Carrots and onion cooked in vegetable broth and blended smooth, finished with a little cream. Seven carrots, half an hour, and no flour anywhere in it.
No flour anywhere
Most cream soups start with a roux: butter, flour, then liquid. This one does not, and the difference is worth knowing before you start looking for a step that is not there.
What thickens it is seven carrots cooked in a litre of broth and then blended. Carrot is starchy enough to give real body on its own, and the result is lighter and tastes more of carrot than a floured version would.
The 150 ml of cream at the end is for richness. It barely changes the thickness.
Blending hot liquid
This is the only part of the recipe that can go wrong badly. Steam expands inside a sealed blender jug and can lift the lid off with a litre of hot soup behind it.
Half a jug at most. Hold the lid down through a folded tea towel rather than with a bare hand. Start on the lowest speed and build up.
A stick blender used straight in the pot sidesteps all of it.
Soft before smooth
Fifteen minutes at a simmer, and then check with a knife: it should slide into a slice of carrot with no resistance.
That matters more here than in almost any other soup, because the whole texture depends on the blender and a blender only breaks up what is already tender. Any piece that is still firm going in comes out as a piece.
Slicing the carrots rather than chunking them is what makes fifteen minutes enough.
The order at the end
The last instruction used to say to blend, serve immediately, and add the cream, which cannot be done in that order.
Blend, stir the cream in, then serve. Or blend the cream in with everything else, which the recipe's own note suggests and which gives a paler, more uniform soup.
More cream soups
- Cauliflower cream soup — the same method.
- Crema de ahuyama — in a pressure cooker.
- Creamed spinach — this one does use a roux.
- Homemade croutons — what goes on top.
Carrot Cream Soup FAQ
None. Seven carrots blended into a litre of broth is what gives it body, and the 150 ml of cream at the end is for richness rather than thickness. There is no roux and nothing to go lumpy.
With care. Fill the blender jug no more than halfway, hold the lid down with a folded cloth and start on the lowest speed. A stick blender used in the pot avoids the problem entirely.
A knife should go into a slice with no resistance at all. Fifteen minutes usually does it. Blending does not cook anything, so a firm piece going in is a firm piece coming out.
Either, and the recipe allows both. Cream gives a richer soup; milk keeps it lighter and slightly thinner.
The recipe's own note offers both. Blended in, the soup is paler and completely uniform; stirred at the end, you get streaks of cream that look better in the bowl.
Yes, and better if you freeze it before adding the cream. Dairy can separate on reheating.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 medium-sized carrots (peeled and sliced)
- 1 large onion (peeled and finely sliced)
- 1 liter vegetable broth
- 150 ml heavy cream or milk
- Oil (for the pan)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Notas
Instructions
- Peel the onion and slice it finely.
- Heat a little oil in a pot and sauté the onion over medium heat for about 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash, peel and slice the carrots.
- Add the carrots to the pot, pour in the broth, season with salt and pepper and bring it to a boil.
- Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, until a knife goes into a slice of carrot without resistance.
- Blend it smooth, taking care with the hot liquid, then stir in the cream or milk and serve.
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