You guyyyyysssssss. This Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup is everything. I seriously wanted to slurp up the entire pot! It’s light, creamy, just a little spicy, and somehow perfectly fitting with this warmer than usual spring weather we’re having. If you like my Thai Curry Vegetable Soup, you’re going to love this one as well. It has a similar flavor profile, but a little sweeter (naturally), a little lighter, and with a silky smooth texture. It’s one of those recipes that makes you wonder, “How do so few ingredients make something that tastes SO good??”
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Make it Vegetarian or Vegan
This Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup is an amazingly flavorful vegetarian OR vegan treat. To make sure your soup is vegetarian, check the ingredients on your Thai curry paste. I used Thai Kitchen brand, which does not include any shrimp, but some brands do, so just double check. Also, if you want to make your soup vegan, just use coconut oil in place of butter in the first step. :)
Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup
Servings 6 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil ($0.26)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 Tbsp red Thai curry paste ($1.45)
- 1 lb. carrots ($0.89)
- 1 sweet potato (about 3/4 lb.) ($0.84)
- 3 cups vegetable broth* ($0.39)
- 1 13.5oz. can full fat coconut milk ($1.99)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
Optional Garnishes
- cilantro ($0.25)
- sriracha ($0.25)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and add it to a large pot along with the butter (or coconut oil). Sauté the onion until soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Once the onions are soft, add the Thai curry paste and continue to sauté for about a minute more.
- While the onion is sautéing, peel and dice the sweet potato (about 1-inch cubes). Add the sweet potato to the pot after the curry paste has sautéed, and continue to sauté the sweet potatoes while you peel and slice the carrots. Add the carrots to the pot as you slice them.
- Add the vegetable broth to the pot, stir to combine, place a lid on top, and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the soup to come to a boil, then turn the heat down to low (or just above low) and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes the sweet potatoes and carrots should be extremely tender and fall apart as you stir the pot.
- Turn the heat off and remove the pot from the hot stove top to facilitate cooling (to another area on the stove is fine). Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. You can reserve a tablespoon or two of the coconut milk to garnish the finished soup, if desired.
- Use an immersion blender, or allow the soup to cool further and carefully purée in batches using a traditional blender. Once the soup is puréed, give it a taste and add salt or pepper if desired (this will depend largely on the type of broth used). Garnish with fresh cilantro and a drizzle of sriracha, if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup – Step by Step Photos
Start by dicing one yellow onion and adding it to a large soup pot with 2 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil). Sauté the onions over medium heat until they are soft and translucent.
Add 4 Tbsp red Thai curry paste and continue to sauté for about one more minute.
This is the red Thai curry paste I used. I’m showing you this because it’s an ingredient that I think many people might be familiar with, but is actually in most major grocery stores now. I’ve even seen it at Walmart! So, when you’re in your international foods aisle, you’ll know what to look for. :) And if you’re unfamiliar with this ingredient, it’s basically made out of red chiles, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and other spices and aromatics. Super yum.
While the onions are sautéing, peel and dice one sweet potato (about 3/4 lb.). Add them to the pot after the curry paste as sautéed for about a minute, and continue to sauté everything while you peel and slice 1 lb. carrots. Add the carrots as you slice them.
Add 3 cups of vegetable broth to the pot. The vegetable broth should barely cover the chopped vegetables, but don’t worry if a few poke out above the liquid. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn it down to low (or just above low) and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If any sweet potatoes or carrots are out above the liquid, the steam in the pot will still help them soften and you’ll be stirring once in a while to make sure everything gets time in the broth.
After simmering for 30 minutes, the sweet potatoes and carrots should be extremely soft and should begin to fall apart as you stir the soup. Turn the heat off and move the pot to a different surface to facilitate cooling (moving to another part of the stove is fine).
Add one 13.5 oz. can of full fat coconut milk (not the stuff you find in the dairy aisle as a milk substitute). You can reserve a couple tablespoons for garnish, if you like. Stir to combine. If you’re going to use a traditional blender to purée the soup, you’ll want to let the soup cool a bit before you blend, to reduce the risk of burning yourself, should anything splatter or explode out the top of the blender. The steam from hot liquids can actually build pressure in a blender and cause the top to pop off while blending, so it’s very important to let it cool a bit first. If you’re using an immersion blender, you can blend the soup whenever you’re ready.
Purée the soup until smooth. If you’re using a regular blender, you’ll probably want to do this in batches, depending on the size of your blender. This recipe makes about 9 cups total. It’s also a good idea to drape a towel over the top of the blender when blending warm liquids, just in case there is any splatter. How gorgeous is that color?!
