Carrot and Sweet Pepper Soup with Goulash Cream

Carrot and sweet pepper soup is a speedy and nutritious one-pot recipe that is inspired by the flavors and pantry of Hungarian goulash.

I got a bag of long sweet peppers and as the days went on they gradually became more withered and sad-looking. I felt kind of bad because sometimes I think, if we are letting our produce slowly die in a drawer, isn’t it disrespectful to the vegetable? I think all food want to be eaten and enjoyed when they are at their prime, and even when they are not, we owe them the respect to eat them in the most delicious way possible, whatever stage they are in their life cycle.

Fresh and crisp veggies can be eaten raw or cooked briefly, but old wrinkly vegetable lends themselves better to long and slow cooking methods such as roasting or stewing.

If you have some wrinkly, sad peppers and carrots languishing in your fridge drawer, this soup is the answer!

What ingredients are in this soup?

• Carrots: Abundant with vitamins and antioxidants, turns out your mom was right when she said carrots are good for your eyes (it’s the beta carotene which your body turns into vitamin A!) Did you know that beta carotene absorption is up to 6.5 times better for cooked carrots as compared to raw carrots?
  • I often wash and scrub my carrots without peeling (to reduce that extra step and effort). However, some people may have concerns about pesticide residue. Whether you peel your carrots or not is completely up to you!
• Long sweet peppers: Also known as shepherd peppers or marketed by various trademark names (e.g. sweet twister, wild wonders etc), long sweet peppers are so healthy and versatile! I like to roast them, saute them with stir-fry, add to stews or chili.

• Smoked paprika: One of my favorite spices! I use a regular Spanish variety, which is not very hot but quite smokey. Smoked paprika is made by drying the paprika peppers over smoke before being ground up into powder.
  • Relatedly, Hungarian paprika (which I did not use in this recipe) comes in many varieties with differing levels of hotness (source). I am definitely planning on snagging some Erős (the hottest variety!) Hungarian paprika the next time I spot any!

How to make carrot and sweet pepper soup?

This soup couldn’t be simpler to make!

1. Prepare the veggies.

1. Clean and scrub the carrots. Optionally peel them. Chop into chunks or small pieces.
2. De-stem and deseed the sweet long peppers. Chop up into small pieces.
3. Remove the tops and bottoms of the onions, cut in half, and peel. Slice or chop the onions.

It does not matter too much how big the vegetables are since we are pureeing everything later. HOWEVER if you want a speedy cooking process, everything should be chopped up small.

The last time I made this soup, I used very big carrots and I chopped them very coarsely. It took 45 minutes for the carrots to cook until tender. If you use smaller carrots or chop everything into smaller pieces, the vegetables can become tender in as little as 15-20 minutes.

Cooking everything until tender is more important if you are using an immersion blender, which may not have the power capacity to puree everything smoothly otherwise.

2. Bloom the spices and cook the veggies.

I like to bloom the smoked paprika in hot oil, which enhances the flavor profile and prevents clumps. That is why I add paprika and goulash paste to the oil before adding any of the veggies. Alternatively, you can fry the onions until translucent or caramelized (for extra depth) before adding the paprika. Whatever you do, make sure the paprika is heated gently in hot oil instead of added to the pot after water has been added.

Next, the veggies goes in and cooks for a bit before being covered with water. We simmer everything until tender. As noted, the amount of time this will take will depend on how big the veggies are chopped up.

3. Blend and serve.

After the carrots are tender, the soup is ready to blend! Use an immersion blender, or transfer into a regular blender.

Adjust for consistency and for salt. Make sure to add salt at the end to avoid over-salting. It should be noted that goulash paste is already salty, and some brands may be more salty than others!

To garnish, I like to drizzle and swirl in some heavy cream. This is completely optional and you can also use any plant based cream such as coconut cream.

I also like to sprinkle on some tender herbs, such as cilantro and some additional smoked paprika for color and extra spice.

Storage and leftovers

I love making soups because they make great leftovers. This soup can be stored in a container in the fridge for days (maybe up to a week depending on the condition of your fridge) and can also be frozen.