Carrot and Turnip Soup

Name: Carrot and Turnip Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced; 1 medium turnip, peeled and diced; 2 red apples, peeled and diced; 1/3 cup chopped green onion (or sub 1/2 large white onion); 1 can full fat coconut milk; 2 cups vegetable broth ((or chicken broth)); 3 tbsp coconut oil ((or olive oil)); 1 tbsp vanilla extract; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon; 2 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp sea salt

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This creamy carrot and turnip soup is about to become your new favourite comfort food. Made with carrots, turnips and apples and seasoned with cinnamon and ginger it has the most rich and creamy flavour. You'll love how easy it is to make, how perfect it is to freeze and that it's healthy!

A bowl of carrot and turnip soup, garnished with fresh parsley.

What are turnips?

Turnips, or white turnips, are a root vegetable that are usually grown in temperate climates. The most common type of turnip is mostly white-skinned apart from the top part which is purple, red or greenish, where the sun has hit. While often used interchangeably, turnips are not the same as rutabagas. Rutabagas are another type of root vegetable, which are larger and yellow in color.

Why you will love this recipe:

It has the most rich and creamy flavour. It's made with both carrots and turnips and seasoned with cinnamon and spices making it the perfect comfort food.
It's really easy to make and freezes really well so it's perfect for meal prep and plan-ahead meals.
It's a healthy soup option made with chicken stock or vegetable stock, full of vegetables and made extra creamy with the addition of coconut milk.
It's naturally dairy free, vegan, paleo, and Whole30 compliant.
This soup is perfect for winter and fall.
It's made without butter, without leeks and without potatoes.
This vegetable soup with turnips does not require you to roast the vegetables, making it so much easier to make than roasted vegetable soups.
If you love vegetable soup recipes, you will also love this roasted red pepper and squash soup.

Taste and texture:

This soup is rich, creamy, slightly sweet and a little buttery. The cinnamon and ginger add the perfect amount of flavour and spice and enhance the natural flavours or the carrots and turnips.

Key ingredients and substitutions:

The ingredients needed to make a carrot and turnip soup, separated into bowls.

Carrots - fresh carrots add aa delicious natural sweetness to this soup, and give it the beautiful orange color. I recommend peeling the carrots for use in this root veggie soup.
Turnips - turnips are a less well known root vegetable that are usually found in grocery stores in the fall. They add a unique buttery, tart flavour to this soup. You should peel the turnips before using them in soup.
Apples - apples add a delicious sweet taste to this fall soup. You can use any type of sweet, red apple that you like. Some of my favourites are gala, pink lady, ambrosia or honey crisp.
Coconut milk - full fat coconut milk help gives this soup that rich and creamy texture that you're craving. I recommend using full fat rather than low fat coconut milk. If you tolerate dairy you could use milk or cream instead.
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, and sea salt are all you need to season this soup perfectly and give it the most incredible flavour.

How to make this recipe:

Step one:

Place a large pot on the stove on medium-high heat.

Step two:

Add all the ingredients to the pot and bring them to a boil.

A pot filled with chopped carrots, turnips, apples and onions with a spoon in it.

Step three:

Once boiling, reduce the heat and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer for 35-40 minutes (until the vegetables are tender).

A pot with broth, chopped carrots, chopped turnips and a spoon in it.

Step four:

Then, using your immersion blender, blend the ingredients until they are smooth. Alternatively, you could transfer the ingredients to a high speed blender and blend them until smooth. Then enjoy!

A pot filled with a creamy carrot soup with an immersion blender in it.

Tips and variations:

Be sure to peel the carrot and turnips before making this soup.
You can use any type of broth that you like for this recipe including vegetable broth, chicken broth or bone broth.
Feel free to add other spices such as more salt and pepper or garlic to give it a different flavour.
This is a very flexible soup. If you want to try different vegetables you could try using sweet potatoes intend of the turnip, butternut squash instead of carrots, or even add some diced tomatoes to give it a different flavour.
This soup freezes really well! I love using these Souper Cubes to freeze perfect sized portions that I can simply reheat anytime.

How to serve:

This soup is delicious served as is, but you could also top it with some crushed crackers, fresh herbs, or serve it with garlic bread, crusty bread or your favourite biscuits such as these almond flour biscuits.

How to store:

Store any leftover soup in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

You can also freeze this soup for up to 3 months.

Bowls of creamy carrot turnip soup, with a piece of crusty bread in it.

Frequently asked questions:

Can you make this soup in a slow cooker?

I have personally not tried it but I imagine it would work well. I suggest adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cooking it on low heat for 4 hours. If the vegetables are tender, use your immersion blender to blend it until smooth. If the vegetables are not tender after 4 hours, cook it for another 1-2 hours until they are.

What if I don't have an immersion blender?

No worries, simply blend this soup in a blender instead.

Do I need to peel turnips for soup?

Yes, it is recommended that you peel turnips for soup. The skin on the turnip is rather bitter so would change the flavour of your soup recipe if you don't peel the turnips first.

Other soup recipes you will love:

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