Easy and delicious Vegan Roasted Carrot Soup with lentils and Moroccan spices. This velvety, rich and healthy carrot soup has a unique and perfectly balanced flavor!
Here, try this soup. I love it. And you will too, I promise!
I was never even a fan of carrots and even less of carrots in soups. Sometimes I added grated carrots to borsch, sometimes to chili or minestrone. I made yummy moist carrot cakes for Easter. I had an occasional snack that included carrots like spring rolls or cashew carrot bites. But it all has changed after I tried ROASTED carrots. No comparison with cooked or raw carrots at all!
Why You Should Roast Your Carrots
Roasting carrots brings out the sweetness and that’s probably the best thing about it. Roasting makes carrots caramelized and crunchy from outside while being creamy but not soapy from the inside. It’s almost a pity to pulse them in a blender to make the soup. But wait a moment. Caramelized flavor stays!
Intensified by Moroccan-inspired spice mix, this soup is absolutely over-the-top. Ras-el-Hanout, sweet paprika, turmeric, chili and black pepper… Add garlic, flat-leaf Italian parsley as a garnish and boiled red lentils to give it some texture and a tangy touch and enjoy. I bet you’ll be making this soup over and over again just like I do.
Toast a flatbread and dip in this soup. Naan bread is ideal. Homemade even better.
Half of the dish is the smell. We start with roasting carrots with the whole head of garlic seasoned with black pepper. Sweet, nutty, absolutely amazing aroma. Roasted garlic is something really special. It adds a delicate but rich flavor to the dish that has none of the intense flavor of raw garlic. Its mellow texture and sweet caramelized taste makes it absolutely delicious!
Next come tangy lentils that balance the sweetness of carrots, zippy Italian parsley and Moroccan spices. I make a new blend every time, so it’s never the same but always amazing.
Health Benefits of Vegan Roasted Carrot Soup with Lentils
Let’s talk healthy vegetables. Or more specifically: Are carrots healthy and good for you? The answer is yes.
Beta-carotene, antioxidants, fiber, numerous vitamins and minerals make carrots outstandingly nutritious. It results in the ability of carrots to regulate blood pressure, prevent heart diseases, improve digestion and eyesight, boost immune system and prevent premature aging. This impressive list of health benefits of carrots goes on and on.
Moreover, roasting is one of the healthiest cooking techniques, so be sure you are taking the most out of them.
Lentils are known for their outstanding fiber content. They are also good for your heart, blood sugar and cholesterol level, as well as metabolism and digestive system. You get all the amazing nutritious benefits of lentils for the minimal amount of calories they contain!
As for the spices, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, garlic and parsley are really good for you. I often hear that eating healthy is boring. That can’t be more wrong! Spices are good for you, and you can alter your dishes in so many ways using different combinations of spices and herbs. Moreover, they contain some unique nutrients that are hard to get from other foods.
How to Make Vegan Roasted Carrot Soup with Lentils
Easiness is what I was going for here. Having a 6-months-old in the house requires simple and yet tasty dishes, preferably those that you can eat for several days and/or freeze. Roasted carrot soup meets all of these conditions.
Bonus point: You can roast a bit of carrots without adding any spices and puree them for a delicious baby food! Homemade all the way!
To simplify the process of roasting carrots, I cut them before roasting. Here is a guide on how to cut carrots: I would go for Batonnet or Baton, depending on the size of your carrots. That way they are done faster, after about 25-30 minutes, not 30-40 as they would take if you roast them whole.
Preheat the oven, arrange your carrots on a baking tray in one layer. Cut the top of a head of garlic and put it to the carrots. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. They should be tender but not mushy when pierced with a fork.
Tip: make a double batch, use half for the soup and half as a side dish. They are delicious!
In the meantime, boil red lentils in a medium saucepan. Bring them to a boil, cover and cook for 15 minutes or check the instructions on the package.
When the carrots are done, transfer them to a pot together with peeled garlic cloves. Pour warm water, just enough to cover the vegetables. Add spices and bring to a boil. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a food processor until smooth. Add lentils and mix to combine.
Serve in bowls, garnished with parsley and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Serve some Naan bread or any other flatbread. Enjoy! Check the full recipe instructions below:
Vegan Roasted Carrot Soup with Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 kg or 2.2 lbs carrots peeled or not, it's up to you
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 100 grams or 1/2 cup red lentils
- 1 teaspoon Ras-el-Hanout
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small red chili pepper (optional, for extra spiciness)
- 4-5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley, to garnish
- Naan bread, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 400 °F. Cut your carrots in sticks (see notes above). You don't have to peel them but you can. Arrange your carrots on a baking tray in one layer. Cut the top of a head of garlic and put it to the carrots. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. They should be tender but not mushy when pierced with a fork.
- In the meantime, boil red lentils in a medium saucepan. Bring them to a boil, cover and cook for 15 minutes or check the instructions on the package.
- When the carrots are done, transfer them to a pot together with peeled garlic cloves. Pour warm water, just enough to cover the vegetables. Add spices and bring to a boil. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a food processor until smooth. Add lentils and mix to combine.
- Serve in bowls, garnished with parsley and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Serve some Naan bread or any other flatbread. Enjoy!
I didn’t have Ras-el-Hanout so I replaced that and the turmeric with 1 tsp each of Garam Masala and Japanese Curry powder (which is high in turmeric anyway). I think the final result was probably sweeter than intended, and tasted more like Indian curry than Moroccan-inspired soup, but it was still delicious. I also used a blender and did it in batches since I don’t have an immersion blender or a food processor.
Hi Nora, thank you so much for sharing your feedback! I tried this soup with Garam Masala too and I loved it!
Carrot soup has been my newest discovery. I’ve always enjoed creamy soups but never really made a carrot version. Until recently. Can’t wait to try your version!
I’m sure you’ll love it if you enjoy creamy soups!
This was amazing! I used Garam Marsala instead of the Ras-El….. and it was wonderful. I did add a tiny bit of heavy cream because I thought the kids would be more likely to eat it that way. But honestly I wouldn’t add it next time because it was such a small amount and most of us really enjoyed the flavors! IT was very filling, which is what my husband was so skeptical about when I told him we were having soup for dinner. Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Melissa, thank you so much for your lovely feedback! I’m so glad your family enjoyed the recipe! It’s one of my favorite FILLING soups. I recently tried it with sweet potatoes and it worked great, too!
This looks so healthy! I also use turmeric and paprika all the time. I don’t know what would we do without spices))
Thank you so much, Ira! True that, spices all the way! 🙂
What is ras-el-hanout?
Hi Kathleen, it’s a Middle Eastern spice blend. If you haven’t tried it yet, I really encourage you to! You can use it for a variety of dishes, from soups to salads, casseroles and dips. You can order it on Amazon or make it yourself.