Creamy Carrot Soup Recipe
Creamy Carrot Soup has surprisingly simple ingredients but tastes gourmet. Just like our popular Potato Soup, this is a quick and easy recipe that comes together in one pot. You will love the silky smooth texture and rich flavor.
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Carrot Soup Recipe:
Carrot soup is loaded with sweet carrots, plenty of onion and celery (don’t worry – they disappear into the final soup but add amazing flavor), fresh garlic, bacon, and light cream. Sauteeing the bacon first and cooking the rest of the soup in a little bit of bacon grease really elevates the flavor of this cream of carrot soup. We love serving with Dinner Rolls or Crusty French Bread.
How to Make Easy Carrot Soup:
You’ll love how this soup comes together in one pot. If you use an immersion blender, it’s even easier since you can blend it right in the pot and don’t have to transfer it to the blender. Immersion blenders are amazing!
- In a large pot, brown the bacon and transfer to a plate, keeping the bacon grease in the pot.
- Add diced onion, celery, and sliced carrots and cook 6-8 min. Add minced garlic, salt, and black pepper and cook another minute.
- Add chicken broth, and simmer partially covered 20-25 min until carrots are soft.
- Puree soup in batches in a blender or use an immersion blender.
- Return soup to the pot, stir in 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup milk, salt and pepper to taste, then bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
Tips for the Best Creamy Carrot Soup:
I fell in love with creamy soups on our honeymoon in Mexico where we dined in 5-star restaurants and soups were served as starters. They were so simple and so elegant at the same time. Here are some tips to make silky smooth blended soups:
- Don’t overcook or undercook the vegetables. Cook until uniformly soft without resistance to the bite.
- Season to taste at the end. You won’t be able to truly gauge the flavor until the end after it’s all blended.
- Add cream last. You don’t want to keep boiling after the cream is added.
- Don’t forget toppings! They aren’t just for looks. Toppings like bacon, parsley, black pepper or an extra swirl of cream will add just the right amount of texture and flavor and keep your soup exciting for adults. Remember it’s not baby food!
How to Blend Creamy Soups:
There are many ways to blend soup, but not all are effective in getting a restaurant-quality ultra-smooth consistency.
- High Powered Blender: Transfer your soup to your blender in batches. You should never fill a blender more than halfway with hot liquids to avoid burns, spills or ‘explosions.’ A high-powered blender will do the job best. Our blender has openings in the lid to allow heat to escape so you don’t end up with a vacuum.
- Immersion Blender: You can blend the soup to the right consistency and save yourself some dishes by using an immersion blender. Blend directly in your soup pot. It has a shield around the blade to avoid scratching your pot. Wear an oven mitt and apron while using in case there is any splatter.
- An Electric Hand Mixer – This is not as good as an immersion blender for getting a silky smooth texture. An electric hand mixer can also scratch up your coated pots.
- A Food Processor is our least favorite option as it doesn’t achieve the smoothness that you get from a high powered standing blender or immersion blender. It is better for processing thicker and chunkier sauces and soups.
Can I Make This a Dairy-Free Carrot Soup?
Yes! You can skip the cream and milk and use coconut milk instead for a carrot coconut soup, just like we did in our Sweet Potato Soup. It will still have amazing flavor and be a dairy-free creamy soup.
More Creamy Soup Recipes:
- Loaded Potato Soup – so creamy and cheesy
- Clam Chowder – restaurant style
- Corn Chowder – part creamy, part chunky and 100% good
- Cauliflower Potato Soup – with plump juicy shrimp
This Carrot soup is a feel-good comfort food and will warm your belly. If you love quick and cozy soup recipes, don’t miss our most popular Zuppa Toscana, easy Chicken Noodle Soup, and loaded Taco Soup (to change up your Taco Tuesday routine). You can explore all of our soup recipes here.
Creamy Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 6 oz bacon, 6 strips, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
- 1 celery rib, diced (1/2 cup)
- 2 lbs carrots, 8 large, peeled and sliced into 1/2” thick rings
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups chicken stock, or broth (reduced sodium)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, plus more to garnish
- 2 Tbsp parsley, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Brown bacon in a large pot and remove browned bacon with a slotted spoon.
