This vegan cashew carrot soup is the perfect blend of cashews, carrot, coconut, and ginger. It’s rich and creamy but dairy-free, oil-free and made with healthy, whole-food ingredients.

Bowl of creamy soup topped with parsley.

Ingredient Notes

Here are a few notes about the ingredients used in this recipe:

  1. Cashews. Make sure you use “raw” cashews – they should not be roasted or have any added oil. Since they’ll be cooking for quite a while there’s not need to soak them in advance however if you don’t have a high-powered blender, soaking them first may result in a creamier soup.
  2. Coconut milk. Light or full-fat coconut are both suitable for this recipe. I prefer light coconut milk as I find full-fat to be just a bit too heavy when combined with the cashews. If you don’t have coconut milk on hand, or don’t enjoy coconut, it can be substituted with additional broth, almond milk or cashew milk.
  3. Ginger. This recipe has a somewhat strong ginger flavour. If you’re not a big ginger fan, I’d suggest reducing the fresh ginger by half or using 1 tsp ground ginger to replace the fresh ginger.

The rest of the ingredients are straightforward: onion, garlic, spices, and carrot.

Raw cashews, spices, carrot and lemon on a marble countertop.

Recipe Method and Tips

This recipe is fairly easy to make in two steps: cooking the soup and blending the soup. Let’s take a look at the process.

Start by sauteeing the onion, garlic, ginger and cashews in 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth until they’re starting to soften. This should take 6-7 minutes. You can mix in the spices now too.

Next, add the carrots and broth and simmer until the carrots are tender. Just poke one with a fork to test. If you thinly slice the carrots, this should take no more than 15 minutes. Finally, stir in the coconut milk.

Cashews and onions cooking in a soup pot.

After you’ve cooked everything up, carefully transfer it to your blender and process until smooth and creamy.

Quick Tip: Make sure you let the steam escape while blending hot soup!

Carrot soup in a blender.

A high-speed blender will give you the best result for this soup. If you don’t have a Vitamix, Blendtec or other high-speed blender, process the soup in a couple of batches for best results. You might not be able to get it quite as creamy but it will still taste good, so don’t worry too much!

Creamy, blended carrot soup in a blender.
Ladling creamy carrot soup into a bowl.
Squeezing lemon into a bowl of soup.

This soup is delicious topped with:

  • chopped parsley or cilantro
  • a drizzle of cashew cream or coconut milk
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  • lemon or lime juice
Bowl of creamy soup topped with parsley.

More Vegan Soups

Here are some more delicious soups you’ll love:

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Bowl of creamy soup topped with parsley.

Vegan Cashew Carrot Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 9 reviews
  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 5
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

This extra creamy cashew soup has the most amazing flavour thanks to creamy cashews and a dash of allspice, cinnamon, curry powder, ginger and coconut milk.


Ingredients

  • 1 medium white onion, diced (300 g)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large chunk, fresh ginger, minced (25 g, approx. 2 tbsp)
  • 3/4 cup raw cashews (100 g)
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 cups peeled and chopped carrots (approx. 650 g)
  • 4 cups vegetable broth plus more as needed to adjust consistency
  • 1 cup light coconut milk (shake well if you’re using a fresh can)
  • 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
  • pinch of sea salt
  • squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice

Instructions

  1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, saute the onion, garlic, ginger and cashews in 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth until starting to soften, about 6-7 minutes. Add the spices and cook or another minute or two, stirring often. If the pot starts to dry out, add another splash of broth.
  2. Add the carrots and the rest of the vegetable broth and simmer lightly until the carrots are easily pierced with a fork, approx. 12-16 minutes.
  3. Stir in the coconut milk and if using, the maple syrup.
  4. Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Be sure to allow steam to escape as you blend. Add more vegetable broth if needed, to adjust the thickness.
  5. Return to the pot and season with sea salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
  6. Serve right away or store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freezer up to 3 months.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 300 g
  • Calories: 214
  • Fat: 11 g
  • Carbohydrates: 26 g
  • Protein: 5 g

This recipe was originally published on January 11, 2018. It was updated in March 2020 with new photos and text.