain. By the time I was ready to make the soup pumpkins had disappeared from the shelves. That left me with a dilemna. What should I do?
A friend suggested I try a substitute they used when pumpkins weren’t available; carrots. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. However, given my love of preparing easy meals, I decided to give it a try. This easy cream of carrot soup recipe turned out to be a hit!
Easy Cream of Carrot Soup
This easy cream of carrot soup recipe is a breeze to make, has only a few ingredients, and is naturally gluten-free. I serve it with sandwiches or with cheese toast and a fruit salad to make a complete meal.
Substitutions
- Make the soup Lacto-vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of .chicken broth.
- Use a cream substitute instead of the heavy cream or half-and-half to reduce the calories. You can find a list of substitutes for heavy cream in my Easy Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup recipe.
- In a hurry? Use two (14.5 ounces) cans of chopped carrots instead. of cooking the raw carrots.
- If using canned carrots, be sure to drain the water from the carrots and mash them into a puree before you start the soup.
- You can also use “regular-sized” carrots instead of mini carrots, but the mini carrots seem to cook faster for me.
- A quick way to puree the carrots without the mess is to use an immersion blender.
- You can use 2 (14.5-ounce) cans of canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling) instead of carrots if you prefer.
- Out of Italian seasoning? You can make your own with our Italian Seasoning Mix Recipe.
Good Additions to the Soup:
Want a slightly different flavor? Try adding any of these additions to your soup:
- chopped sauteed apples. Use a cooking apple for this addition, such as a Granny Smith
- chopped sauteed onions. Use a sweet onion, such as a Walla Walla, for a mild flavor.
- Wondering how to saute? Find the instructions on how to saute in our 3-ingredient Crock Pot Chili recipe.
Printable Recipe
Easy Cream of Carrot Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) bag mini carrots, chopped
2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth2 cups heavy cream (or half and half)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Directions
- Add the carrots and the chicken broth to a large saucepan over high heat. Bring the carrots to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Allow the carrots to cook until softened, approximately (approximately 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.)
- Using a blender or food processor, blend the carrot mixture until pureed.
- Return the carrot mixture to the saucepan and add cream, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Reduce the heat to low. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
What should you look for when choosing carrots?
- Look for carrots which are a dark orange color. The darker the color, the more beta-carotene the carrot will have.
- Choose firm smooth medium-sized carrots without cracks and rootlets. (Rootlets are the little strings hanging from the bottom.)
- Try to find carrots with the leafy green tops still attached.
- Carrots that are limp or have black spots near the top are not fresh. Avoid these.
What is your favorite soup?
What is your favorite soup to prepare on chilly fall and winter evenings? Have you tried Cream of Carrot Soup? What are some of your go-to dishes for quick, easy meals?
Have you seen our cookbook?
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I have never had cream of carrot soup. This sounds like a great dish for my healthy eating plan!
This cream of carrot soups looks delicious. We love any kind of creamy soups in my family and this one I have yet to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Omg can we say yum?!? This soup
Looks absolutely delicious!!! I must give your recipe a try!
This is the perfect time of year for soup and I love carrots. I’ll need to try this- it sounds delicious!
This looks so good. My kids are all obsessed with carrots, so anything with carrots they all enjoy. I will have to make this for the family!
I have never ever heard of anything like this! But oh my word does it look delicious!!!!!!
Thanks for the recipe! I am obsessed with soup lately so I should try this!
I have never tried this soup before. It looks incredibly tasty though. Can’t wait to give it a shot!
I think this soup sure sounds different.
But, it also resembles a bisque, so I think my husband would like to give it a try.
I was just looking for a carrot soup recipe! This one looks delicious, I am so going to try this one!
Yummy! This is really tempting and I wanna grab it from my screen yay!
Oh my goodness! This is really looks good and healthy at the same time!
This sounds so yummy right now with it being so cold outside! I have never had carrot soup but i think that my entire family would love this, especially my son! I am saving this recipe for my next trip to the grocery store because i know it will be a hit!
I typically am not a fan of creamy soup, but I do love carrots so I would love to try this. It is such a great way to stay warm on cold winter days!
I have never heard of cream of carrot soup before but this looks delicious!! I need to try this!!
I have never tried cream of carrot coup. It looks so delicious and easy to make. This is the perfect time of the year for soup. My favorite is turkey soup.
I have heard of cream of carrot but have never tried it. I really would like to. I’m sure our daughter would love it.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of cream of carrot soup but it sounds pretty good and easy to make.
I have never heard of cream of carrot soup!!! I think my kids would love this, sounds really good and would be perfect for a cold day!
Oh wow. I’m making this for my grandchildren. They’d love this with some breadsticks or maybe I can just add croutons to the soup. So healthy and delicious and will definitely warm us up! Thanks for the recipe.
I have never tried the cream of carrot soup. It looks so easy I’m definitely going to have to try it. It looks delicious.
Homemade soups can’t be beat. Plus cheap and easy to fix and feed a bunch. Great with grilled cheese
I made carrot soup one time when I had my garden at my first home, it was delicious. I would like to try your recipe next time.
Now, this soup looks awesome! I wonder if the soup has a sweet flavor to it since carrots can be sweet at times. I think this would be a good recipe to try this weekend.
I love homemade soup, especially when it is chilly outside. This would be delicious with a toasted cheese sandwich to dip in.
This looks so yummy. I never would have though to make a cream of carrot soup. I usually just add carrots when I make soup. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
The recipe looks easy enough that I could make it. I am always looking for good soup recipes.
This is an interesting recipe. I love carrots and have had them in soup, but would never have thought to make them THE soup lol. Will have to give it a try!
Oh yum! I think I am going to try to make this recipe in our vitamix.
Honestly I have never tried Carrot soup before but I sure do enjoy eating them so I know I am going to love it.
That is a brilliant idea. Delicious soup and an easy way to make it.
I have never in my life heard of cream of carrot soup. That sounds delicious! I’ll have to give it a try.
Soup is such a favorite during the winter months and I make soup several times a week. I can’t believe I’ve never made cream of carrot soup. I need to add this to my list. It looks so colorful and delicious.
This sounds like a really tasty soup! My husband eats soup almost every day for lunch, so I think I will make him some of this 🙂