- Into the same pot with the rendered bacon fat, add diced onion, celery, and sliced carrots and cook 6-8 minutes until onions soften (do not brown). Add minced garlic and 2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper, and stir another minute.
- Add 4 cups chicken stock, bring to a simmer then partially cover and cook 20-25 minutes or until carrots have softened.
- Puree soup in a blender in batches or use an immersion blender.
- Return soup to pot and stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Wow! This does not disappoint. It’s the best! It was so easy to make and the flavorful.
I’m so glad you loved it, Erica! Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful…had garden carrots and they were so sweet. Celery and onion…yum. Just a hint of garlic…tasted as you say gourmet! Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Very good recipe. My carrots were really sweet so the soup was very flavorful. Pureeing with an immersion blender worked great. After my first bowl, I was itching to add some canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling), so I did along with some ginger and a couple of shakes of allspice. I was short on cream/milk, so I’ll get some to thin it out a bit more. I make soup a couple of times a week, and I’ll definitely make this one again! Thanks!
Hi Gee Gee! Thank you for sharing your experience with the recipe. I’m glad you loved it and will make it again.
Made this – delicious! Didn’t have bacon but used chopped Hungarian farmer sausage, and it worked well. I stirred the cooked sausage back into the soup at the end.
That sounds amazing, Ruth! Thank you for sharing.
I just made this as written. Delicious and nutritious and easy! Thank you, Natasha!
So glad to hear that!
Question: is the bacon a garnish? Should it be crispy or is it just put in the soup after the cream?
Hi Nancy, bacon is for toppings. I recommend checking out the exact instructions in the written recipe on how to use and cook the bacon.
Just missing the celery, can I add dried celery seed instead?
Hi Brenda, I haven’t tested that but here’s what one of my readers wrote: “I have used celery seed instead of celery to get that flavor in the past. Works well for me.” I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha. I actually use your site for almost all my recipes and have never been disappointed. However, When I made the creamy carrot soup, I only wound up with 6 cups instead of 8. I followed your recipe to the letter.
Hi Lenore, that is a big difference – one thing I can think of is the quantity of carrots and also make sure to cook partially covered so you don’t lose too much to evaporation during the simmering stage.
I’ve made a few recipes of carrot soup. By far, this is the best one so far. No need to add any additional seasoning to what is said in the recipe. It’s spot on!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Carolyn! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Had a bunch of carrots from our garden and no possible way to use them all so found this recipe. Never would have imagined that carrot soup could be so incredibly delicious! Served it with cornbread muffins and we all agreed that we felt like we were doing some “fine dining” in a high end restaurant when it came to the soup. Thinned a little sour cream with milk to drizzle on the top and added the crumbled bacon. This is for sure a keeper…thank you for this delicious recipe!!!!
I’m so glad to hear that. You’re so very welcome. Thank you for trying my recipe.
My hubs and I loved this. Didn’t have any bacon, so I used butter. I will definitely make it again!
Glad to hear that, Karen! 🙂
I never thought carrots would taste so good. I had an abundance and knew I would get tired of eating roasted carrots and such. I can eat this everyday for lunch. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Iris! So glad you loved the soup. It’s that good!
Made this last night, it was a hit! The bacon was so perfect
That’s wonderful, Judy! Thank you for sharing.
Is this soup able to be frozen and reheated?? It’s delicious and is hate to waste a single bit!!!
Hi Vicci! So glad you loved it! I have not tested freezing this but one of my readers commented on freezing this all the time and it’s still great. I hope that helps.
Where is all of the sodium coming from? I’m going to make it but hubby can’t eat so much sodium. Hopefully it is a mistake 💜 love watching you and your recipes.
Hi Connie, from the chicken stock/broth, bacon, and the addition of salt. We used reduced sodium stock/broth but you could look for other sodium-free options for ingredients to help reduce the amount in this recipe.
