Asparagus Soup with Lemon and Parmesan
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This asparagus soup tastes rich, yet it’s made without heavy cream – just veggies, broth, and a bit of Parmesan cheese puréed to silky perfection.
One of my favorite soup recipes, this creamy asparagus soup is made without heavy cream – just vegetables, broth, and a bit of Parmesan cheese puréed to silky perfection. It’s perfect for early spring when asparagus is in peak season and there’s still a chill in the air. Serve with a focaccia or a good artisan bread.
What you’ll need To Make Asparagus Soup
How To Make Asparagus Soup
Begin by melting the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic.
Cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
While that’s going, prep the asparagus. Trim off the tips (you’ll use them for a garnish), then cut the remaining spears into 1/2-inch pieces.
Add the chopped asparagus to the pot, along with the chicken broth, salt, and pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.
Purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can blend the soup in batches in a blender.
Return the soup to the pot and stir in the fresh lemon juice and grated Parmesan cheese.
Finally, cook the asparagus tips in salted boiling water for a few minutes until tender-crisp.
The best way to preserve the bright green color of the tips and keep them crisp is to shock them in an ice bath, but you can also refresh the tips under cold running water.
Finally, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the asparagus tips, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs (if using), and freshly ground black pepper.
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Asparagus Soup with Lemon and Parmesan
This asparagus soup tastes rich, yet it’s made without heavy cream – just veggies, broth, and a bit of Parmesan cheese puréed to silky perfection.
Ingredients
- 2 bunches asparagus (about 2¼ pounds), bottom ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
- ½ cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Handful fresh herbs, such as thyme, dill or basil (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
- In the meantime, cut the tips off of one bunch of the asparagus and set aside (you'll use those for a garnish). Cut the remaining spears and the other bunch of asparagus into ½-inch pieces.
- Add the chopped asparagus to the pot (minus the reserved tips), along with the chicken broth, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender.
- Meanwhile, bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the reserved asparagus tips for a few minutes, or until tender-crisp. Drain the tips and then place them in a bowl of ice water to "shock" them -- this stops the cooking process and preserves their bright green color. Once the tips are cool, drain them and set aside.
- Purée the soup with an immersion blender until completely smooth. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée the soup in batches, then return the soup to the pot.) Bring the soup back to a simmer and stir in the lemon juice and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. To thicken the soup, allow it to simmer, uncovered, until the desired consistency is reached.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, then top each bowl with asparagus tips, Parmigiano-Reggiano, herbs (if using), and freshly ground black pepper.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: You can freeze the soup for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. (The soup will freeze best if you add the cheese when reheating.)
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 160
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Sodium: 593 mg
- Cholesterol: 22 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I found this recipe on line a few months ago and have made it several times already. So Delicious. So Easy, So healthy. Perfect for the local fresh asparagus in Nova Scotia right now.
What a heavenly soup recipe! The flavours of the asparagus, parmesan and lemon meld together beautifully. I made it last night for supper served with a caprese salad and crusty roasted garlic loaf and it was a hit. Local asparagus is in season in my area so it was such a nice way to prepare it versus as a side dish or incorporated into pasta. Thank you!
Would chicken stock be as good to use as chicken broth? Thanks.. Pam
Sure, Pam, chicken stock is perfectly fine to use here. Enjoy!
Wow!
Healthy, low-cal, simple AND DELICIOUS.
What more could one want?
Has anyone served this soup cold?
I imagine it might be iffy with the cheese but maybe a variation?
Thank you! Terrific.
Hi Anne, Glad you liked it! And a number of people have commented that they’ve served the soup chilled and have been happy with it.
Can this soup be served cold?
Definitely!
Very good and very simple. My only problem was my desktop is in one room and the kitchen in another. I kept wondering when I added the cream . It was smooth and “creamy” without any cream. Perhaps that was the Parmesan. And the lemon juice gives a zing that brings it to perfection.
Hi Jenn,
This is absolutely delicious!!! I have made it twice in a week- it is easy and super fast to make. I always was hesitant to making soups thinking it was a lot of work – I could not have been more wrong. It is tasty and easy to make, let alone heathy – thanks Jenn for yet another amazing recipe which will become a staple at our house.
Annie
Forgot to add the stars!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hi!
Thank you so much for your delicious recipes! I am making so many recipes of yours. Is there anyway making this soup vegetarian? I’m originally from Israel so I know good food-:) If possible can you please upload more vegetarian recipes?
I really love your food and I really enjoy your website thank you so much for taking the time sharing your wisdom 💜
Hi Jen, I’ve made this soup twice and love it, especially this time of year. Thank you!
I use an immersion blender for a long time to make it really smooth but each time I’ve noticed a vaguely crunchy texture that is slightly unwelcome, almost like a tiny bit of super fine sand. Should I be washing or soaking the asparagus more? Will a full on food processor do a better job eliminating ths?
Hi Andrew, glad you like the soup! Asparagus is naturally really fibrous so I think that’s probably the texture you’re picking up on. I’d recommend using a blender and then passing it through a fine mesh sieve to weed out any of those extra bits. Hope that helps!
I passed my soup through a chinois and it removed about 2 teaspoons of fibre and made all the difference in the world on texture. I highly recommend that or a food mill.
Perhaps she should have snapped off the very bottoms of the asparagus as another option.
I always do this to avoid the tough fibrous part of the asparagus. Then I actually simmer the ends in the chicken broth while prepping the onion and garlic and then simmering them in olive oil.
Simply discard the ends from the broth when ready to add the broth to the garlic, onions and the “good” parts of the remaining asparagus. The broth really absorbs the flavor out of the ends that would otherwise just have been thrown out.
BTW I Love your recipe! Thank you!
I have been a devoted fan of Giada’s Asparagus Soup for years — but stumbled upon yours this evening and decided to use it instead. I only had leeks (because I was planning on using Giada’s) but despite that moderation, this was INCREDIBLE. This has now become my favorite Asparagus Soup. Adding the lemon notched up the flavor SO MUCH. I couldn’t stop eating it.
Excellent! It was easy to divide up to make a smaller portion. My only changes were using a veggie broth, and I added a potato for creaminess. Next time I will add cauliflower instead of potato.