Spicy, lemony, creamy and smooth. Oh yes, this spiced carrot and tahini soup is certainly cold weather comfort food! It's a great vegan recipe perfect for a light meal.
It's now cold and chilly and summer feels a long time away. I've been eating quite a few salads but it's not really the right time for them any more. However, what this type of weather is perfect for, is soups.
I had a lot of carrots in the fridge and wanted to use them up. They weren't the best carrots. A bit watery and without much flavour. Not so good for dipping in houmous, but perfect for blending up and putting in a soup.
I have to admit that I haven't always been a big fan of carrot soup. However, making carrot soup is a brilliant way of using up any carrots that are slightly past their best and you'd never know once you taste this carrot and tahini soup. It's just so good!
The inspiration for this soup
This carrot and tahini soup is inspired by this soup recipe on Eats Well with Others. It had tahini in and it got me thinking. The sweetness of the carrots would be balanced out by the bitterness of the tahini. Hmmm. Maybe carrot soup could be delicious after all, just like carrots dipped in houmous.
I adapted the recipe. We didn't have any leeks so I used onions. I made a much small quantity and so used fewer carrots but used a larger proportion of spices and added cumin too. Cumin just goes so well with coriander and carrots.
I love lemon juice in soups so added the juice of half a lemon but again, you might want to add less of this. What's really important is not to add too much stock. This should be thick and delicious, not a watery soup.
What ingredients do you need for this carrot and tahini soup?
So, to make this carrot and tahini soup you'll need:
- Onions - I use brown onions but red would work too.
- Garlic - Fresh garlic or garlic puree are fine.
- Spices- coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper and turmeric
- Thyme - I use dried thyme but you can use fresh if you have it.
- Carrots
- Stock - I use vegetable stock but you could use chicken stock if you're not a vegetarian and that's what you have.
- Tahini
- Lemon - This is for the juice that you squeeze on at the end.
How to make this carrot and tahini soup
do check out the recipe card further down the page too. It's a very easy soup to make. Just heat a little oil in a saucepan and cook the onions till soft. Then stir in the garlic and spices. Add the carrot and tahini too and then the stock.
Let it simmer for about 20 minutes and then blend either by using a stick blender or by putting it into a jug blender.
Serve topped with herbs or with croutons or just some bread on the side.
Ways to adapt this soup
I've already mentioned a few ways I have adapted this soup from the recipe that originally inspired it. I would love you to do the same. As far as I'm concerned, recipes are there to be adapted and played with.
This soup could be adapted in so many ways. You can play around with the spices and use more or less of certain ones. If you want to make the recipe simpler then just replace all the spices with your favourite curry powder or a spoonful of curry paste.
If you have extra vegetables you want to use up then throw then in as well. Other root vegetables would work well along with the carrots in this soup. How about parsnips or sweet potato?
If you don't have tahini then you can even replace it with a nut butter. Peanut butter is brilliant with carrots but almond or cashew nut butters would all work too.
What to serve with this tahini and carrot soup?
I love to serve it with some kind of fresh bread. Any kind of fresh bread. You could try soda bread, focaccia or homemade white rolls.
Storing and freezing
You can store this soup in the fridge for up to three days. Just reheat thoroughly on the hob or in the microwave before serving.
It will also keep for at least three months in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge overnight or at room temperature and then reheat thoroughly before serving.
Recipe
Carrot and Tahini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 small onions finely diced, or one large onion
- 1 large clove of garlic crushed
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 230 g peeled carrots chopped
- 500 ml Vegetable stock - just enough to cover the vegetables
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- ½ lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Put a little oil in the bottom of a saucepan and cook the onion for about 3 minutes until softened. Add the crushed garlic and spices. Stir then add the carrots. Add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the tahini then use a stick blender or transfer to a blender and blitz until you get a thick smooth soup.
- Stir in the lemon juice to taste and serve with bread.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More soup recipes
If you like this soup recipe then do check out my easy homemade soups collection! There are some great easy recipes for meal planning. It's also a great recipe for batch cooking and you'll find more similar recipes in my Cook Once Eat Twice recipe collection.
If you like the sound of this recipe for carrot and tahini soup then why not try this sweet potato, lentil and tahini soup, this spiced tomato and tahini soup? Or one of these soups:
Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make this recipe or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
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Elinor Hill aka Beach Hut Cook
I lovely soup with the best colour to brighten up these dark dreary days.
Corina
Aww thank you Elinor!
Brynn at The Domestic Dietitian
I can't wait to make this! I always buy tahini to make hummus but then I never know what else to make to use up the tahini!
Corina
I hope you enjoy it!
Joanne
I'm usually wary of carrot-based soups also but I'm so glad you liked this! It really is SUCH a tasty dish!
Katerina
I am a little under the weather and my throat is sore, so this soup would do me very good! And I love carrots and tahini!
AfghanCuisine
This sounds absoloutley delicous, I recently had a dish that had a tahini and tomatoe sauce, and I realized tahini can be a nice substitute for heavy cream because the dish tasted very creamy. I kind of love that the weather has been a bit chilly here as well because I miss some of my heavier winter comfort foods, thanks for sharing I will be trying soon 🙂
Corina
I like the idea of tahini and tomato - I'll have to try that next!
Kahakai Kitchen
I love tahini in soups and made a similar one a while back--so good! Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week. 😉
emmycooks
This sounds so good. I love tahini and am looking forward to your lentil tahini soup post!
Tandy
Sounds delicious 🙂
frugalfeeding
That sounds lovely. I've never tried tahini in a soup, but I can imagine that it would work very well.
Corina
It works really well. In fact, I've already made another soup with lentils and tahini in that was also really good and I'll probably post in the next couple of weeks.