Sounds amazing! I think I will make this, this afternoon.
To make sure I am not missing anything, you don’t add the bacon back in to the soup?
Hi Paul, that’s right, we add the bacon as a garnish at the end. I hope that helps!
Seriously so good and I will be making again soon. Has a gourmet flavor and is so creamy!
That is great, Taylor! So glad you enjoyed it.
One of the best veggie soups I’ve ever had!!! Creamy and smoky! I added a TOUCH of smoked paprika, because I bought a low quality bacon, but I feel like you could do so much with this soup 💕 so many toppings that’d be awesome
Wonderful, Jeanne! Thank you for sharing and for giving such an excellent review. I am happy you enjoy this recipe.
Made today and came out good. I do have a few comments however. There is no reference to heat levels. While one should know when to adjust the heat for bacon vs sauté onions/celery/carrots/garlic, to simmer, to low adding the milk/cream but usually these are referenced. Just a thought. As others mentioned bacon for topping not mentioned but implied and shown in pics.
But came out good. Being the tinkerer I am I added two table spoons of mascarpone and that made it beautifully silky… and also couldn’t help adding a nice sherry to it. Just to elevate the flavor profile but not over shadow the carrot taste. Can’t help myself:)
If I may, would be nice to have an accompanying recipe for the carrot greens (other than pesto!). Too beautiful to toss and wondering if can be incorporated into a complete meal with the soup. Salad option of course but would love something more if possible:) thx.
Hi Michael, I love that idea of adding mascarpone to make it creamier as well as sherry. Thank you for sharing!
Delicious!! I roasted the carrots first and added pepper flakes for a little zip. Definitely a do over!
Lovely feedback, Debbie. Thank you for sharing!
I love a good, simple, carrot soup! Thanks so muh for this recipe. Looking forward to making it again in the future!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Awesome recipe! I modified slightly, pureed the bacon with veggies and added a little cayenne pepper and smoked paprika.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Maria!
This is great! Do you have a root soup recipe? I had it at a restaurant once and have never been able to replicate it.
Hi Jenna, I do not at this time, but thank you so much for that suggestion!
Made this soup today, beautiful flavor. I did add about 1 tbsp of white sugar at the end, which brought out the salty smokiness. Delicious!
Thanks for sharing that with us, Kristen. Glad you enjoyed this soup!
I usually never write reviews, but I have to say this soup was delicious! I used turkey bacon instead of pork. To get the bacon flavor, I used 10 strips and cooked them in evoo, took the bacon out and cooked the celery and onion. I added the broth, carrots, s&p, onion powder, rosemary and a bay leaf and let it simmer for hours! I then blended all ingredients including 4 turkey bacon stripes, added the milk and cream at the end. Served with bacon and parsley on top.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Dalynne! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Made this for supper, it was so darn good! Creamy, tons of flavor ( I put bacon into the soup after blending) added more for garnish. A loaf of crusty french bread and call it dinner. I love your recipes, so easy, tasty and I usually have everything in the house
Hi Marnie, great to hear that you loved this recipe! Thank you for your review and feedback.
Made exactly as the recipe and it was delicious. I did grate some cheddar on top, but i do that with most homemade creamy soups. In fact, I just finished another bowl (3 hours after dinner) because i kept thinking how good it was…lol.
Yum! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Julie!
I can’t get the print function to work.
Hi Marianne, The print-friendly recipe is at the bottom of each post. Once you scroll there, click on the print icon in that recipe card, which will open a print screen, then you would need to click file —> print. I hope that helps! If not, please let me know exactly what steps you are taking and where you are navigating to print our recipes.
Would roasting the carrots before adding to soup add more flavor? I haven’t tried the recipe yet, just wondering about this.
Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Chris, yes, I imagine it would. I hope you can give this recipe a try and share with us how you liked it!
I love this soup, make it all the time and freeze portions. I also add some chilli flakes to give a little kick😉 In addition, I add a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro) and 1/4 cup of Parmesan👍🏼
Thanks Natasha 😊
Matt
Hi Matt, I’m happy to know that you enjoyed this soup! Thank uyou so much for sharing your good comments with us.
