Thai Curry Soup – with squash, carrots or sweet potatoes!

This Thai Curry Soup is the ultimate easy pantry meal.  Whether you like it spicy or mild, just throw a few ingredients into a pot and enjoy this creamy, root vegetable soup in no time.  Plus it freezes well!

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So you’ve picked up a big squash, or some sweet potatoes, or even if you only have some carrots in the bottom drawer of your fridge, and you want to make some different, delicious comfort food with them.  Something more exciting than traditional root vegetable soup.

Maybe you’ve had versions of this Thai soup before – like Thai butternut squash soup, or Thai sweet potato soup with coconut milk, or curry carrot ginger soup.  If you have, you already know that it’s SO GOOD.

This soup brings the best of them all together and it’s totally flexible – use whatever root vegetables you have on hand.

Plus, it’s EASY, EASY, EASY to make.

Such a versatile meal – not to mention how healthy all those beta-carotene rich vegetables are!

Make this Thai Carrot Squash Soup for supper and guess what?  Freeze the rest for an even easier meal next time!

BUDGET FRIENDLY THAI ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP (What makes it cheap?)

• Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, squash and carrots are cheap, even in the winter
• Thai red curry paste is not expensive, and you can stash any extra in your freezer
• Onions, garlic and ginger are cheap pantry staples
• Coconut milk is usually not expensive, goes on sale often and has a long shelf life
• I love Better Than Bouillon as an inexpensive but delicious chicken broth (and I love that I can mix up only what I need for each recipe – we get ours at Costco where it’s super cheap!)

THAI CURRY SOUP WITH CARROTS, SWEET POTATOES OR SQUASH – STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Ingredients for this easy Thai Coconut Curry Soup.

Chop onions and garlic (roughly if you want – you’ll puree this later anyway).

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-low heat.  Add two teaspoons of grated ginger, if you’re using it.  I didn’t use it this time but sometimes do.  Tasty either way!

Fry onion and garlic until they’re soft.

Add two heaping tablespoons of Thai red curry paste to the pot.

Tip: *Curry paste varies widely depending on brand – some are much hotter than others.  If you know your curry paste and are comfortable with this amount that’s fine.  If not, start with one tablespoon or even half a tablespoon for very mild soup.  You can always add more later if you want. (This Blue Dragon Thai red curry paste is delicious!)

Use your spoon to scrape the browned bits of onion and garlic off the bottom of the pot.

Add 8 cups of broth to the pot.  Start by adding a few tablespoons so you can scrape any brown bits from the bottom, then add the rest.

Add around 4 pounds of peeled and roughly chopped up root vegetables.  I used a fairly large squash and four carrots.  Sweet potato would also be delicious.  Sweet potato carrot ginger soup.  YUM.

Feel free to adjust according to what you have on hand.  Even if you only have carrots or all squash it would still be super tasty.  You can even add more or less of the root vegetables to suit your personal taste.

Increase heat and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-25 minutes, until your vegetables are soft.

Use an immersion blender to blend the root veg soup to desired creamy consistency.

Tip: If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a blender or food processor, following manufacturer’s instructions for hot liquids, or even a potato masher.

Add 1-2 cans of coconut milk.  I would start with one, taste and add another if you like.  I like creamy curried squash soup so I used one large can and two small cans (so the equivalent of 2 regular sized cans – just what I had on-hand).

Tip:  If consistency is too thick add a little broth or water to thin it out.

I added 1 tablespoon of salt, but you can adjust this up or down to suit your personal taste.  Some broth is saltier than others so you may not need as much, or if you’re using homemade broth you may find you need more salt.

Please don’t omit the salt.  It really makes the flavors pop.

Related: One Simple Ingredient to Help you Become a Better Cook

Garnish with cilantro if you like.  Enjoy! 🙂

THAI CURRIED SQUASH SOUP WITH CARROTS OR SWEET POTATOES – COMMON QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

What is the difference between curry powder and curry paste?

Curry paste (as used in this recipe), is a wet mixture of herbs, spices and aromatics that is common in Thai food.  There are different levels of spiciness – from yellow (mild), red (medium) to green (very spicy).

