Easy Creamy Carrot and Tomato Soup Recipe

Name: Easy Creamy Carrot and Tomato Soup Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 Cups Vegetable Broth, See Note 1; 1 28 Oz Can of San Marzano Plum Tomatoes; 1 Cup Carrots, Peeled and Cut into Rounds; 1 Cup Diced Yellow or Sweet Onion (about 1 Small Onion); 3 to 5 Cloves Garlic, Peeled and Pressed; 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil; 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Thyme; 1 Bay Leaf

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Carrot and Tomato Soup is a fresh and fun way to warm up! With just 8 ingredients, this delicious soup comes together in 30 minutes. With garlic cloves, yellow onions, sweet carrots, and plum tomatoes, there's a ton of flavor in this recipe!

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Hey Internet, we've got another souper easy recipe for you today! Dad jokes aside, this soup recipe is really simple to make. You only really need to chop up a carrot and an onion and that's all the hard work done. Just stir occasionally while cooking the veggies first and then stir the rest of the ingredients in. Then simmer and blend and you're good to go with a nice hot soup.

And don't be daunted by the blending. With either a hand blender or a high speed blender (or really any blender) and some good oven mitts, it's easy to be careful and safe while blending up your soup. You could also be super careful and just ladle the soup into your blender if lifting is too difficult for you and it shouldn't take much more time.

What separates this tomato soup recipe from your standard bowl of tomato soup is the sweet and earthy flavor that the carrots bring to the soup. The carrots also help impart a more creamy texture to the bowl. That, along with the bay leaf and dried thyme, results in a soup that has deep and rich flavor. And you get all that with just 8 ingredients!

This easy soup is great as a side or starter for your meal. At about 100 calories per severing, this recipe is light and refreshing. And there are plenty of ways to bulk it up into a full hearty soup. Grab a loaf of French bread or some Ciabatta rolls and slice them up to dip into creamy carrot tomato soup. Or you could try our Homemade Croutons if you have some stale bread! And if you want super low-effort, crackers go great with this soup as well.

We love making easy soups like today's recipe! This Carrot and Red Lentil Soup Recipe is very similar to this recipe. If you want something chunky, this Creamy Potato and Mushroom Soup is packed with vegetables! And if you want something super filling, you've got to try this Vegan Gnocchi Soup that's a taste of Italy.

Ok, time to stop drooling over our other soups and get to making this one. Keep in mind, you can easily make a big batch for the freezer if you like!

Why You'll Love This Tomato Carrot Soup Recipe

Low Effort: Preparing the vegetables is this hardest part of this recipe! The best thing about it is once the veggies are cooked down, you just add the other ingredients and then let the soup simmer for the rest of the time. It's a great recipe for when you're feeling tired. This recipe can also easily be doubled or tripled for easy meal prep (don't forget a protein like crispy tofu and a carb like some nice bread, though!).
Sweet and Fresh: With orange carrots, onions, and garlic, this soup is great for those cool Spring sunny days!
Super Customizable: This soup's flavors can lean into so many different additions. It's easy to make it into comfort food, a spicy soup, or even a make it chunky! We have some suggestions in out Substitutions and Additions section.

Ingredients

Pick up the following simple ingredients for this carrot and tomato soup recipe the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

3 Cups Vegetable Broth: We use Better Than Bullion Vegetable Base for this recipe. It's also pretty easy to make your own vegetable stock! Whenever you chop up vegetables, like carrots, onions, and celery, you can store the inedible bits in a freezer bag
1 28 Oz Can of San Marzano Plum Tomatoes: Cento has an amazing batch of these with the most flavor we've ever tasted in canned tomatoes!
1 Cup Carrots, Peeled and Cut into Rounds
1 Cup Diced Yellow or Sweet Onion (about 1 Small Onion)
3 to 5 Cloves Garlic, Peeled and Pressed
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
½ Teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 Bay Leaf