Made a batch and put into canning jars , just don’t know with the milk products to keep in fridge or if it’s ok in cupboard. Don’t know how long it would last every one loved it but would love some on hand to warm up
Is it ok to can and does it have shelf life or need to be in frig
Hi Shannon, I haven’t tried canning this yet to advise but I imagine you can freeze this too.
When canning Carrot soup does that need to be refrigerated or can you put it in the cupboard
I haven’t tried canning this yet to advise but I imagine you can freeze this too.
I’m making the recipe and I can’t find what to do with the bacon after I remove it. So, I’m dicing it and going to put half in after the puree process. Using the other half as a garnish.
Hi Richard, we saute the bacon first and cook the rest of the soup in that little bit of bacon grease to really elevate the flavor of this cream of carrot soup. The actual bacon is then used at the end and can be added into the soup bowls when serving to preserve the crush to put into the soup pot once the soup is ready.
Soup looks yummy. Just wondering how it freezes.
Hi Janet, I haven’t tried freezing but that should work well.
I love all your soups. I would like to use my instant pot. Would I do the same amount of stock?
Hi Joan, I haven’t tried this in an instant pot, but I would still use the same amount of stock.
I made it tonight , added some fresh ginger and thyme. 5 minutes in the instant pot and I left it 10 minutes natural release.
It was delicious.
Than’s for the recipe.
So awesome! Thanks for your great feedback, Joan. I hope that you will love all the other recipes that you will try.
Hi.
I am making this recipe now and noticed the last step of garnishing with bacon is not included. I can’t wait to taste it. Smalls great!
Hi Kim, thank you for that feedback. It is an optional step and garnish.
I feel like I was expecting it to be a little sweeter. Almost like butternut squash soup. Anything I can do to tweak it?
Hi Jennifer, it can depend on how sweet your carrots are. I have found organic carrots tend to be a little sweeter. You could add a little brown sugar to taste to sweeten it up.
add half of a chopped green apple
I made this soup and it is delicious!!! I only had hickory smoked bacon on hand and I think it gave the soup a deeper level of flavor. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you!!!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing.
Hi Natasha
Absolutely delicious soup and so easy to make. Had it with toasted cheesy baguettes and so filling. Will certainly make this again. Love it!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Caroline!
It was a bit cool out yesterday, so I was craving soup. Made your creamy carrot again. Just love this soup. So simple to make and just delicious.
And of course needed to have something sweet for afterwards, so made a batch of your cinnamon rolls as well. Just delicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Would this still taste good without the celery? Any substitution ideas… more carrots maybe.
Hi, once the celery is in, you cant tell it’s in there after blending but it does add rich flavor. It’s difficult to replace it, but a little extra onion and carrot is what I would do if I couldn’t get celery.
I have used celery seed instead of celery to get that flavor in the past. Works well for me.
That’s good to know, Glenda. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! It was great. Perfect soup to use up corned beef stock after St. Patricks Day!
Great idea!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Kat!
I made this recipe today, as written. This is very easy to make and so, so good. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Barbara. We’re so glad you enjoyed the soup!
Could you send me the recipe for zucchini soup please
Hi Linda, I do not have zucchini soup on my blog at this time. Thank you so much for that suggestion, I will add it to my list.
I always put a zucchini with potato and carrots soup it is good also
i like to use coconut milk instead of heavy cream. add some curry powder and give it a nice thai-ish flavor
Sounds good, thanks for sharing that with us!
Delicious!
Love it! Thanks.
Best soup I have ever eaten and trust me I have had a lot of soups! So easy to make and so delicious, ultimately became my favourite soup now, huge thank you for the recipe!!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Did I miss a step? I do not see where you add the cooked bacon back in.
Hi Jodi, we saute the bacon first and cook the rest of the soup in that little bit of bacon grease to really elevate the flavor of this cream of carrot soup. The actual bacon is then used at the end and can be added into the soup bowls when serving to preserve the crush to put into the soup pot once the soup is ready.
hello, how many cups is one serving?