Curry powder is a dry spice mixture used in Indian food.  It contains different spices and is a completely different ingredient than curry paste.

You can read more here.

Can I use curry powder instead of curry paste?

Not really.  Since they are different ingredients with very different tastes, you can’t really use them interchangeably.

If you really can’t find curry paste, you could try using curry powder, but just know that your soup will taste very different than the original recipe.  Start with a teaspoon and add more to taste.  Make sure you’re using regular curry powder (not Madras curry powder – which is much more spicy).

Can I substitute another colour curry paste (red, green) or another type of curry paste for the red Thai curry in this recipe?

Maybe.  Well, you can, but again, the results will be different and I’ve never tried it.  They all have different ingredients and flavour profiles.  Yellow will be milder, green will be spicier, Massaman and Panang will have different tastes.  Panang would be closest to red.

Can I use another type of squash besides butternut squash?

Yes!  I use whatever I have (except spaghetti squash or summer squashes, like zucchini)

What should I serve this sweet potato carrot ginger soup (or whatever variation you make) with?

I really love this soup with crusty bread and butter, but it’s also good with crackers.  A side salad, sandwich, or panini is great too!

Can I freeze this Thai carrot, squash, or sweet potato soup with coconut milk?

Yes!  I love stashing servings of this in our freezer.

Is this soup vegetarian?

It definitely can be!  If you want this soup to be vegetarian, make sure you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and check your curry paste label to make sure it doesn’t include fish sauce.

Did you make this Easy Thai Coconut Curry Soup?  Leave us a star rating below!

Thai Carrot Squash Soup

This creamy, coconut Thai Curry Soup can be made with your favorite root vegetables - carrots, squash or sweet potatoes.  It's easy, delicious and FREEZES so well!

4.89 from 9 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai Inspired

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 325kcal

Author: Myra

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 onions
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic
• ▢ 2 tsp grated ginger (optional but tasty)
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil (use whatever oil you like)
• ▢ 8 cups chicken broth OR vegetable broth (if you want it to be vegetarian) (I use and recommend Better than Bouillon)
• ▢ 4 lbs root vegetables (squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, whatever you like)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste* (I used 2 heaping tablespoons but my brand of red curry paste is fairly mild. Start with 1 tbsp and add more or less to taste)
• ▢ 1-2 cans coconut milk
• ▢ 1 tbsp salt (more or less to taste)
• ▢ cilantro for garnish (optional but tasty)

Instructions

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Chop onions and garlic (roughly if you want - you'll puree this later anyway). Add grated ginger if using. Fry onion and garlic until they're soft.
• Peel and roughly chop whatever root vegetables you're using. 
  
• Add two heaping tablespoons of red curry paste* to the pot and stir.
  
• Add 8 cups of broth to the pot. Start by adding a few tablespoons and scrape any brown bits from the bottom, then add the rest.
• Add root vegetables.  Increase heat and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-25 minutes, until your vegetables are soft.
• Use an immersion blender** to blend the soup to desired creamy consistency.
  
• Add 1-2 cans of coconut milk.S tart with one, taste and add another if you like. I like to use 2.  If consistency is too thick add a little broth or water to thin it out.
• Add 1 tablespoon of salt. Adjust this up or down to suit your personal taste. Some broth is saltier than others so you may not need as much, or if you're using homemade broth you may find you need more salt.
• Garnish with cilantro if you like. Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

• * (if making vegetarian soup, look for a curry paste with no fish sauce in it) Curry paste varies widely depending on brand - some are much hotter than others.  If you know your curry paste and are comfortable with this amount that's fine.  If not, start with one tablespoon or even half a tablespoon for very mild soup.  You can always add more later if you want.  *See more info about curry paste above in FAQ section.

• ** Immersion blender (If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a blender or food processor, following manufacturer’s instructions for hot liquids, or even a potato masher).

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 1762mg | Potassium: 1191mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 590IU | Vitamin C: 58.4mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 3.6mg

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This recipe was originally published on January 23, 2017.

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