Creamy Carrot Soup with NO Cream!

As we move into March, I'm testing out recipes for delicious dishes that contain no added sugar. This soup is so sweet and yummy, you would swear it had loads of sugar. But no! The sweetness comes from carrots, a root vegetable that contains natural fructose, along with loads of vitamins and minerals, plenty of fiber, and flavor! It's also creamy without any added milk or cream. I like to add a dollop of Greek yogurt to the finished soup, but this is optional.

I found this recipe in my inbox. It was created by Serious Eats, which is a fabulous site for finding interesting and international recipes. Sign up on their email list and you can receive recipes like this in your inbox daily! I tweaked their recipe a tiny bit (of course) so check out the original if you prefer an untweaked version!

I used homemade chicken stock instead of vegetable broth. If you are vegan, you can go with homemade veggie broth instead. Chicken broth has loads of collagen, a protein which is great for your skin and joint health. I make my own regularly, so I always have extra to use up.

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 pounds carrots

3 TB olive oil 

Salt to taste

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 sprigs parsley

4-5 cups stock (I used chicken stock, but veggie will work, too!)

1-2 cups carrot juice (I used 2 cups along with 4 cups of stock.)

4 TB butter (optional; I did not use butter as I had plenty of fat in my chicken broth.)

2 TB lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375F. Slice carrots into rounds. Toss half the carrots with 1 TB olive oil and lay them out on a baking tray. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Roast for about 25 minutes and remove from oven.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 TB olive oil. Cook onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute or so. Add raw carrots, roasted carrots, stock, parsley, and carrot juice. Bring to boil, turn heat down and simmer over low heat for about 25-30 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender) puree the contents until smooth. Add butter and lemon juice and blend some more. Serve hot with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top, if you like!