Hi Marianna, soup servings are typically between 1 to 1.5 cups.
I have never had carrot soup before, but had a ton of carrots that I received from someone. I saw the soup recipe and decided to try it. So glad I did. It’s an excellent recipe if you have extra carrots.
I’m so glad you tried that Bev! Thank you for that wonderful review!
So delicious and perfect with all the leftover carrots I had from my Easter display! I added curry to mine and it was so good!
Thanks for sharing and for giving great feedback, Lisa. I haven’t tried that but thanks for the tip!
Lisa,
How much curry did you add?
Thanks for your reply
I just made this soup and OMG it truly is the BEST creamy carrot soup I have ever had. Yummm
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
This is my umpteenth recipe of yours and it turned out great. And so easy too! Made it without bacon for vegetarians but it was pretty awesome still. Used olive oil and butter to fry instead of the bacon fat.
So great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, Imelda and thanks for sharing the substitutes that you used. This really useful info for vegans who would like to make this.
Holy hat was this delicious. This surpasses all of my expectations! I made this because I had carrots my family didn’t eat. This was soooo good! Mine was way too thick, so I had to double the stock to puree it. But that just means more deliciousness! This is the 4th recipe I’ve tried and they have all been winners.
I love that you enjoyed all of the recipes that you tried! Thanks for providing a great review and for sharing your experience with us.
Absolute family favorite. Serve with sourdough bread. Have yet to find someone who doesn’t like it .. even those who “say” they don’t like their vegetables!
I love your comments! Thank you for sharing that with us and for your great review.
I did it dairy-free and was still creamy and delicious. I also tried it with sweet potato instead of carrots and it was also great! The leftovers make a great pasta sauce!
So great to hear that, Julie. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Awesome, tasting soup the very very delicious.
Thank you, Joe!
I like this soup okay but I think I would prefer it if there was some other flavour like dill or orange. I didn’t like the bacon with it but that is just me I guess. I usually love all your recipes but this one is just okay. Oh if you use a vita mix with these puree soups it makes a huge difference
Thank you for that feedback Janine! I bet this would be delicious with some dill.
Does it thicken up when you take off heat? Mine seems very thin
Hi Christine, it should thicken slightly but still be a soup-like consistency.
I have never made or eaten carrot soup before! We absolutely loved it; my husband said this is a keeper for sure and I agreed. Thank you Natasha!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Nancy!
Delicious, like all your recipes I’ve tried!
Quick question: are leftovers for this soup ok to freeze? Any suggestions when freezing? Thank you!!
Hi Margarita, I haven’t tried freezing but that should work well.
Can this be made with a pressure cooker?
Hi Anon, I have not tested that to advise. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
Delicious and easy. This will be one of our favorites!
Hi Beth, I’m so happy to hear the carrot soup has become a new favorite. Thank you for sharing your wonderful review.
Is it necessary to use heavy whipping cream? What is the reason you use the whipping cream? Can I just use the 18% table cream? Will that be good enough? Thanks
Hi Teresa, that should work. It will be less creamy but should have a similar affect.
I made this tonight and it was so delicious! Definitely a keeper!
I’m so glad you loved it! I keep seeing so many people posting pictures of this one on Instagram and Facebook. It became popular right away! Thanks for the great review.
When do you put the bacon back in, or don’t you? Is that just for garnish? Can’t wait to make this!
Hi Emma, we use it as a topping for this recipe. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Made this for dinner, it turned out so good. My teens loved it too!
Hi Aimee, That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
It’s always so satisfying when such simple ingredients produce stellar results. I just love the silky smooth texture of this soup!
The flavor is amazing! Thank you for stopping by & for that great review, Julia.
Awesome, tasting soup the very very delicious.
This soup is so good and so creamy. The bacon compliments perfectly. Definitely my new go to soup.
Hi Billy, I’m so glad you loved the soup! Thank you for the wonderful review!