Roasted Carrot Soup with Chickpea Croutons

Roasted carrot soup loaded with spicy North African harissa & zaatar, topped with crispy sumac chickpea croutons this vegan soup is a winner!

Whether you want to serve this as a main course soup with bread or as a smaller starter or even lunch dish this soup is guaranteed to please the crowd.

Spicy Vegan Soup

This spiced roasted and pureed carrot soup recipe is loaded with the wonderful flavours of North African cuisine.

Harissa paste, zaatar and sumac all feature prominently and they are perfect with the mellow roasted garlic and sweet earthy carrots.

They work particularly well with the sweet and earthy tones of carrot… hence this soup!

Roasting vegetables make a great base for a soup because it helps get those sugars coloured up and it adds a great depth of flavour.

I use it as a technique in both my roasted curry parsnip soup and my roasted tomato soup.

And don’t get me started on the crispy chickpea “croutons”. They are a moment of almost genius level of clarity, even if I say so myself!

Frequently Asked Questions.

What is harissa paste and can I make it at home?

Harissa is a spicy paste made primarily from many types of pepper some sweet and some spicy. It is mixed with garlic, oil, cumin, coriander and caraway, rose harissa also contains rose petals.

I have tried many at-home recipes for making harissa and never get quite the complexity of store-bought versions.

As a result, I use either use Le Cap Bon or Belazu brand.

Can I use canned chickpeas?

Oh gosh yes!

They are just fine, dry them as well as you can, but do be aware that they will still spit in the oil so please protect yourself with a lid. I use a small 24cm saute pan.

Sumac and Zaatar, will they sit in my cupboard forever?

Not if you do not want them too because I use them all of the time here on my site. just hit search and you will be sorted.

Sumac gets used in dishes as diverse as my halloumi burger through to my rabbit tagine and Turkish lentil soup.

Zaatar features in equally diverse recipes like my Moroccan lamb tagine through to my Moroccan meatballs.

Serving Suggestions.

This is a glorious thick bowl of heart-warming and belly filling soup.

I curl up on the sofa with a big bowl and feel cozy. If I were to add anything then it would be bread, because well, bread and soup is just magic.

I quite like cutting pita bread into triangles and toasting it off in a griddle pan and dip it in. The soup is plenty thick enough to coat the pita well.

But if you are a baker then try and make Moroccan khobz because it is genius with this roasted carrot soup!