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Using frozen vegetables in this easy homemade carrot and coriander soup means you can have a delicious, healthy meal with just a few minutes effort whenever you want.
For today’s recipe I’ve been challenged by Iceland to create something delicious using only frozen ingredients, nothing fresh. I cook a lot with frozen food at home but I tend to mix it up with fresh, adding a little cheese, a dash of milk or some fresh salad leaves. However, when this particular challenge came along it made me realise just how much you can do with only frozen food, just how good it can taste, and just how good for you it can be.
I decided to make a carrot and coriander soup. It’s one of my favourite flavours and is perfect for a quick family lunch, served with crusty rolls. It uses frozen carrots, onions and even coriander, with just stock, ground coriander and olive oil from my store cupboard.
Looking at the pictures, you’ll see that I did cheat a bit on the “no fresh ingredients” rule as I couldn’t resist adding a little sour cream and fresh coriander as a garnish to make it look pretty. However, to prove to you just how delicious it looks with only the three frozen Iceland ingredients above, here’s one without the garnish.
A huge advantage to using frozen food is that it’s a fantastic way to reduce food waste. I’m going to hold my hands up here and admit that I’m a bit of a shocker when it comes to food waste. I’m not great at planning in advance what I’m going to eat and as a result if I buy fresh food, I’ll sometimes end up finding some very dodgy looking veg lurking at the back of the fridge which then ends up in the bin a few days later.
Using frozen vegetables stops this as it’s OK to leave them sitting in the freezer waiting until the moment when I fancy using them. It’s also great if you don’t need lots of something for a particular recipe. For example, in this soup I’ve used 50g of onions, which is about half an onion if you were to buy one fresh. A fair amount of the time if I were to make this soup from fresh ingredients I’d end up putting the other half back into the fridge, only to chuck it away a few days later.
Not only is frozen food great for reducing food waste, it’s also convenient as it’s there where you need it without having to worry about it going off, and in a lot of cases much of the prep is already done so it saves time too. The carrots and onions I’ve used in this carrot and coriander soup recipe are already prepped, ready to chuck into the pan. Perfect if you’re short of time or tend to multitask when you’re cooking (as I usually have to, I am a busy work-from-home mum after all).
Easy Carrot & Coriander Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g Iceland frozen carrots
- 50 g Iceland frozen diced onion
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 litre vegetable stock - I used 1 litre of water with 2 vegetable stock cubes
- 2 tbsp frozen chopped coriander
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the olive oil (2 tsp) in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
- Add the frozen carrots (500g) and diced onion (50g) and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground coriander (1 tbsp) and mix so that the vegetables are coated and fry for a further minute.
- Add the vegetable stock (1 litre or 1 litre of water with 2 stock cubes), bring to the boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
- Blend the soup until smooth (using either a blender or stick blender) and stir in the frozen chopped coriander (2 tbsp).
- Serve with a crusty roll.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
- Egg-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
This soup can be made gluten-free by ensuring that your stock/stock cubes are gluten-free.
I’m sharing this recipe with the following blog challenges… #CookBlogShare with Easy Peasy Foodie, #FreeFrom Fridays with Le Coin De Mel and Free From Farmhouse, and the No Waste Food Challenge with Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary.
Lucy Milton says
I used a fresh onion instead of frozen. I added some fresh coriander to the bowl, once made. This is a delicious recipe, and using frozen carrots meant that all the carrots are prepared so it easy.
Elizabeth says
This is such a gorgeous looking soup, and your photography – the light, composition, everything is amazing! Your recipe definitely shows how handy having a freezer is, thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge!
emma amoscato says
i love how simple this is. I’ve recently discovered frozen garlic and I’m a complete convert! #freefromfridays
Charlotte Oates says
Frozen ginger in brilliant too, it saves me so much waste as I always need a small cube but can never buy a piece small enough.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
It’s scary how much we all throw away isn’t it! I’m a lot better at planning our meals than I used to be but invariably there is something at the end of each week which goes into the bin! To be honest I had no idea that herbs could be bought frozen – I’ll definitely be looking out for them as they’re something which often goes in the bin when they’ve spoilt. Great choice of soup too Charlotte – yummy!
Angela x
Charlotte Oates says
Sadly not all of the herbs can be bought frozen (I think they only do parsley and coriander at the moment), hopefully if they become popular they’ll be a bigger range. I do freeze mint leave myself if I have any leftover, then pop them into smoothies at breakfast time.
Midgie says
Such a gorgeous colour! I love my freezer – its such a good way to stash leftovers! Mine is always full of random pots of different soups & slow cooker meals for hubby’s work lunches – oh and loads of frozen veg. The Peachicks have frozen prawns for lunch most days – they keep everything else cool as they defrost!
Charlotte Oates says
Mine is always full of frozen veg and fruit for smoothies. Great idea about the prawns in lunch boxes.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oooh yummy! I love soups, especially at this time of year. Carrot and coriander is a classic soup, I need to make this! x #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Kirsty, it’s one of my favourites.
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com says
And thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare! Eb x
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com says
What a lovely easy peasy soup! It’s insane how much food waste we throw away each year – I am a planner, and I do try my best to buy just what we need, but sometimes plans go awry or I can’t buy a quantity small enough and so I end up finding a dodgy packet of kale or spinach at the back of my fridge! I can see how frozen food would help a lot here – just need to get a bigger freezer…and the bigger kitchen to go with it!! Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t think I could ever have a big enough kitchen or freezer, I’d always end up buying more things to fill them!
The Why Chef says
I want to reach into the screen, tear that bread apart, and dunk it in the soup so badly!! This ticks all my poorly January health kick boxes, so will be cooking this up soon! 😀
Charlotte Oates says
Great, I hope you enjoy it. I’d recommend the Iceland frozen rolls to go with it too, they’re perfect for dipping when they’re still a bit warm out of the oven.