Roasted Asparagus Soup
on Mar 17, 2022, Updated Mar 04, 2024
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No cream is needed for this healthy vegan roasted asparagus soup recipe. It’s the perfect recipe to celebrate everything about the start of spring and peak season asparagus. Roast the spears first for the best flavor and then simmer them with spinach, potatoes and broth on the stove.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It’s a wonderful soup to kick off asparagus season. Even though I am a seasonal eater, I do break the rules sometimes. Because the grocery has nearly everything no matter the time of the year, it can be tempting. Asparagus is special because it signals the start of the season and all things green.
Roasting asparagus is the best way to cook it. You may wonder why not just simmer those asparagus spears in the broth with the rest of the soup ingredients. Roasting adds flavor that veggies cooked in liquid don’t get. Also, asparagus roasts in less than 10 minutes. You will agree that washing that sheet pan it cooks on is worth it.
This vegan soup turns out very creamy. The secret to getting this rich, silky consistency is to simmer potatoes in the broth to thicken it. Also, you need to use a high-powered blender to puree it, so it turns out smooth.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This is what you need:
- Asparagus: Look for fresh bunches with that are all about the same size in diameter. They should be firm, not limp. Avoid any that are wrinkled. Good asparagus should be stored standing up straight with the bottom of the stalks in a little bit of water.
- Spinach enhances the green color and adds more nutrition to this already healthy soup. You can swap it and use arugula instead if you want a more distinct peppery taste.
- Onions: Chopped white onions sauté in olive oil to start the flavor base of the soup.
- Garlic: This easy recipe calls for 2 garlic cloves minced, but the soup doesn’t turn out too garlicky. It’s subtle.
- Potatoes: A peeled diced russet potato thickens the simple soup. No heavy cream is needed for richness. You can substitute with a yukon gold potato.
- Low sodium vegetable broth: If you don’t care about keeping the soup plant-based, you can use chicken broth if that’s what you have in your kitchen. Just make sure the broth is low-sodium.
- Olive oil: My preference is extra-virgin olive oil since the recipe has rather basic ingredients, so you want high quality oil. To keep the recipe vegan, I do not use butter.
- Salt & black pepper are important to season the soup. Taste it to make sure you have the right amount that lets the asparagus flavor really come out.
- Parsley: I finish each bowl with chopped fresh herbs.
How To Make Roasted Asparagus Soup
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
1. Toss the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper on a sheet pan. Spread the asparagus stalks into a single layer.
2. Roast the asparagus until it turns bright green. This should take only about 8 minutes. Save 10-12 asparagus pieces to garnish the bowls of soup.
3. Sauté the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Then cook the onions until they start to turn soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper and continue cooking for 30 seconds. The onions will become very fragrant.
5. Add the asparagus pieces, potatoes, spinach and broth.
6. Simmer the soup. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
7. Transfer the soup to a blender. Be careful because it will be hot.
8. Puree the soup. It is worth the effort to transfer the soup into a powerful blender, so it gets that smooth, creamy consistency. Trying to do this with an immersion blender would be challenging. Once the soup is blended, you shouldn’t need to pour it through a fine-mesh strainer. Rewarm the pureed soup on the stove over low heat as necessary. Divide the soup into bowls. Garnish with the reserved asparagus tips, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.
Serving
For lunch or dinner, you can go all in on greens and serve the creamy soup with a salad. Try a brussels sprout Caesar salad, roasted broccoli quinoa salad, or an Italian chopped salad. It’s a good lunch option. You can also serve it with a piece of bread with a crust that’s good for dipping.
Leftovers & Storage
Let the soup cool to room temperature before you transfer it to an airtight container. You can store it in the refrigerator up to 3 days. To keep it longer, you can freeze it up to 1 month. For easier thawing and reheating, I like to divide soups into individual portion sizes before I freeze them. Let the soup thaw and then reheat it in a pot over medium heat or in the microwave.
Recipe Tips
You don’t need to grease the pan you use for roasting the asparagus. Since you toss the pieces in oil, they will not stick to the pan.
Don’t bother freezing pieces of roasted asparagus for garnish. If you’re planning to store some of the soup in the freezer, do not save asparagus for topping the soup. Just puree it with the rest of the ingredients.
Use a high-powered blender and not an immersion blender to puree the soup. You will end up with a much smoother consistency if you transfer it from the pot to blend it.
Recipe FAQs
The point of trimming the bottom of asparagus is to get rid of the tough, woody ends. Some people say you can snap it off. I prefer cutting it off with a sharp knife. All you have to do is line up 3-4 spears on a cutting board and slice the ends at a slight angle. The color will be paler and less green at that tough part.
Since the asparagus in this recipe is roasts and then simmers in broth, you don’t need to peel it. That’s because it will have plenty of opportunity to become tender as it cooks.
More Asparagus Recipes
Sesame Tofu Asparagus
Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad
Sheet Pan Mushroom Asparagus Gnocchi
Grilled Asparagus Tomato Salad
Udon Noodle Stir-Fry with Asparagus, Mushrooms & Peas
Roasted Asparagus with Lemon, Garlic & Parmesan Cheese
Asparagus Salad with Cannellini Beans
Roasted Asparagus Barley Salad
More Soup Recipes
Broccoli Spinach Soup
Poblano Corn Chowder
One-Pot Quinoa Chili
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Slow-Cooker Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Roasted Carrot Soup
Black Bean Soup
Roasted Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
For asparagus
- 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed, sliced into 2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 white onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper plus more for serving
- 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
- 3 ounces baby spinach
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- Chopped parsley serving
- Flaky sea salt for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper on a sheet pan and spread into a single layer. Roast for 8 minutes until the asparagus turns bright green. Reserve about 10-12 asparagus tops to garnish the soup.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes until they start to soften.
- Stir in the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the asparagus, potatoes, spinach, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Carefully transfer the soup in batches to a blender to puree. Return the soup to the saucepan to reheat as necessary before serving.
- Divide into bowls and garnish with the reserved asparagus tops, chopped parsley, flaky sea salt and pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is easy, healthy and delicious, thank you
Great vegan soup recipe! I’m not vegan and usually adverse to most vegan foods, but I needed a quick way to get rid of 2 lbs of asparagus and enjoyed this soup very much. My vegetarian mom also didn’t believe me when I said there were no dairy products inside.
This was very good…the potatoes make for a nice rich texture despite no cream in the recipe. I reheated the asparagus tips before garnishing the soup and swirled 1/2 and 1/2 on the top with a coarse grind of black pepper…really good!…guests loved it.
Delicious!