North African Carrot Soup with Chermoula and North African Spices – a simple healthy vibrant soup bursting with flavor. Vegan Adaptable! Includes a Video.
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.
North African Carrot Soup | Video
And to me, is nothing more gratifying than taking a few simple veggies and turning them into a healthy vibrant meal.
What is Chermoula?
Chermoula, if unfamiliar is a flavorful condiment originating from the northernmost countries of Africa — Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. It’s blend of fresh herbs, olive oil, lemon zest and toasted spices, and 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 North African “Chimichurri” sauce!
Ingredients in North African Carrot Soup
- olive oil (or butter)
- carrots
- onion
- garlic cloves
- Cumin seeds
- veggie broth or chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt
- white pepper
- honey or maple syrup
- yogurt or sour cream (or vegan yogurt or sour cream)
Chermoula:
- cumin seeds, toasted
- coriander seeds, toasted
- cilantro
- Italian parsley ( or sub more cilantro)
- fresh ginger
- fresh thyme (optional)
- garlic cloves
- olive oil
- Lemon
- salt, pepper and optional chili flakes
How to make North African Carrot Soup
- 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.
The soup will keep up to four days in the fridge. A delicious thing to have on hand!
Carrot Soup with Chermoula
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- 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
Units
Scale
- 2 tablspoon olive oil ( or butter)
- 1 lbs scrubbed carrots- cut into 1/2 inch disks
- 1/2 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
- 1/4 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
- 1/2 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 357
- Sugar: 10.8 g
- Sodium: 674.9 mg
- Fat: 30.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.2 g
- Fiber: 4.1 g
- Protein: 3.1 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
Carrot soup with chermoula is out of this world good! I used vegan yogurt and made the chermoula sauce. What a great combination of flavors. I’ve made this soup a couple of times already. Will be adding this recipe to my favorite go to recipes.
Thanks so much- a favorite of mine as well. 😉
My boyfriend hates soup, but loves north African flavors, so I decided to make it and cross my fingers. He had one bite and asked me to make this soup again. Absolutely delicious, like all of your recipes. 🙂
Thanks Mariah, great to hear!
Just had this soup for supper. What a divine combination of texture and flavor. The chermoula paste just made my taste buds burst into song.
Yay! Love it Karin!
I love this soup! I have a group of friends that get together once a month for “Second Sunday Soup”. We rotate from house to house and the host makes a pot of soup and everyone else brings a dish to share. We have explored many different delicious soups over the years and this one got rave reviews! The flavors are exquisite! One of my friends does not eat dairy so I substituted soy milk in the soup and served it with the chermoula and sour cream. WOW! Flavorhouse!
Amazing Julie, I love this so much! Food is always better when shared.
The soup is good, a bit bitter. Perhaps the flavor of Cumin is the reason. I used Corriander seeds which also turned the Chermoula bitter and the husks added a rough texture.
Not too sure if I will serve this tonight. Any suggestions on how to save the soup?
I would let the flavors meld overnight and try it again tomorrow? Bitterness can also come from olive oil- some brands are very bitter, maybe give it a taste?
This went over really well in our household. Came together easily. I didn’t have parsley so I only used cilantro in the chermoula, and I used ground coriander/cumin because I didn’t have whole seeds. The soup was good on its own but not exciting, but then you add the chermoula to it and it’s a flavor explosion. Great recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, can you freeze this soup?
Yes Morgan, it should freeze just fine!
Hi Sylvia!! You have THE best recipes!! I make a lot of your food. So good for the soul. BUT this soup is FIRE!! Actually, the soup is fantastic but that Chermoula will be on constant rotation in my home from now on. It’s a great replacement for a vegan pesto. The flavors are bangin’! Thank you for doing what you do.
Thanks Kim! Happy you are enjoying the recipes! Yes the chermoula is good on many things- glad you discovered it!
What a delicious soup and so easy to make. I did it with the 1/4 apple and no maple syrup. It was perfect. I inadvertently bought too many carrots this weekend and was wondering what to do with them all. Then I get your latest with a whole bunch of carrot recipes. It was like you were reading my mind! Next … carrot salad.
Same thing happened to me last week- ended up with too many carrots! Glad this worked for you!
I always take out the bay leaf… Do you leave yours in and blend it together? Thanks for delicious soup recipe!
yes, take it out!
I made this soup once already and its amazing!!! It was so good that I want to make it for a gathering but I would need to make it in advance (two nights beforehand). How long can this soup keep?
Thanks Laura lee – it should be fine made up to 3 days ahead. 🙂
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!