Creamy Carrot Soup (Without Cream!)
Do you like soup that tastes creamy-rich, but doesn’t break the bank on unhealthy fat and calories? Then this Carrot Soup is for you!
Carrot Soup–No Cream!
When I first made it, my health-conscious middle daughter wrinkled up her nose and said, “this is delicious, but it has cream.”
“Actually not, honey,” I countered, “the richness comes from ground almonds, which are healthy for you.”
I first tasted this at a CSA party, made a note to look it up sometime and finally got around to making it. The original recipe comes from the Moosewood cookbook and is an ingenious blend of options. I will include what I did here but you can find the original here if you are feeling adventurous!
When I read the ingredients, I was pretty excited, even beyond the almonds instead of cream! You see, I still had a live marjoram plant growing in my back hall–a “bonus” from one of my CSAs. Then I had a bunch of thyme, also from said CSA, dried on my countertop. And of course CSA members typically have (at least) a refrigerator drawer-full of fall carrots still lingering through early winter. Must be fate!
Fresh Marjoram!
Bunch of Dried Thyme
Creamy Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs carrots
- 4 c broth
- 2-3 T vegetable oil or butter
- 1 c chopped onion
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 c ground almonds (a.k.a. almond meal)
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp marjoram
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 cup low fat dairy or non-dairy milk (e.g. almond milk, buttermilk, skim milk)
Directions
1. Scrub and chop carrots, and put in large saucepan with the stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the veggies are tender (10-15 minutes).
Cook Carrots Until Tender
2. While this is cooking, heat the oil or butter in a skillet. Add onions, herbs, garlic and nuts and saute over medium heat briefly until onions are just tender.
Briefly sautee onions, herbs, nuts
3. Mix this with carrot/broth blend and milk. Puree together in a blender or food processor and transfer to a pot.
The soup works great as vegan or not, according to your tastes and/or pantry contents. Healthy and tasty–enjoy!
Done!
Loved your soup…
Looking forward to trying more of your ideas…
Regards,
Happy in Montreal
So glad to hear you enjoyed the soup–it is one of our favorites!
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This looks good. Allergic to nuts, I’m going to try using a can of rinsed drained and processed cannelinni beans. It is a thickener and protein adder that I use for cream of broccoli soup instead of milk or chicken stock!
What a great idea! I’d love to hear how it works!
This soup looks luscious!! I would really enjoy this…I love soup!
I am a big soup fan too–nothing like something (relatively) easy and warming for winter!
If I had kids, this is def. one way I’d be getting them to eat their veggies =)
I don’t mind getting some of mine this way too 😉
This recipe is such a keeper, Inger! I think I will use the almond milk, just like Tammy suggested. Yummy…
Last week I bought some almond milk for pumpkin pie and I may just have to try that too!
This looks delicious, and I love that it’s so healthy!
You know it’s been a godsend–I froze small containers and my daughter is thawing these out when she is home alone. Not much passes muster with her but this seems to work!
This sounds really similar to a butternut squash soup I like to make. I love that there’s no cream! i.e. No guilt!
Isn’t guilt-free good wonderful!
Love the “creamy” magic of blending soups!
I am a big blended soup fan too. Now I just need to get that immersion blender!
Using almond meal to thicken the soup is genius. I would have never thought of that. Does it alter the taste of the soup in any way? I wouldn’t mind the flavor of almonds coming through but not sure the kids would care for it. That said, I am going to scale this down and make an individual portion for myself as a test trial!
You know my middle daughter thought it was cream–and even my youngest, who won’t touch nuts (unless she doesn’t realize they are there), ate some of this. I’d love to hear if you get it past your kids!
Looking yummy.
Thanks Freeda!
What would happen if you use the almond milk instead? This can be a vegan dish and I bet you won’t lose any creaminess.
I am sure almond milk would be great! With the ground almonds already in the soup, it would be my first choice of non-dairy products for this.