This creamy Beet Carrot Ginger Soup is super pink and perfectly warming for winter months! Full of cozy flavors and ready in under an hour, you'll love this simple vegan & gluten-free dinner recipe full of roasted vegetables. It works well for Valentine's Day!
Beets can have bad rep as a "dirty"-tasting vegetable. While I can understand this association, I am here to say that beets can be very delicious. Furthermore, they are at peak tasty when roasted. Roasting beets helps soften their tough texture and caramelizes their natural sugars. This soup recipe comes to us from my Aunt Ruthie, who made it for my family when we visited a few years ago. I have not forgotten it after all this time and hope you enjoy it just as much as I have!
Have any extra beets once done with this recipe? Be sure to try my Quinoa Beet Burgers next.
Love soup? Check our this roundup of all of my favorite vegan soup recipes!
Quick Facts About Beets
Beets (or beetroot) are very high in potassium, magnesium, folate, and Vitamin C. They can also help reduce blood pressure and anemia while improving circulation and cognitive function (source). Beetroot is also very high in betanin, a harmless compound that gives them such a bright red color. Interestingly, betanin is not able to to broken down by your body and once you eat beets, it can give a reddish tint when you're going to the bathroom (a forewarning, LOL).
Betanin can also be used as a natural food dye and is often added to "improve" the colors of industrially produced foods like tomato paste, jam, and breakfast cereal. Beetroot can also be used to make wine, though I have never tried this and don't have much interest in it.
Most commonly, beet soup is associated with borscht, which is a sour soup common in Eastern European and Northern Asian countries. The most popular variant (where the term borscht comes from) originates in Ukraine.
Equipment Needed for this Beet Soup Recipe
- Baking sheet or roasting pan
- Large soup pot
- Blender (either standing or Immersion)
Ingredients Needed for this Recipe
- 3 large beets
- 3 large carrots
- Salt and pepper, used throughout
- Olive oil, used throughout
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1-2 TBS freshly grated ginger (or 2 teaspoon dried ginger)
- 4-6 cups low sodium vegetable broth (or water)
- Juice of one orange (about ⅓ cup)
- Cilantro, sesame seeds, and vegan yogurt or coconut milk to top
Can I make soup with golden beets?
Yes! this recipe will look different of course but will taste just as delicious when made with golden beets. Follow the instructions below for more on that. Chioggia beets (so pretty) will also work, but I would caution you to save those for a recipe where you are not blending them (as seeing their stripes is half the fun).
How to Roast Beets Without Foil
To roast beets without tin foil, slice beets into small pieces and coat with olive oil, prior to roasting on a lined baking sheet.
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Foil, while useful when roasting large vegetables like beets, is something I am always forget to stock in my pantry. Slicing the beets and carrots into small pieces ensures they cook more quickly and are able to be done in under 30 minutes.
Do you need to peel beets before roasting?
No, as long as you wash beets prior to cooking there is no need to peel. Beet skin disappears quite a bit when cooked; it is not noticeable once fully roasted. However, I do recommend purchasing organic beets if possible, as they can have high counts of pesticides (I get mine from Trader Joe's).
How to Make Beet Carrot Ginger Soup
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and slice beets and carrots into inch-size pieces. Line two baking sheets with mats or parchment. Add vegetables and drizzle with a few TBS of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until soft and caramelized but not burned.
2. Towards the end of the roasting time of the vegetables, heat a large pot on the stove with 3 TBS olive oil. Add onion and a large pinch of salt and sauté for 5-6 minutes, until slightly translucent. Add garlic, ginger, and a few twists of black pepper. Stir and let cook a minute or two more.
3. Add vegetable broth (or water) and vegetables. Bring to a strong simmer and let cook for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors meld. If you have an immersion blender, use this to blend your soup right in the pot. If you do not have one, carefully remove the soup from the stove and pour into a blender (using a vented lid for safety). Blend until smooth.
4. Add soup back to the pot along with orange juice, stirring to combine. Reheat as needed and serve topped with fresh herbs, sesame seeds, yogurt, or coconut milk.
Other Vegan Soups to Try Next
20-Minute Spicy Peanut Noodle Soup
Beet Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients
- 3 large beets
- 3 large carrots
- Salt and pepper used throughout
- Olive oil used throughout
- 1 medium yellow onion peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1-2 TBS freshly grated ginger or 2 teaspoon dried ginger
- 4-6 cups low sodium vegetable broth or water
- Juice of one orange about ⅓ cup
- Cilantro sesame seeds, and vegan yogurt or coconut milk to top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and slice beets and carrots into inch-size pieces. Line two baking sheets with mats or parchment. Add vegetables and drizzle with a few TBS of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until soft and caramelized but not burned.
- Towards the end of the roasting time of the vegetables, heat a large pot on the stove with 3 TBS olive oil. Add onion and a large pinch of salt and sauté for 5-6 minutes, until slightly translucent. Add garlic, ginger, and a few twists of black pepper. Stir and let cook a minute or two more.
- Add vegetable broth (or water) and vegetables. Bring to a strong simmer and let cook for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors meld. If you have an immersion blender, use this to blend your soup right in the pot. If you do not have one, carefully remove the soup from the stove and pour into a blender (using a vented lid for safety). Blend until smooth.
- Add soup back to the pot along with orange juice, stirring to combine. Reheat as needed and serve topped with fresh herbs, sesame seeds, yogurt, or coconut milk.
Julie Van Leuven says
Yum! I just finished making (and tasting!) this soup. It is delicious, but I wanted to tell you how I changed it up. Since I only had 2 1/2 small beets, I added two cubed sweet potatoes instead. I also added ~1T of honey and several shakes of turmeric. And I also subbed grapefruit juice for the OJ. I'm on day 4 of COVID isolation. This soup seems like the perfect anti-oxidant and vascular-boosting combination. Thank you! You will love it!
Emily says
Thank you for sharing this wonderful review, Julie! I am so glad this worked and I love your substitution ideas. Hope you're feeling better!
Juan Frigon says
Honestly one of the best winter soups I've had in a while. The whole family enjoyed it (even my picky children). More than likely will make it again before the season up.
Emily says
Thank you for trying and commenting, Juan! I'm glad to hear that!
Sue0523 says
This was so delicious on this cold winter night, and the pepitas were an inspired touch- wonderful!
Emily says
I'm so glad you liked it, thank you for rating!!
Ruthanne says
Yum! This is my favorite winter soup, but I love the festive yogurt heart designs! I feel like you can go in many different directions with added herbs. Have the best memories of our ski trip in Montana on this one.
❤️❤️❤️
"Aunt Ruthie" 💕
Emily says
Yay, thank you so much again for such a delicious recipe!!