Some of my favorite flavors combine in this deliciously hearty soup. Carrot, Ginger and Coconut soup will ‘warm your cockles’ (it means something pleasant that makes us feel good,) on a cold winter’s day. Made in an Instant Pot, it doesn’t get any easier than this!
This soup is a great lunch option, or a starter for an Asian themed meal or could even be a meal unto itself. However you serve it or for whatever reason, it is sure to be enjoyed.
Ingredients
The inclusion of fresh garlic, fresh ginger, sweet chili and coconut milk give this soup slight Asian overtones. Add carrots, potatoes and chicken stock to round out the soup.
- Carrots are the main ingredient. I used carrots plucked out of my own vegetable patch.
- Potatoes are added to provide a more cohesive finish to the soup.
- Garlic, fresh is preferable over readily prepared.
- Ginger, fresh for pungency, rather than powdered.
- Sweet Chili sauce, I used a prepared store bought one containing pickled red chili, vinegar and sugar.
- Chicken stock, I used homemade chicken bone broth. I put a chicken carcass, along with some vegetable scraps in water in the Instant Pot for 2 hours to pressure cook.
- Coconut milk, preferably the full fat version.
- Not shown in the photo is soy sauce which I chose to ‘salt’ the soup and provide a little umami flavor. Umami taste is a 5th basic taste; sweet, salty, sour and bitter make up the other 4. Soy sauce is an ancient Asian umami seasoning.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Prepare the carrots first of all. Carrots plucked freshly out of the garden or organic ones from the store, need only their surfaces gently scrubbed. If using regular store bought carrots, then I recommend peeling them.
Peel potatoes using a vegetable peeler.
Garlic cloves need their outer layer of skin removed.
Peel ginger using a teaspoon to essentially ‘tear’ the skin off it. This is the preferable method as it does not remove any ginger flesh. If you have ginger root that is a little older and has been in the refrigerator for a while, use a vegetable peeler.
Slice or chop these 4 vegetables. The perfect slicing and dicing of vegetables is not required, as the soup will be pureed when it has finished cooking.
Add the chopped / sliced vegetables, stock, and sweet chili sauce into the Instant Pot container insert. Do not add the coconut milk at this stage. Add soy sauce or salt.
Slow cook the Carrot, Ginger, and Coconut Soup in the Instant Pot for 2 hours or pressure cook for 30 minutes.
Once the ingredients have cooked, add coconut milk and puree using a stick blender.
When ready to serve the Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup consider garnishing it with fried carrot slices (slices of raw carrot, brushed with oil and air fried for 5 minutes,) dots of chili sauce and / or coconut milk, coconut flakes and carrot leaves.
Flexibility
This recipe offers lots of flexibility with regard to ingredient addition, substitution and deletion.
- As carrots are the main ingredient, it is difficult to substitute them. If you could not get fresh carrots then use frozen. The carrot flavor will not be as prevalent. You could also add parsnips if those are available.
- Potatoes are needed for the velvety look and mouth feel. They also help to thicken the soup. They can be omitted.
- Use garlic or onion powder and dried or ready prepared ginger if these fresh items are unavailable.
- The sweet chili sauce, adds kick so use dried chili flakes (half a teaspoon) or a whole chopped fresh chili pepper.
- Stock of any sort is preferable to water for this recipe. It brings more flavor to the soup.
- A full fat dairy item or dairy equivalent is needed. The original recipe uses coconut milk but a block of cream cheese could be added or the equivalent amount of heavy whipping cream or whipping cream too. This existing recipe is dairy free, by adding cream, the soup will not longer be dairy free.
Uses for Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup
This soup is a great way to start an Asian themed meal.
It is also a hearty lunch dish and will pair well with Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich.)
I suggested in the Smokey Pumpkin Soup recipe to serve ‘shots’ of soup in espresso cups as guests arrive for a dinner party. Use this Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup also as a guest greeter.
Other soup recipes besides the Smokey Pumpkin Soup, includes my popular Split Pea and Ham.
