Orange soup

Orange soup is the cream soup of the Israeli winter: carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin cooked with golden onion and blended until velvety, without a drop of cream. What decides the result is the ratio between the three vegetables and the first ten minutes in the pot.

Pot calculatorOrder Orange soup

VeganGluten freeDairy freeParve

Updated

Orange soupIllustration
Time1 hCook 40 min
Pot8 bowls2.8 litres
Per bowl137 kcal2.2 g protein · a 350 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪18for the pot, about ₪2.2 a bowl

The story of Orange soup

In Israel it is simply called orange soup, after its colour rather than any one vegetable, and that is the whole idea: whatever was in the basket that week goes into the pot, carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, sometimes butternut or a potato. It is cooked at home, in nurseries and in dining halls, and it is one of the first soups children agree to eat, perhaps because it is smooth and sweet with no pieces to hunt for.

Carrot soups and pumpkin soups are known everywhere, but putting all three together, and keeping the soup parve, is very Israeli. A parve soup can open a meat meal on Friday night or a dairy supper midweek, so the basic version is built on oil and water rather than butter, cream or chicken stock. Since the stick blender reached almost every kitchen, a cream soup like this has become an ordinary weeknight dinner.

What makes Orange soup itself

Each vegetable has a job. Carrot brings the deep colour and an earthy taste, sweet potato brings thickening starch and sweetness, and pumpkin, which is mostly water, brings the silky texture. At 500 g of pumpkin, 400 g of sweet potato and 350 g of carrot, the soup is thick without being porridge and sweet without being dessert. Too much carrot and it turns grainy and earthy, too much pumpkin and it is watery, too much sweet potato and it is heavy and cloying.

Orange soup for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.8litres in the pot
4Pot to use, litres
₪18Cost of the pot
₪2.2per bowl
137kcal per bowl
2.2g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The base
Olive oil45 ml₪2.4
Onion, chopped250 g · 2 pcs₪1.5
Garlic cloves15 g · 3 pcs₪0.5
Fresh ginger, grated15 g₪0.5
The orange vegetables
Pumpkin, peeled and seeded500 g₪6.5
Sweet potato, peeled400 g · 2 pcs₪4.0
Carrots, peeled350 g · 4 pcs₪1.7
Liquid and seasoning
Boiling water1.5 l
Salt14 g₪0.0
Ground cumin2 g₪0.2
Ground black pepper1 g₪0.1
Nutmeg0.5 g₪0.2
Lemon juice15 ml₪0.3
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Orange soup? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Orange soup has 39 calories per 100 ml. A 350 ml bowl made with our recipe has 137 calories: 2.2 g protein, 5.5 g fat and 18 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 98 calories.

Lighter

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 45 ml46 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs13 kcal per serving
  • 3 pcs3 kcal per serving
  • 15 g2 kcal per serving
  • 500 g11 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs43 kcal per serving
  • 4 pcs18 kcal per serving
  • 14 g0 kcal per serving
  • 2 g1 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 1 g0 kcal per serving
  • 15 ml0 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Orange soup

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1

How to make Orange soup

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Peel all the vegetables. Cut the pumpkin and sweet potato into 3 cm cubes and the carrots into 1 cm rounds, because carrot is dense and cooks more slowly.
  2. Heat the oil in a 5 litre pot over medium heat, add the onion with a pinch of salt and fry for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin and stir for one minute only, until fragrant and before the garlic browns.
  4. Add the carrots and fry for 4 minutes, stirring, until the oil in the pot turns orange.
  5. Add the sweet potato and pumpkin and pour in 1.4 litres of boiling water, enough to cover the vegetables by about 2 cm. Bring to the boil over high heat.
  6. Lower to a gentle simmer, partly cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, until a carrot round crushes easily with a spoon against the side of the pot.
  7. Turn off the heat, wait 5 minutes, then blend with a stick blender for 2 to 3 minutes, keeping the head fully submerged, until there is not a single grain left.
  8. Thin with boiling water, 100 ml at a time, to the thickness you like, and bring back to a brief boil.
  9. Season at the end with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon until the sweetness is balanced.

The science of Orange soup

Kitchen science

The colour dissolves in oil, not water

The carotenoids that colour carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin dissolve in fat, not in water. When the carrots fry in oil before the water goes in, some of the colour and aroma moves into the oil, and blending spreads that oil through the soup as tiny droplets. A completely fat-free version comes out paler and tastes flatter.

Kitchen science

What thickens the soup

Sweet potato is rich in starch, while pumpkin has little starch and a lot of water. Above about 60 to 70 °C the starch granules absorb liquid, swell and release long molecules that thicken the pot. That is why sweet potato sets the body and pumpkin sets the silkiness.

Kitchen science

Why the carrots are cut thin

Carrot cell walls are held together by a dense pectin network, and carrots hold less water than pumpkin. Heat breaks pectin down slowly, so a carrot cube needs longer than a pumpkin cube of the same size. Thin carrot rounds even out the gap and everything softens at the same moment.

Kitchen science

Salt and acid at the end

Salt suppresses bitterness and lifts sweetness, and the acidity of lemon sharpens the flavours and keeps the sweetness from feeling heavy. Both go in at the end because the soup reduces as it cooks, and salt that seems right at the start can be too much by the finish.

