This is sunshine soup. It’s the the kind of soup that will cheer you up in the dead of winter. In fact, just peeling and dicing the beets, exposing their brilliantly yellow flesh, put a great big smile on a my face. There’s just something about that color – sunny, warm, cheerful – that will wash away all the gray, stuck-indoors feelings of a frigid January. Smokey cumin and spicy red pepper flakes evoke the cradling heat of a dry Mexican desert while a burst of lime leaves you resting on the white beaches of a tropical getaway. Daydream. Forget about winter for just a moment and brighten your day with this sunshine soup!
Golden Beet Soup with Cumin and Lime Sour Cream
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon minced ginger
6 cups water
2 small russet potatoes, peeled and diced
6 medium golden beets, peeled and diced
For the sour cream:
(if vegan, just use lime zest)
1/2 cup sour cream (try homemade!)
2 teaspoons lime zest, plus more for garnish
Heat butter and oil over medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven. Add onions, carrots, and celery and stir to combine; cook until soft. Add red pepper flakes, salt, and cumin, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, stir and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes. Pour in water and increase heat to high. Add potatoes and beets and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until beets and potatoes are soft and easily pierced with a fork (about 45 minutes). Puree soup using a stick blender or transfer in batches to a stand blender then add soup back into pot. Taste and salt level as desired.
In a small bowl, stir the lime zest into the sour cream until well combined. To serve, ladle soup into bowls, top each with a dollop of sour cream and extra lime zest. Enjoy!
the Seasonal Veg Head 
These pics are beautiful! And the soup is delish too!
Thank you, thank you! I’m so glad you like them and the soup! 🙂
I live in Singapore and can’t get golden beets! I assume using regular beets wouldn’t make a major difference here?
Hi! Since I haven’t tried it with red beets, I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think it would make too much of a difference…other than the color, which would be just as gorgeous! Try it and let us know how it turns out!
[…] (son and husband) watching a really funny movie; that’s just perfection to me. This sunny Golden Beet Soup with Cumin and Lime is fantastic for a cold fall or winter day, it’s definitely one of my […]