Equipment.
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Storage
Allow the Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup to cool and then store it in a mason jar or container with a good sealing lid in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze it for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
A Tip From Me
When making soups or curries, I always use homemade chicken bone broth. There are several reasons why I do this:
- Bone broth is made from the carcass of a small animal, such as chicken, quail or turkey. Typically it is thrown away, so making something more with it, adds value to the original purchase of the meat.
- I add vegetable scraps to the carcass. These scraps include, for example, parsley stems, onion skins, and carrot and parsnip peelings. Again these are food items that would be thrown away but are given a second chance to produce something delicious.
- Using an Instant Pot makes this whole process effortless. Put the carcass and vegetable scraps into the pot, add water, then put the pressurized lid on and set the timer for 2 hours. After it has cooled, I pour it through a sieve and store the broth in mason jars and place it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Alternatively I can put it in a freezer storage bag. I like to freeze the bone broth horizontally and then when frozen I like to store vertically, so it looks like a book on a shelf! This makes it easy to pull out and be used in all your recipes requiring stock.
- Bone broth is extremely healthy. In the Medical News Today bone broth has been cited as being nutritious, protecting joints, fighting osteoarthritis, reducing gut inflammation, and helping with sleep and weight loss.
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
- Is this soup good for you? It contains carrots, ginger and garlic – all known for their healing properties and immunity-boosting powers. My recipe used chicken bone broth, which also helps gut and joint health.
- What about the sugar content in the soup, are carrots full of sugar? Carrots (either raw or cooked) have a low glycemic index score, which means they are unlikely to trigger a blood sugar spike.
- I don’t have a stick blender, what should I do instead? Use a food processor to blend the soup instead. This is a little more laborious but the result will be the same.
- I don’t have an Instant Pot. Use a traditional slow cooker instead of an Instant Pot. Refer to the equipment’s manual how to cook a vegetable based soup. Another alternative is to cook this soup on the stove top. Bring the ingredients to a boil, simmer for 1 hour, then blend.
- Can I roast the carrots in advance? Sure, this will add more flavor.
- I over salted the soup, what should I do? This can happen and is easily fixed in this recipe. Add another fresh potatoes, peel it and grate it finely into the soup and allow to cook for about 10-15 minutes.
Failing that, use some instant potato flakes at home. I try to have a package of these in my pantry in case I over salt a dish.
Recipe for Carrot, Ginger and Coconut Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh carrots
- 3.5 pints chicken stock or bone broth (56 oz)
- 2 medium fresh potatoes (about 9 oz)
- 1 oz fresh ginger
- 8 cloves fresh garlic
- 13.5 oz coconut milk (standard quantity for a can of coconut milk)
- 3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- ½ tsp salt (or 2 tsp soy sauce)
Instructions
- Gently scrub freshly picked or store bought organic carrots. If using regular store bought carrots, then I recommend peeling them.
- Peel potatoes using a vegetable peeler.
- Garlic cloves need their outer layer of skin removed.
- Peel ginger using a teaspoon to essentially 'tear' the skin off it. This is the preferable method as it does not remove any ginger flesh. If you have an older ginger root, then use a vegetable peeler.
- Slice or chop these 4 vegetables. The perfect slicing and dicing of vegetables is not required as the soup will be pureed.
- Add the chopped / sliced vegetables, stock, and sweet chili sauce into the Instant Pot container insert. Do not add the coconut milk at this stage. Add soy sauce or salt.
- Slow cook the Carrot, Ginger, and Coconut Soup in the Instant Pot for 2 hours or pressure cook for 30 minutes.
- Once the ingredients have cooked, add coconut milk and blend using a stick blender. Check the salt level and add more if needed.
- When ready to serve the soup, consider garnishing it with fried carrot slices (slices of raw carrot, brushed with oil and air fried for 5 minutes,) dots of chili sauce and / or coconut milk, coconut flakes and carrot leaves.
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