Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Soup (Vegan)

Warm up with a bowl of creamy Instant Pot carrot ginger soup! Made with carrots, ginger, coconut milk, thyme leaves, and a squeeze of lime, this soup is both easy to prepare, and tasty to eat.

Soups and stews are one of my favorite things to make in the Instant Pot. From Instant Pot Tuscan chicken stew to Spicy Chickpea Chili to this delicious carrot ginger soup, I love that you can set it and not worry about stirring or the pot boiling over. So easy!

Easy to prepare and loaded with healthy vegetables, this carrot soup is just the thing to warm you up on a cold day.

It freeze/thaws great, and is the kind of soup that tastes better on day 2. Don't you just love it when that happens?

Recipe video

Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped this soup. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.

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Building flavor with a few simple tricks

This soup is proof that humble ingredients can still pack a whole lot of flavor. There are a few important steps to help build flavor up in this soup:

Sautee onions + garlic

1. We start by sautéing 1 onion in olive oil using the sauté function of your Instant Pot. This helps soften the onions while concentrating the natural sugars.
2. Once the onions are soft and translucent, we add the garlic and ginger and cook for just one minute. Adding the garlic and ginger later on prevents them from burning and bringing a bitter flavor to our soup. Instead we get added flavor complexity and dimension from the mellowed garlic and ginger.

Add acid after cooking

The second important step is the squeeze of lime juice after cooking. The contrast between the sweet carrots and tangy lime juice is absolutely key to bringing out all the flavors.

Tips for rich and creamy soup

There are a few important tricks to getting ultra creamy and rich carrot ginger soup. Firstly, you will need a blender to puree your soup. You can either use an immersion blender, or carefully work in batches using a stand blender (I am loving this Vitamix right now). Blend until completely pureed, then stir in the coconut milk and lime juice.

Secondly, I recommend using full fat coconut milk. I love either Grace or Thai Kitchen brand, as they are always thick and creamy. Not only does the coconut milk give a rich and creamy texture, but it also brings a mildly sweet and coconutty flavor to the soup.

Swaps + variations

Thanks to our lovely readers for sharing how they made this carrot ginger soup their own.

Coconut milk

There are a lot of opinions on coconut milk in this recipe. Personally I love the slightly sweet and coconutty flavor that it brings to the soup, but here are some variations readers have made:

• Reader Mitchy swapped coconut milk for a combination of heavy whipping cream and milk
• Readers Donna and Suzanne make it with half a can of coconut milk
• Reader Bud has made it with coconut cream
• Reader Alana prefers it without the coconut milk

Lime Juice

• Reader Mitchy swapped the lime for a lemon

Added touches

• Reader Sarah swirled coconut aminos + sriracha onto the soup to serve
• Reader Colleen added half a teaspoon of curry powder

Prep ahead to eat later

This soup works perfectly for meal prep (and actually tastes better on day two!).

Here's how to prep it ahead and store:

Fridge

Portion out into meal prep containers, mason jars, or plastic freezer jars.

Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot.

For best food safety practices, I do not recommend reheating more than once.

Freezer

Portion out into mason jars or plastic jars. Cool completely before freezing.

* I recommend leaving ¼ of the container empty to account for expansion. Leave lids ajar or off until the soup is fully frozen*

Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw and reheat in a pot or the microwave until steaming hot!

Find my favorite freezer containers here!

More tasty soup recipes

• Thai Curry Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
• Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
• Healthy Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
• Healthier Beef Barley Soup

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Soup (Vegan)

4.93 from 38 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

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Warm up with a bowl of creamy Instant Pot carrot ginger soup! Made with carrots, ginger, coconut milk, thyme leaves, and a squeeze of lime, this soup is both easy to prepare, and tasty to eat.

4 -6

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 onion (chopped)
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ginger (grated or finely chopped)
• ▢ 5 cups carrots (peeled & chopped)
• ▢ 4 cups vegetable broth
• ▢ ¾ teaspoons salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ▢ 13.5 oz coconut milk (400 mL; full fat works best)
• ▢ ½ lime (juiced)

Instructions 

• Select the sauté function of the Instant Pot. Add olive oil and onion to the inner pot. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until onions are softened and translucent.
• Add the garlic & ginger, cook 1-2 more minutes.  Turn off sauté function.
• Add carrots, broth, salt and pepper and thyme leaves to the inner pot. Stir to combine. Put the lid on, turn vent to 'sealed' and cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
• After the timer beeps, allow the pot to sit for ten minutes (natural pressure release), before releasing the remaining pressure.
• Blend until smooth with an immersion blender, or carefully transfer to a stand blender and puree in batches.
• Stir in coconut milk and lime juice, and enjoy!

Stove Top

• Cook onion in olive oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
• Add the garlic & ginger, cook 1-2 more minutes.  
• Add carrots, stock, salt, pepper and thyme, and stir to combine. Cook for 20-30 minutes, until carrots are soft.
• Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
• Stir in coconut milk and lime juice, and enjoy!

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Tips:

Storage

Soup may be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Soup may be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, cool completely and portion out into wide mouth mason jars (leave ¼ of the jar empty and lids ajar until fully frozen) or in plastic freezer jars.

 

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1/6 of batch, Calories: 200kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Sodium: 462mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g

Author: Denise Bustard

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

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