Carrot-Leek Soup With Miso
Updated December 10, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups peeled, cubed carrots (from about 6 medium carrots)
2 medium leeks, white part only, chopped
Salt and black pepper
8 cups water or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons yellow or white miso
1 small lime
Thinly sliced chives, for garnish (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
24 grams carbs; 15 milligrams cholesterol; 164 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 7 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 1558 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 9 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. When the butter starts to sizzle, add carrots and leeks. Season generously with salt and pepper, and stir to coat well. Sauté for a minute or 2, then add water (or broth, if using). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. As soup simmers, taste and add salt as needed. Cook until carrots are soft, about 15 minutes.
- Step 2
Once the soup is cooled, reserve 2 cups liquid, then purée the remaining contents of the pot in a blender. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender in the pot.) Use reserved liquid to adjust the purée’s thickness, adding just enough so the consistency is that of a thin milkshake.
- Step 3
To serve, heat soup and whisk in miso. Divide among 4 bowls. Grate a little lime zest over each bowl. Quarter the lime and add a good squeeze of lime juice into each bowl. Scatter with chives, if using.
Private Notes
Comments
Great recipe with two additions, some cubed potatoes and at least an inch of fresh ginger added to the pot.
If you're pureeing the carrots, there's no need for "cubes." It's just unnecessary work. Just slice them in 1/2 inch slices. If the carrots are really big at one end, cut in half and then slice so the slices are very approximately all the same volume. Additionally, the soup may have some better flavor if you roast some/all of the carrots (400 degrees for about 20 minutes).
Miso adds Umami to things. Substitutes include soy sauce or tamari, fish sauce, tahini, mushrooms and Parmesan rinds. Not sure what might be best here or work with your allergy.
With an empty fridge, at 6:45 pm, I searched for "leeks" and found this. YAY, I had carrots. Scrubbed those and cubed. Added two cubed yukon gold potatoes. Used olive oil and 9 cups of broth, withholding 1 cup when I pureed it and didn't need it, so will use 8 cups next time. Oh, I added a fat tsp ginger to the brief sauté and added a big bay leaf for the boil, removing it before blending. Finished with lime zest and juice (a must!) and chopped parsley. AMAZING for only 30-ish minutes!
My bunch of 8 farmers market carrots was only 2 cups so I had to fill out with grocery store baby carrots. The baby carrot flavor dominates, I wish I’d used sweet potatoes instead. Added some Ethiopian style pepper blend (Penzey’s) and more ginger.
I only had 3 cups of carrots, so reduced water to 6.5 cups and reserved 3 cups of the broth and didn’t need to add any back. I added about a tablespoon of vegetable bullion and flavor was great. Frozen reserved broth for next time I make stock.