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Carrot soup

Soups

Quick step-by-step instructions for making soup.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Servings 4 servings

Equipment

  • saucepan
  • handblender
  • chopping knife
  • chopping board
  • measuring jug
  • roasting tray optional

Ingredients
  

Simple Carrot

  • 1 knob butter
  • 4-6 carrots (yes, that’s all you need!)
  • 1 pint or 800ml of hot stock
  • season with salt and pepper if needed optional
  • coriander or parsley, dried or fresh for extra taste optional
  • cumin, coriander and chilli for a mildly spicy version optional

Parsnip and Carrot – sweet and creamy

  • 1 knob butter
  • 3 parsnips (cut into rings or 4cm pieces)
  • 2 carrots (cut into rings or chunks)
  • 1.5 pints hot stock
  • a little milk or water optional
  • season with salt and pepper optional

Chunky vegetable pasta – meal in a bowl

Whichever vegetables you have!

  • 1 knob butter
  • 1 diced potato
  • few torn cabbage leaves
  • 1 carrot
  • parsnip
  • celery
  • cup peas
  • green beans
  • 1 handful pasta (for the final 10 minutes of cooking – make sure there’s plenty of liquid in the pan for the pasta to cook)
  • 1 pint 800ml of hot stock
  • season with salt and pepper optional

Rosemary Roasted Root Vegetable – This is a National Trust recipe

Roast vegetables in the oven for 30-45 minutes. When the veg is roasted, take out the rosemary stalks and tip all the veggies into a large pan. Add 800ml vegetable stock to the saucepan, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Simmer for 5-10 mins until veggies are soft. Serve chunky or let cool for 10 mins before blitzing.

  • olive oil
  • sprig or teaspoon of rosemary
  • 1 onion
  • 1 celery stick (chop your vegetables into 6cm)
  • 200 g swede (chop your vegetables into 6cm)
  • 1 parsnip (chop your vegetables into 6cm)
  • 2 carrots (chop your vegetables into 6cm)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 5 sprigs rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary)
  • 800 ml vegetable stock

Mexican Bean and Sausage – meal in a bowl

This is smoky spicy chorizo meal in a bowl. If you don’t want it too spicy leave the chilli powder out of the recipe.

• Heat the oil in your saucepan and fry the sliced sausage for 4-5 minutes.

• Add the vegetables, give it a stir then let it all sweat on low heat for 10 minutes

• Add the chilli powder and hot veg stock then the pepper, tinned sweetcorn and tinned bean

• Simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve with crusty bread.

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 350 g chorizo or smoked pork sausage (sliced)
  • 1 onion (peeled and finely chopped)
  • 1 clove garlic (peeled and crushed)
  • 2 large carrots (peeled and diced)
  • 2 potatoes (peeled and diced)
  • 1 tbsp hot chilli powder
  • 600 ml hot vegetable stock
  • 400 g can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 198 g can sweetcorn (drained)
  • 1 green pepper (deseeded and chopped)
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • crusty bread optional

Watercress

Cool for 10 mins after cooking then blitz together

  • 1 knob butter
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 350 g potato (diced)
  • 250 g watercress (chopped)
  • 1 pint hot stock
  • 4 tablespoons milk or cream (add at the end after cooling the soup a little) optional
  • season with salt and pepper optional

Instructions
 

  • Chop your vegetables into smallish chunks, about 4 to 6cm. Gently melt a knob of butter or a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Throw in your vegetables and stir round for 2 minutes on a medium heat.
  • Sweat – put a lid on the pan and turn the heat down so the vegetables ‘sweat’ for 5 minutes. Don’t skip this step, this is the key to great tasting soups.
  • Cook – Dissolve a stock cube in about 800ml (¾ pint) of boiled water and pour it on your vegetables in the pan. Bring the pan back up to a simmer and cook with the lid on for 25 minutes. 
  • For chunky soup, that’s it, it’s ready!
    For smooth soup, let it cool for 10 minutes or so then blitz it with a stick blender or food processor. If it’s too thick, add a little more water or milk. Taste it and season with salt and pepper.
  • Toppings and Garnish ideas
    Adding something crunchy or crispy to your bowl when you serve the soup turns a simple meal into a delicious (and more-ish!) treat.
    • Croutons are really easy to make using leftover bread cut into cubes, tossed in seasalt and fried in a pan or the airfryer. Add a sprinkle of dried herbs to make them extra special.
    • Fried onions
    • Garlic breadcrumbs (leftover bread slices – grate and mix with finely chopped garlic, bake in oven for 8 mins)
    • Toasted seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)
    • Crispy chickpeas (1 can, drained and rinsed – toss in vegetable oil and 1tsp cumin, 1tsp coriander, salt and pepper – bake in hot oven 20 minutes)
    • Crispy bacon or pancetta or crispy skinny vegetable skins (fry then chop and sprinkle on soup)

Notes

Easy recipes are carrot soup, leek and potato soup, mixed vegetable soup – it’s a great way to get plenty of vegetables into your diet even for kids who won’t eat them, especially when served with crusty bread or a slice of toast.
Top tips
• Soup is healthier if you leave the vegetables chunky so you don’t need to blitz it unless you want to. You can use a stick blender or a food processor to puree the mix once it has cooled a little.
• You can make a soup out of anything you like and it’s a great way to make use of vegetables to create a healthy, filling, delicious meal on a budget.
• Add some pasta to the final 10 minutes of cooking to make the soup really filling – little macaroni looks nice but you can use any kind – shells, fusilli, broken spaghetti etc.
• Adding a stick of celery and/or 2 cloves of chopped garlic when you stir fry the vegetables adds a really nice depth of flavour.
• Add cooked shredded chicken or chopped tinned ham chunks for more protein.
• Add a crispy garnish or topping to turn a simple meal into a tasty treat. Crispy bread croutons, bacon, toasted seeds, fried vegetable skins.
Recipe ideas – it’s the same easy method to make them all (1. chop 2. sweat 3. cook) and these are all 4 to 6 servings. You can always add more liquid to make it go a little further and all recipes will keep well in the fridge for a few days and are suitable for freezing.