Category: Quick Meal

This incredible asparagus soup recipe turns out perfectly silky and creamy, and that’s without cream. We blend asparagus, potatoes, and a simple homemade broth. It’s healthy, super satisfying, and vegetarian!

This asparagus soup is pure Spring in a bowl, and honestly, it’s one of my favorite ways to cook with asparagus! It’s light on calories but big on flavor. Don’t get me wrong, I love a rich, creamy soup, but sometimes you just want something a little lighter. That’s where this recipe comes in. Substituting potatoes for cream thickens the soup and adds a silky texture without any heaviness. I use this trick in our creamy vegetable soup and broccoli cheddar soup, too!

This soup is also resourceful! We use the parts of asparagus and leeks that usually get tossed (like the tough ends and dark green tops) to make a really flavorful broth. It’s such a tasty way to cut down on food waste while boosting flavor. For more asparagus recipes, I bet you’ll love this roasted asparagus or my go-to asparagus omelet.

Key Ingredients

• Asparagus: When shopping, look for bright green asparagus spears with tightly closed tips. A little purple on the tips is also a good thing. Skip any asparagus that looks dull, yellow, or has open, flowery tips. They should also feel firm and snap when bent. If they’re limp or bendy, they’re past their prime.
• Leeks: Leeks are like onions, but taste a bit more sweet and delicate. We’ll use the white and light green parts in the soup, and save the dark green tops for our broth. To clean them, just trim off the root and dark green tops, slice the leek lengthwise, and rinse well under running water to get rid of any grit hiding inside. If you want more tips, check out our tutorial for how to clean leeks!
• Carrot: Just one carrot brings a little sweetness and a bit of color to the broth.
• Garlic: I like to use garlic in both the broth and the soup for extra flavor.
• Potatoes: Here’s the secret to that creamy texture! No cream needed. Just potatoes (russet or Yukon Gold work great) to give this soup body and silkiness.
• Spinach: Toss in a few handfuls of baby spinach at the end for a bit more green and a little extra nutrition.
• Lemon: A squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top is my favorite finishing touch. It makes all the flavors pop!
• Cheese (optional): We used parmesan in the photos, but feta or a spoonful of ricotta or mascarpone is amazing too.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Asparagus Soup

Tip 1: Make the asparagus broth. My favorite part about this soup recipe is that the base is a broth made with ingredients you would normally just toss in the trash. For this asparagus soup, combine the trimmed ends of the asparagus, dark green tops of the leeks, a carrot, a garlic clove, a bay leaf, salt, and pepper in a pot. Cover with water (or a light chicken broth), then simmer for about 25 minutes.

Tip 2: Cook the leeks until soft. Whenever you use leeks, you really want to cook them long enough for them to soften and sweeten. We do this in a bit of olive oil in a Dutch oven, then build our soup from there. I cook my leeks the same way when making potato leek soup.

Tip 3: Add potatoes. Once your leeks are soft and sweet, stir in garlic and potatoes. Then, pour in some of that asparagus broth from earlier. Let everything simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes).

Tip 4: Finish with the asparagus and spinach. The asparagus does not need much time to cook, so we wait until the potatoes are soft before adding it. When they are tender and bright green, we take the soup off of the heat and then stir in spinach. This adds flavor and nutrition, but most importantly, it makes our soup a bit greener.

Tip 5: Blend and thin as needed. I usually use my immersion blender right in the soup pot, but for a completely smooth soup, transfer to a stand blender and blend. Depending on how thick you’d like the soup, you can thin it with a bit more of the asparagus broth. Then season to taste and serve.

More Vegetable Soup Recipes