Tomato Carrot Soup
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With its rich flavor and a delightful mix of creamy and chunky textures, this tomato carrot soup is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
All you need is bread for dipping and you’ve got a simple, yet luxurious meal.
This delicious tomato carrot soup is here to hug you today! Well, just when I thought I had an easy tomato soup, a tomato soup with potatoes and a tomato soup with pasta, I had to come back with another one.
A tomato carrot soup that is perfect all year round.
For this recipe, I build the base by caramelizing onions, carrots and garlic. Then I add Italian herb seasoning, chili flakes and a touch of balsamic vinegar to enhance the flavor profile.
Then I go the whole peeled tomatoes route. There is something about using whole tomatoes – instead of diced or crushed ones – that makes the broth rich and wonderful.
And the texture is velvety too… with only 1/2 cup of cream. But even though it’s creamy, it’s also filling enough with the chunky carrots and doesn’t leave you craving a sandwich an hour later.
This carrot and tomato soup is truly a delish easy dinner recipe.
To enjoy a wonderful meal don’t forget to dip delicious crusty bread, warm focaccia or stovetop croutons into this velvety goodness!
Hello dinner tonight.
List of the ingredients
- Canned whole peeled tomatoes
- Carrots
- Olive oil & butter
- Onion & garlic
- Balsamic vinegar
- Heavy cream
- Broth
- Herbs (fresh basil and Italian herbs)
- Chili flakes
- Salt & pepper
How to make tomato carrot soup
(Note: this is a quick description, the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Sauté the onion and carrots with butter and olive oil for about 7 minutes.
- Add garlic, herbs, red pepper flakes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the vinegar, then add the tomatoes, broth, cream, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
- Puree about half of the soup with a few basil leaves in a stand blender (or use an immersion blender if you wish).
- Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir to combine and adjust the seasoning.
- Enjoy with crusty bread, warm and crispy focaccia or stovetop croutons!
Note: for the best combination of velvety and chunky texture, I prefer to blend the whole tomatoes and I try to leave most of the carrot bits in the pot. I use a slotted spoon to lift out the tomatoes of the pot.
Recipe notes
Ingredients
Aromatic: onion, garlic, carrots, Italian herb seasoning and a pinch of chili flakes sautéed with butter and olive oil create a rich savoy flavor base.
Balsamic vinegar: just a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar adds tang and a special hint of “what is that?”.
Canned tomatoes: good-quality whole peeled tomatoes make a great difference here, but you can also use diced or crushed tomatoes.
Carrots: they add texture, sweetness and extra nutrition.
Broth: I use low-sodium vegetable broth, but you’re welcome to use your fav broth if you wish (but make sure to adjust the seasoning accordingly if the broth used is salty).
Cream: I used 1/2 cup of heavy cream (double cream for my UK readers).
Fresh basil: because the combo basil and tomatoes is so delicious.
Salt & pepper: make sure you adjust the seasoning to your liking.
How to store it?
If you cook a big batch and have soup leftovers, you can refrigerate them for 3-4 days or you can portion it out into individual servings and freeze them for about 1 month. Cooking and storing it for later is a great way to save time, money, reduce food waste!
Serving suggestions
This is the kind of soup that is filling and light at the same time. To get your daily protein intake, serve it with a flavorful kidney bean salad, white bean salad or spinach frittata on the side.
If you loved this tomato carrot soup…
If you look for more soup recipes, here you’ll find all my soups! Below I’ve pulled together my favs:
- Lentil kale soup
- Vegan lentil soup
- Sweet potato lentil soup
- Spicy tomato lentil soup
- Mushroom potato soup
- Spinach potato soup
- Green lentil soup
- Vegan sweet potato soup
And for vegan soups, check out this NEW roundup!
If you make this luscious tomato carrot soup let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you! x
Tomato Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion, diced (any color)
- 3 (200 grams) medium-sized carrots
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes (aka red pepper flakes)
- ½ teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 cans (14oz each) whole plum tomatoes
- 1 ½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup heavy cream, plus more for drizzling
- ⅛ freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ -1 teaspoon salt, or to taste (and depending on the broth used)
- 5-6 fresh basil leaves, or more if you wish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes.
- Next add the garlic, Italian herbs and chili flakes, give a stir and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar, then add the tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper (but make sure to add the salt at the end if your broth it's salty). Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
- Turn the heat off, let it cool slightly, and blend half of the soup with an immersion blender or a stand blender. If using a stand blender – for the best combination of textures – try to lift out the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and blend them with the basil trying to leave the carrot bits in the pot. And for your safety, read the notes in the recipe card!
- Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir to combine with the rest of the chunky soup. Taste and season to taste if needed (the amount of salt needed will depend on the salt content of your broth).
- Serve with a drizzle of cream, freshly ground black pepper if desired. Don't forget crusty bread and croutons. Enjoy!
Notes
Be careful while blending!
Firstly, make sure you know how your blender works. As a rule of thumb, if using a high-speed stand blender like a Vitamix, make sure you follow these simple rules to avoid a mess of hot soup all over yourself and kitchen:- Let the soup cool slightly.
- Use a ladle to transfer part of soup to the blender (and always work in batches if you want to blend all the soup). Be careful during this process, it’s still hot.
- Never fill a blender bowl to a brim, never pass the maximum fill line.
- Once you’ve transferred the soup to the blender, you’ll need to remove the cap in the lid to let the hot steam escape. Because hot soups create steam!
- Cover the open hole with a folded tea towel to protect yourself.
- Finally, blend until smooth and creamy, and carefully return the soup to the pot.
- Nutrition facts: the nutrition values are for one serving and are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. Please see my disclosure policies.