Once your Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup is puréed, give it a taste and add salt or freshly cracked pepper, if needed. If you’re using a low sodium broth you may need to add a touch of salt at the end to help the flavors pop. I decided to add a little pepper to mine because I thought I might like that little peppery bite on top of the mild spiciness from the curry paste. You can also garnish your soup with fresh cilantro, sriracha, or a small drizzle of coconut milk, if you like. :)
YUM.
So so so good! I followed the directions exactly, and added a touch of soy sauce at the end (my personal preference). I couldn’t stop eating it! I think it would also be super delicious with rice in it.
I made some changes to this recipe based off of what I have at home and at my local small store and I feel like it really enhanced the flavor. I mostly just changed the seasoning but also replaced the veggie broth with chicken broth (which added some protein.)
In place of the other seasonings I added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, a ton of chili powder, cumin, a bit of paprika, some garlic salt, pepper, a couple of tablespoons of margarine for creaminess, and because I have a sweet tooth, about 1/4 cup of sugar to add some sweetness, with parsley to garnish (I have the cilantro-tastes-like-soap gene so I almost never use it.)
It’s delicious, one of the best soups I’ve ever made. I feel like it would be a really good fall or winter soup. I’ve been sick recently with some sinus pressure and sore throat and this curry soup greatly eased that and opened up my sinuses with all its spices, and if you’re feeling unwell is fairly simple to make if you don’t mind the prep & puree, and would be good in a big batch in case you’re not feeling up to cooking later. The original recipe makes a great base recipe for experimentation like this, and the coconut milk perfectly complements the ingredients I changed as well. It’s fun to experiment and even more fun to enjoy a successful meal.
I was thinking of adding chickpeas after blending to give it that extra protein, what are your thoughts?
That would probably be good! Just make sure the chickpeas are cooked until really soft first, or else it might end up kind of grainy. White beans, like cannellini might also work.
I found it lacking in flavor. Some better red curry paste than the typical grocery store brand would probably help. I chucked in nearly as much garlic and ginger powder as curry paste, some turmeric, a quarter cup of chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, and a truly unreasonable amount of cayenne pepper to make it palatable.
It’s possible you may have just needed an extra pinch of salt. Salt really helps flavors pop.
Unfortunately I have to be very careful about my sodium intake for medical reasons. ): I can work with most recipes if I buy no-salt-added broth & canned goods.
I would have thrown in some fish sauce if I could!
I’ve made this probably a dozen times. I freeze it in double batches and it freezes beautifully.
A staple in our house now! Excellent flavour; definitely not another bland vegetable soup!
As directed, this recipe is a little too bland- the curry paste is doing all of the work. To add more oomph, add minced garlic and ginger after sautéing the onion. After adding the coconut milk, I also added lime juice and zest, and fish sauce to taste.
Besides that, I think this is a wonderful base recipe that you can tailor to your own taste.
Hi, I tried to make a soup and unfortunately it came out too sweet, what can I add to get rid of the sweetness ?
This soup will be fairly sweet by nature, due to the natural sugars in the sweet potato, carrots, and coconut milk. You can help balance that a bit with something a little salty or umami, like some soy sauce or fish sauce. A squeeze of lime juice might also help!
Thank you, the soy sauce maybe good idea!
Like others have said, I was skeptical how something could be so good with so few ingredients, but WOW! This soup is very easy and VERY flavorful. I cooked some plain white rice alongside it and put a scoop into my bowl, ladelled the soup overtop, and garnished with a lot of fresh cilantro. Fiance and I both loved it! Perfectly spicy, sweet, and salty. Definitely getting added to our rotation.
Just made some last night. It has JUST enough heat – not too mild, not too spicy. And with the sweet potato in it, it’s more filling than you’d think from looking at it.
I just made this today. Easy, quick, delicious. It will absolutely go into the repeat folder.
LOVE this recipe. I served it for guests including one vegan. Everyone asked for seconds. The recipe is easy, but it tastes so much more complex. From now on, I will always double this recipe.
I made this a little while ago and I still think about it! It’s so good!
Five stars!
This recipe is going to be part of my regular rotation. So delicious. The curry paste definitely has a bit of a kick and I might use a little bit less next time, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this soup. I don’t have an immersion blender so I used my normal blender and used a folded dish towel to cover the top while blending instead of putting the top on and risking pressure buildup. Hopefully that helps anyone else who doesn’t have an immersion blender! Thanks for this super recipe!
Tasty but next time won’t use such a large quantity of Thai chili paste. 4 Table spoons was to spicy for us.