Substitutions and Additions

Canned Tomatoes: You can use fresh tomatoes, but it will be best if you cook them down. What's great is you bake them to make roasted tomatoes, which would add a ton of flavor! Just slice your tomatoes in half, add them to a lined baking sheet, maybe add a little salt and olive oil to them, and bake for around 30 minutes in your oven for around 30 minutes. Note that cook times will vary depending on how big your tomatoes are.
Garlic: In place of fresh garlic, you can use jarred minced garlic instead. You should use about a tablespoon of it. Garlic oil can also be a great substitute.
Olive Oil: This recipe can be made oil-free quite easily. With a non-stick pot and either some water or vegetable broth, it's easy to sauté the vegetables without oil. Just add a splash of the liquid every now and then while the vegetables are cooking down, prevent them from sticking. Plus you can add more flavor by using a broth!
Addition, Spicy: Red pepper flakes are super easily play to add a bit of spiciness to this dish. Add however much you want to your bowl of soup and you're good to go. You could also chop up fresh hot peppers and cook them during the sauté portion of the recipe. That should help develop the spicy flavors in them!
Addition, Creamy: Plant milk is a great way to add some creaminess while keeping this dish plant-based. For a super rich taste, coconut milk is a great choice as opposed to heavy cream. For something lighter, almond milk or oat milk are excellent.
Addition, Chunky: You could technically get away with not blending this recipe. You would just have to use canned diced tomatoes instead. Otherwise you'd have a few giant tomatoes in your soup! You could also add some potatoes or more carrots if you go that way to make it even more chunky.
Addition, More Flavor: You can add fresh ginger to the pot! Mince it and add it to the pot at the same time as the garlic. You could also add some shallots to the recipe. Also, some black pepper and/or chilli flakes can go a long way, or a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Or add in a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end.
Addition, Toppings: Some fresh thyme, fresh basil leaves, or parsley are a great way to quickly add some additional freshness to your soup bowl. For a bit of crunch, try adding some Croutons or some pumpkin seeds would be great!

How to Make Tomato Carrot Soup

Heat Pot: Add oil to a large pot and heat it at medium high heat.
Sauté Vegetables: Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and carrots. Cook them until the carrots soften and the onions are translucent. Then add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more.
Add Remaining Ingredients: First add the vegetable broth, then gently add the canned tomatoes. Then drop in the thyme and bay leaf.
Simmer: Let the soup come to a light boil and then lower the burner knob to medium low heat. Cover with pot lid. Allow the soup to simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Taste test: Give the broth a taste (be careful, it's hot!)
. Does it need anything? If it tastes bland, try a good pinch of salt before you add anything else, as salt brings out other flavors.
Blend: You can use a stick blender to get a smooth puree. If you prefer chunky textures, simply don't blend all of the soup. Make sure to gently move the immersion blender around the pot by making sure to not raise it out of the liquid while it is running. If you do, you can splatter soup everywhere! You can also use a regular blender for faster blending. Either carefully lift your pot and pour the contents into the blender container or use a ladle to get everything in. Blending should only take about 30 seconds to finish.
Enjoy! Add toppings to your bowl and salt to taste if desired.

Serving suggestions

This soup checks all the boxes for veggies and fiber, but you'll need to add a little bit if you want to use it for a meal. Here are some of our favorites that would pair well with this meal!

Crispy Tofu
Vegan Bacon Grilled Cheese (or any grilled cheese sandwich)
Vegan Focaccia
Or any bread such as as sourdough, crusty rolls, etc.
Seitan Chicken
Any of our pasta recipes such as Vegan Creamy Pasta or Vegan Cashew Pesto with Pasta

Storage Instructions

For short term storage, add your remaining soup to an airtight container. Add it to a refrigerator and it should last for 3 to 5 days. For long term storage, you'll want to freeze this soup. Souper cubes are great for this, as you can separate the pureed soup into portions for later. These can last months in the freezer, so you can make a large batch of this recipe to have throughout soup season!

Frequently Asked Questions

There are these green leaves in my canned tomatoes. Are they safe to eat?

Most likely they are basil leaves! Companies like Cento put them in their canned San Marzano tomatoes for flavor. They are safe to eat.

I only have a large onion/I chopped to many vegetables. What should I do?

This recipe is very forgiving and you can easily add them to the pot. Worse comes to worse, you can add some more liquid to the soup.

My soup is too thick/thin!

It's easier to deal with a thick soup rather than a thin soup. With a thick soup, all you have to do is add some more liquids, most likely vegetable broth, and you're good to go. To thicken the soup, you'll have to add more veggies. Alternatively, you could try adding some nutritional yeast to slightly thicken the soup. It also adds a nutty or cheesy flavor to the recipe! Or, for more fiber, blend in some canned white beans!

Could I make this in a pressure cooker?

We have not yet tested this in our Instant Pot, but it should work. You can still sauté the vegetables in the pot before pressurizing it (on an Instant Pot this is called Saute Mode) and then pressure cook it for about 5 to 6 minutes. Do a 10 minute natural release and your soup should be ready to be blended.

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