Quick And Easy Carrot And Parsnip Soup

Carrot and parsnip soup is the ultimate in comfort food, rich and creamy but low in calories, tastes delicious and is quick, easy and economical to make.

Why you’ll love this soup recipe

• Carrot and parsnip soup is so quick and easy to make, all ready within half an hour, so perfect for busy days when you don’t have long in the kitchen.
• This parsnip and carrot soup is a great way to use up just a few carrots and a couple of parsnips left in the fridge.
• Cheap and cheerful. my carrot and parsnip soup is economical with just a few store cupboard ingredients.
• It’s healthy, low in carbs and calories, this carrot and parsnip soup ticks the boxes for healthy eating and we all want a bit of that these days.

Good old carrots are the base for many soups, from my French Puy Lentil Soup to traditional Scotch Broth and Lentil Soup. It fairly shines in my Carrot and Cauliflower Soup, so I thought it was time to bring it out again with this simple easy carrot and parsnip soup recipe.

Ingredients for carrot and parsnip soup

There aren’t many ingredients required for this simple parsnip and carrot soup – it’s a real fridge and store-cupboard soup that is super easy to throw together.

Carrots – Make sure your carrots are firm and fresh, they can easily go off especially from some of the supermarkets

Parsnips – Again, make sure they haven’t gone over to the dreaded bendy stage!

The base – All good soups need a base of onion, garlic and celery. They add a depth and flavour right from the start.

Stock – My carrot and parsnip soup is vegetarian so I’m using a simple veggie stock cube in boiling water. Feel free to use your own homemade vegetable stock or use a chicken or hand stock if you like. I wouldn’t go for lamb or beef stock as they are very strongly flavoured and would overpower the carrots and parsnips.

Thyme – I am using fresh thyme as I have it growing in the garden but you can just as easily use dried thyme instead.

Veggie notes

You can use frozen carrots and parsnips for this soup if that is all you have. Frozen veggies work great in soups and you can pick up some good mixes of vegetables ready bagged in the freezer section of the supermarket.

Things to add

You can add extra flavour to your simple carrot and parsnip soup by adding either some curry powder or harissa to the soup either while making it or at the end when serving.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make parsnip and carrot soup

This really is the easiest carrot and parsnip soup recipe. Basically just a couple of steps and within half an hour you’ll have a super tasty pot of wholesome soup that all the family will love.

Rinse the carrots and parsnips (no need to peel them as there are lots of nutrients in the peel) and chop them into similar-sized chunks. This ensures that everything cooks at the same time.

Chop up the onion, celery and garlic and saute these in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes to allow their fabulous flavours to be released and to merge together.

Once the soup base is ready simply add the chopped-up carrots and parsnips, your vegetable (or other type) stock plus some salt and pepper and the thyme.

Bring this to the boil then lower the heat, pop on a lid, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes till the veggies are tender and cooked through.

If you are using an Aga put the covered pan into the baking oven for 20 minutes instead or the lower oven for about an hour.

Now you can either use a potato masher to squish down your veggies to get a rustic style parsnip and carrot soup. Or use a stick blender to get a smoother type of soup.

Personally, I like my carrots and parsnip soup to be a bit of both, a creamy soup but still with some little chunks of carrot and parsnip in there for texture.

How to serve this soup

I like to serve my carrot and parsnip soup with a swirl of Greek yogurt or creme fraiche stirred lightly into it and scattered with some more of the fresh thyme.

You could add homemade croutons to your parsnip and carrot soup if you want a bit of crusnch.

Sprinkle this carrot soup with some curry powder or harissa if you want a hit of heat and spice. Here’s how to make homemade harissa and even your own curry spice mix.

How many does this serve?

This carrot and parsnip soup recipe serves four people. Remember, soup thickens up as it cools so you can add a bit of water to thin it down and make it go further.

How long will this keep?

Parsnip and carrot soup will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. I always think soup is better the next day when all the flavours have really settled together and it has thickened up even more.

You can freeze parsnip and carry soup for up to 4 months. I freeze my soups in zip lock bags on a baking sheet and when solid take them off the sheet and file them upright in the freezer in a row so they take up less valuable freezer space. Remember to label your soup clearly.

Looking for more tasty soups to tempt your taste buds? Then check these out before you go;

Easy vegetarian Scotch broth

3 Ingredient leek and potato soup

Easy Mediterranean vegetable soup

Winter vegetable soup

Creamy garlic mushroom soup

And if you want even more soupy inspiration check out my Soup Section for a whole host of exciting recipes.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.