Kitchen science

Blending hot soup safely

Steam expands, and in a sealed jug blender it can blow off the lid and spray boiling soup. With a stick blender, keep the head below the surface. In a jug blender, fill it no more than a third, remove the small cap in the lid, cover with a towel and start on low speed.

Orange soup in every kitchen

With coconut milk and ginger

Stir in 200 ml of coconut milk at the end and double the ginger. The coconut rounds off the sweetness and the soup stays parve and vegan.

Oven-roasted

Roast the cut vegetables with the oil at 220 °C for about 35 minutes, until the edges brown, then move them to the pot with the water. The taste is deeper and slightly smoky.

With red lentils

Add 100 g of rinsed red lentils with the sweet potato and another 200 ml of water. The lentils melt within 20 minutes and thicken the soup.

On chicken stock

Swap the water for homemade chicken stock for Friday night. The soup becomes a meat soup and richer, and then it gets no cream or butter.

Moroccan spiced

Fry a teaspoon of sweet paprika, a teaspoon of ground coriander and a pinch of cinnamon with the onion, and serve with chopped coriander and a dab of harissa.

Common Orange soup problems and how to fix them

My orange soup came out thin

There was too much water, or too much pumpkin for the sweet potato. Simmer uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes to evaporate, or cook a small sweet potato separately, add it and blend again. Skip flour, it dulls the colour and leaves a pasty taste.

Orange soup tastes bland

It almost always needs more salt, because the sweetness of the vegetables hides it. Add salt gradually, then a spoonful of lemon juice. If it still lacks depth, fry another onion until brown and blend it into the soup.

The soup is too sweet

There was too much sweet potato and carrot, or the vegetables were especially sweet. Balance with lemon, salt, cumin and a pinch of chilli or ginger. Next time use more onion and pumpkin.

The soup is grainy, not smooth

The carrots were not fully cooked. Simmer for another 10 minutes and blend again for at least two minutes. A simple test before blending: a carrot round should crush with a spoon without effort.

The soup went sour in the fridge

It cooled too slowly, usually in a covered pot on the counter overnight, and bacteria had time to ferment the sugars. Soup that tastes sour or fizzes goes in the bin. Next time pour it into shallow boxes and refrigerate within two hours of cooking.

The soup looks pale

It lacks fat or carrot. Fry the carrots in oil before the water and add half a teaspoon of sweet paprika. Pale pumpkin and white sweet potato give a yellowish soup.

Storing, freezing and reheating

3 to 4 days

In the fridge

3 months

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Reheat over medium heat, stirring from the bottom, because a thick soup sticks and spits. It thickens in the fridge, so add a little boiling water and check the salt.

Nutrition of Orange soup

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 350 ml bowl1372.25.518.03.6
Our recipe, 100 ml390.61.65.11.0
Typical Orange soup, 100 g250.60.15.01.0
Typical Orange soup, 100 g (2)190.60.13.70.9

What the ingredients of Orange soup cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Pumpkin, peeled and seeded₪13 per kg₪6.5Greengrocer
Sweet potato, peeled₪9.9 per kg₪4Greengrocer
Olive oil₪53 per litre₪2.4Supermarket
Carrots, peeled₪4.9 per kg₪1.7Greengrocer
Onion, chopped₪5.9 per kg₪1.5Greengrocer
Fresh ginger, grated₪35 per kg₪0.5Greengrocer
Garlic cloves₪34 per kg₪0.5Greengrocer
Lemon juice₪20 per litre₪0.3Supermarket
Nutmeg₪398 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Ground cumin₪86 per kg₪0.2Supermarket
Ground black pepper₪139 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

Make Orange soup a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Orange soup

Serve with toasted bread cubes, pumpkin seeds, a spoonful of tahini or coconut milk on top, and chopped coriander or parsley. With a cheese sandwich alongside it is a whole supper.

Orange soup in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 350 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
258.81₪56
50181₪112
100352₪223
200703₪447
5001757₪1,117

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Orange soup

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Orange soup

Order Orange soup for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

How much water goes into orange soup?

About one litre of water per kilo of vegetables, enough to cover them by roughly 2 cm. After blending, thin it gradually to the thickness you like.

Can I make orange soup without sweet potato?

Yes. Use a potato instead for body, and add one more carrot for sweetness and colour.

Is orange soup parve?

This recipe is, because it holds only vegetables, oil and water. Made on chicken stock it is a meat soup, and with butter or cream it is dairy.

How long does orange soup cook?

25 to 30 minutes from the boil, plus about 10 minutes of frying at the start. It is ready to blend when a carrot crushes easily.

Can orange soup be frozen?

Yes, for up to 3 months. It may separate a little after thawing, and a minute with a stick blender brings the texture back.

Why is my orange soup bitter?

Usually burnt garlic, or carrots stored next to apples. The ethylene that apples give off makes carrots produce a bitter compound. Store carrots apart and peel them well.

What makes orange soup taste better?

Well-browned onion, fresh ginger, enough salt and lemon at the end. Roasting the vegetables before they go in the pot adds depth.

How many calories are in Orange soup?

A 350 ml bowl of Orange soup made with our recipe has about 137 calories and 2.2 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 39 calories.

How much does it cost to make Orange soup at home?

A pot of 8 bowls costs about ₪18 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪2.2 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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