Quick Carrot and Coriander Soup

A hand dipping a slice of bread into a bowl of carrot and coriander soup with halloumi croutons.

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Quick Carrot and Coriander Soup

This quick, comforting carrot and coriander soup is ready within 25 minutes and there's no need to peel your carrots. It's super easy and loaded with lots of lovely warming spices. Adding crispy halloumi croutons takes the soup to another level of delicious flavor.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: carrot soup, easy carrot soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 253kcal

Author: Kate Phillips

Ingredients

For the soup -

800 g carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion finely diced
1 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves crushed
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1.2 litres (5 cups) vegetable stock or chicken stock

For the halloumi-

1 block halloumi roughly 225g/8oz
1 tablespoon olive oil

To serve -

2 spring onions scallions, sliced lengthways and popped into a glass of water (this will make them curl up)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the carrots.
Start by chopping your carrots into rough chunks, about 3cm/1" long. There’s no need to peel your carrots - just make sure they’re clean (you can give them a scrub/rinse) and chop off the heads.
Cook the onion, garlic and spices.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large saucepan, then add the diced onion and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring with a large wooden spoon or spatula for a couple of minutes, until the onions start to soften and change colour (they’ll start looking more transparent). Add the crushed garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of ground coriander, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon of ground turmeric and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin. Stir the garlic and spices through the onion and oil for another minute, until the spices start smelling super fragrant.
Simmer the soup.
At this point, add all the chopped carrots and the stock. You want the carrots to be just covered by the stock, so add a little water (or more stock if you have it) if they’re not submerged. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. You’re looking for the carrots to be tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork.
Blend the soup.
Once the carrots are tender, it’s time to blitz the soup to make it smooth and creamy. You can either do this with a stick blender, right in the pot or transfer the soup to a stand blender and blitz it that way. I prefer transferring it because I find a stand blender gives a smoother result. But, it’s fewer dishes to just blitz the soup directly in the pot, so do whatever you prefer.
Blend the soup until super smooth and creamy - this will take a few minutes. This is a thick soup, so you can add a little water if you want to thin it out a bit. Transfer the blended soup back into the pot (if you’ve used your stand blender) and keep warm while you make the halloumi croutons.

If you are transferring to a blender, let the soup cool for about 5 minutes before adding it (you don’t want to add super hot liquid to a blender, as it could explode on you).

Make the halloumi croutons.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a small frying pan over medium heat, then add the diced halloumi. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until the halloumi looks lovely and golden. Remove the pan from the heat.
Garnish and serve. Divide the soup between bowls, then top with the halloumi croutons. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, the curly spring onions and a sprinkling of sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning. Serve with soft, warm fresh bread (my easy no-knead chilli cheese focaccia is a great choice).

Notes

FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS: The soup freezes really well. I like to store individual portions in zip-lock bags to maximise freezer space. You can easily defrost it on the stove or in the microwave quickly, whenever you need a fast meal.

STORAGE TIPS: It'll also keep well for 5 days in the fridge - just store it in an airtight container. You can reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave for a few minutes.

INGREDIENT NOTES: If you're not a big coriander fan (or cooking for someone who isn't!) you can leave out the ground coriander and just use an extra 1 teaspoon of ground cumin. The halloumi croutons are DELICIOUS and provide a great salty, textural bite to the soup, but you can leave them out if you like (and it's completely vegan without them too). Add a little fresh coriander at the end to up the coriander factor more if you're a fan! Tamarind paste is a lovely optional extra I'll sometimes add to this soup - 1 tablespoon is more than enough. It just provides a lovely, sour, tangy element that cuts through the sweetness of the carrot and is utterly delicious.

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