Carrot Soup with Chermoula and North African Spices – a simple healthy vibrant soup bursting with flavor. Vegan Adaptable!
Hello sunshine! This vibrant Carrot Soup with Chermoula is bursting with flavors of North Africa. This simple carrot soup reminds me so much of how my father used to cook, taking simple ordinary ingredients, and infusing them with the warm flavors of the Middle East, transforming them into something unexpected and delicious.
And to me, is nothing more gratifying than taking a few simple veggies and turning them into a healthy vibrant meal.
Chermoula, if unfamiliar is a flavorful condiment originating from the northern most countries of Africa — Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. A blend of fresh herbs, olive oil, lemon zest and toasted spices, it adds an unexpected brightness and punch of earthy flavor to the soup. It can be made spicy or kept mild … and be sure to save the leftover Chermoula for a tasty marinade for fish, chicken or tofu.
Think of it as a a North African “Chimichurri” sauce!
Enjoy!
xo
Carrot Soup with Chermoula
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: soup, vegetarian
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: north african
Description
Carrot Soup with Chermoula and North African Spices – a simple healthy soup bursting with flavor. Vegan Adaptable!
Ingredients
- 2 tablspoon olive oil ( or butter)
- 1 lbs scrubbed carrots- cut into 1/2 inch disks
- ½ a large onion- diced ( 1 cup)
- 4 garlic cloves-smashed
- 1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 4 cups chicken or veggie stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
- ¼ cup yogurt or sour cream ( or vegan yogurt or sour cream)
Chermoula:
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley ( or sub more cilantro)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup olive oil
- Zest from 1/2 lemon ( about 1 tsp)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes -or more for spicier
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom pot, saute onion, cumin seeds and smashed garlic in oil, on medium high heat until golden and tender, about 5-6 minutes, stirring often.
- Add carrots, chicken stock, salt, white pepper, bay leaves and bring to a vigorous simmer. Cover and simmer on med low heat for 20 minutes or until carrots are easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Let cool slightly.
- Make the Chermoula: Toast the spices in dry skillet over medium until fragrant and golden. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined into a paste, but not too smooth. Set aside in a bowl.
- Blend the soup using an immersion blender or in small batches in a blender until silky smooth.
- Place back in the pot and stir in sour cream and maple syrup. Adjust salt and spice level. (Keeping in mind Chermoula will add a LOT of flavor.) Keep warm on low heat until serving.
- Divide among bowls, and add a spoonful of chermoula, swirling it in a circle. Add more yogurt or sour cream if you like.
Notes
Of course you can use ground spices instead of whole seeds, but the toasted whole seeds will add that extra level of flavor that will wow your taste buds.
The original recipe included a 1/4 of an apple, sliced (at the same time as the carrots) to add a bit of sweetness to the soup. Feel free to add if you like a sweeter soup, and you may not need the maple syrup.
Keywords: carrot soup, north african carrot soup, carrot soup vegan, carrot soup curry, creamy carrot soup, chermoula, chermoula recipe, what is chermoula, the best carrot soup, easy carrot soup,
This recipe is insanely delicious, thank you so much! It took me a little longer to make the Chermoula than expected because the coriander seeds got stuck under the blade of my food processor so I needed to scrape them out occasionally to make sure they were ground up, but it was so worth it. I’ve been putting the Chermoula on everything:)
★★★★★
Great to hear Julia!
Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked this Elissa!
This was a delicious soup! Amazing flavor. I added roasted and salted sunflower seeds on top which added a nice bite to the soup. I only had parsley for the chermoula which was delicious. I also only had honey vanilla yogurt which I used and then added just a little bit more honey. Will certainly make this again!
★★★★★
This soup was outstanding! One of the best things I’ve ever eaten! My only variation was the parsley. I only had cilantro.
★★★★★
This was so good! I don’t do cilantro so I subbed basil for the green sauce instead. Delicious!
★★★★★
This soup is super delicious
★★★★★
Easy and delicious!
★★★★★
super recipe. the chermoula was prepared a second time with basil instead of parsley.
And I cooked it with Radish once, very white. very tasty too
★★★★★
So so soooo good. Do not omit the maple syrup or honey if you’re also making the chermoula. Once you add the chermoula, it needs that extra sweetness. So So sooo good.
★★★★★
I just made this and loved it! I didn’t add any honey or maple syrup because it was sweet enough. The chermoula really takes it over the top!
I made this for the first time today and it was AMAZING. I doubled the recipe because I had a strong feeling this was going to be great😊 I left out the yogurt and maple syrup because it was so good by itself that I just did not want to add anything more. Thank you so much for this delectable soup recipe. It is a keeper for sure.
★★★★★
Absolutely amazing! Even my husband, who usually doesn’t care for carrot soups (since carrots have an underlying sweet flavour, and he really really doesn’t like that) loved it – it was savoury not sweet. It would have been pretty good without the chermoula, but the chermoula totally ‘makes’ this soup and gives it the depth and layers one doesn’t often find. I followed this recipe closely and it worked perfectly. I’m ready for my next one!
AWesome Nora!
oh…my…LORD!
hands down one of THE BEST soups i have made in my life…thank you!
p.s. i didn’t add the honey or yogurt when blending…i forgot lol…so i doted them on top…yum…
★★★★★
My absolute new favorite soup. So delicious. One bit of advice: Double the recipe!
★★★★★
This was my first time making this recipe. It was amazing! I used vegetable stock. The recipe was a lot easier than I thought going into it. My husband said it was “insane”! I cut back a little bit on the olive oil for the sauce and substituted some water. Overall, very healthy (our goal). The taste made it seem like we were being decadent, yet we weren’t. Love this, thank you!
★★★★★
Soooo flavorful!!!! The spices were perfect and so much depth to the flavors. My family enjoyed it as well. It was as though we went traveling to Tunisa. Thank you for the recipe. It’s a definite keeper.
★★★★★
Thanks Lynne!