Carrot Tahini Soup In The Instant Pot

Carrot soup is easy to make, nutrient-rich, and delicious. Adding tahini to carrot soup turns it into something unusual and amazing!! 

It's a perfect recipe to eat at on a week night for a family dinner or to serve as an interesting soup for special company. Cooking for one or two? Cut the recipe in half. 

Fresh carrots are a staple that I always stock in my refrigerator just in case I want to make soup. Sometimes to add a few carrots to a hearty lentil soup recipe (link to recipe) or sometimes to use in a simple carrot soup, such as this wonderful carrot tahini soup.

I use this organic tahini paste in a glass jar from Trader Joe's 

Are you familiar with tahini paste?

It is a paste made from sesame seeds and very popular in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. It is frequently added to chickpeas to make hummus or baba ganooj spread (link to recipe). It provides calcium, iron, copper as well as other valuable minerals and vitamins. Tahini has a unique pleasing flavor and helps make this carrot recipe slightly exotic. 

This vegan gluten-free soup calls for just a few basic ingredients plus some flavorful spices.

Are you aware that spices are an excellent source of valuable antioxidants. We need antioxidants to help protect our cells from cell damage that may lead to disease. 

Keeps in refrigerator 2-3 days or Freezes well

This soup can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It can be frozen for 2 months, but I would freeze before adding the tahini paste and then add the tahini paste prior to serving. 

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, or pumpkin seeds which all add some extra protein to this pretty vegetable soup. 

I do love carrots and have made other carrot recipes in the past which you may also like such as Roasted Tomato Carrot Soup (link to recipe) or Carrot Ginger Soup With Lime (link to recipe).

I initially saw the idea for this soup recipe on a blog called Havoc In The Kitchen (link to Ben's recipe and blog) and then discovered other similar recipes on a variety of other blogs. Ben's photography and presentation are exquisite - you gotta go take a look -

After looking at a number of recipes, I decided to use one of my own basic Instant Pot carrot soup recipes and just added tahini and some za'atar. It came out great! Thanks Ben for the idea!!

Personally, I like to make all my soups in the Instant Pot, but of course this easy recipe could just as easily be made on the stove top if you prefer.

Ingredients: 

1 onion, chopped 

8-10 large organic carrots, cleaned and sliced

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder or 4 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed

3 cups of vegetable broth 

4 cups of water

1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric 

4 teaspoons of tahini (or more to taste) 

1/2 tsp of cumin, coriander, or za'atar (pick one not all)

Cracked black pepper to taste 

Garnish: seeds of choice (sesame, pumpkin, almonds) or fresh greens

Directions:

Add the onion, carrots, garlic powder or garlic, broth and water to the insert liner of the Instant Pot. Set to pressure cook for 4 minutes. When done manually release steam according to the manufacturers directions.  Add remainder of ingredients except garnish. Using an immersion blender blend until smooth and creamy. Serve and garnish. * before serving adjust seasoning- add more salt, pepper, and garlic powder if needed. 

My Notes: 

1. Za'atar is a natural spice to go with this soup 

2.This soup pairs well with avocado toast (GF of course) for a light lunch. If you feel you want more protein top the avocado toast with mashed chickpeas. 

3. This soup is kosher parve and may be suitable to use for a Sephardic Passover recipe.

4. This soup is vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free

5. Tahini separates in the jar. You will need to mix the paste and the oil together before using. I usually like to pour off and discard some of the oil from the jar before mixing to somewhat reduce the high oil content of tahini paste. 

6. Organic carrots are readily available in most markets. I think they taste better and are better for you!

7. Tahini paste does not need refrigeration unless indicated on jar.