ginger-miso carrot soup.
A super-easy vegetarian blended soup made with creamy, earthy miso and bright, tangy ginger for a cozy meal bursting with flavor.
Makes: 4 servings Prep time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes jump to recipe.
Every single time I buy carrots, no matter if I buy 2 or 10, I always end up with wilty carrots in the crisper. I think it’s because I find carrots hard to incorporate into recipes unless it’s super intentional; I’ll never toss it into something on a whim, like I would a bell pepper or some spinach. Is this relatable or do you all love carrots way more than me?
This recipe was born out of that need to get rid of those wilty carrots in a really significant way. I mean, not just julienning a little carrot into a stir fry, but really using carrots, and ones that are too soft to do much of anything else with. Yes, they’re still usable if they’re a little soft, but you can’t wait too long or they’ll be mush.
Cue carrot soup. It’s like tomato soup for carrot lovers, or really, just tomato soup with a different taste. I can’t say it’s particularly carrot-y, besides being bright orange, of course. This particular carrot soup chases the Asian flavors of umami, utilizing miso paste and mirin for a salty, deep taste beneath the carrots and onions. The ginger brightens it, and because it’s meant to be really gingery, there’s a lot of it. Ginger and carrot? A perfect match.
You barely need seasonings with the miso, mirin, ginger, and garlic going into it, but for some flair, grab some sesame seeds and your favorite seasoning blend to sprinkle on top. I used an Indian seasoning blend by Chutni Punch called Savory Chana, which added a beautiful nutty-zesty flavor to the base flavors of the soup. Totally recommend this for a finishing blend to add to soups like these.
I should also mention that I used a kind of strange method towards the end of this soup, basically turning it into carrot mush before making it more brothy. I found this technique to be way faster and easier to blend, and way easier to customize after the fact. Want a creamy ass soup? Add just a little bit more broth. Want something more brothy? Add a lot. This method took half the time and turned out way smoother than adding all the broth at once, so it was a win for me. Let me know what you think of the mush method if you try it.
miso-ginger carrot soup ingredients
butter: Just a little butter to get the aromatics going. To make this vegan, swap for vegan butter or oil of any kind. This doesn’t have to be anything strict, I just prefer butter to add more creaminess to the soup.
onion: I call for shallot because of the delicate flavor, but you can absolutely swap for yellow or white onion. You’ll want a little over 1/4 cup of chopped onion, whichever you use.
garlic: You can add more than I recommended, but it isn’t going to add a lot against the ginger, so I wouldn’t go crazy. A few fresh cloves will give you plenty of flavor.
ginger: I really recommend using fresh minced ginger or, at the very least, the jarred stuff, instead of ginger powder. You’ll get a much sharper, fresher flavor with a lot more presence. However, if you really are in a pinch, sprinkle in ginger powder, and use quite a bit of it — maybe 1 1/2 tablespoons worth.
miso: The other star of the show, miso, a fermented soybean paste that adds a delicate but earthy flavor to dishes. I can’t really explain it, but it makes food taste silky. I love it. I use red miso, which is decidedly more robust than mellow white or yellow miso, but you can truly use any of the three. White miso would fit in beautifully here.
mirin: This is a Japanese cooking wine, which can be used very similarly to white wine in Italian or American cooking to deglaze, add flavor, and balance the dish. Splash some mirin in once the miso starts sticking for some really good umami. If you don’t have mirin, you can use white wine or omit it.
broth: This is totally flexible. I use chicken broth or stock because that’s what I have on hand, but this will work with vegetable broth, stock, or even just plain water. Of course, using water will alter the flavor a bit more, so you’ll have to season more liberally at the end. I often use half broth, half water to save costs while getting flavor in there.
carrot soup pairing options
I love, love, love soup and sammies. If I had a million sandwich recipes on this blog, I’d list them all here. Honestly, though, do you need a recipe for a sandwich? Here are some pairing ideas, sammies included:
tuna salad, tomato, and spinach sandwich
bacon, lettuce, tomato, pesto sandwich
grilled cheese. of any kind!
potstickers
white wines
sake
