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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Took a taste….and ate the whole batch while it was still in the pot!!!! Making the full amount right now to share…..maybe?? Lol
Super yummy! I added fresh sprigs of thyme when the asparagus were cooking and then fished them out before processing. Also, used four cups of broth rather than six – it tasted perfect before opening another chicken broth.
Easy to make. I added sliced, steamed carrot slices and pieces of country ham with the Parmesan. I assumed the county ham would be enough salt instead or added salt called for in the recipe. Ham provided adequate salt for my family’s taste.
This soup will be a regular in our family when asparagus is on sale.
This recipe is sooo good that I made it twice in one weekend! Easy to make and so tasty. Thank you so much. Didn’t alter a thing and it was perfect.
Oh my gosh! This is SO GOOD! I love that it tastes like cream of asparagus soup with no cream! The only change I made was sauteing the onions & garlic in olive oil instead of butter because my daughter can’t eat dairy (while nursing and baby is allergic) and then I took out a serving for her before adding the parmesan at the end. It was delicious and she said it was so tasty even without the parmesan! No wonder you have so many 5 star plus reviews!
Absolutely fantastic! We loved it and can’t wait to make it again. It is so fresh and light. It has a nice creamy texture without the cream.
We loved the soup. Unfortunately I doubled the broth by mistake. I had halved the recipe bc I only had half the amount of asparagus. Is there a way I could thicken it up with more asparagus?
Hi Ellen, Oops! You could add more asparagus, but I’d also add more of the remaining ingredients to maintain the flavor of the soup.
I was skeptical that there was no cream. I even bought it to add! It is perfection without anything added. Complete perfection! Well done!
This is really good. We had some asparagus that needed to be cooked. It’s 70 degrees, cloudy and windy in Key West today so we thought soup and then the next thought was Jen! This does not disappoint.
We live on our boat here in the winter/spring time and so we have limited space. We cut the recipe in half and it worked great. If you do this, just note that the asparagus still takes 30 mins to get tender enough to puree. In other words, don’t cut the times down too.
The only addition I mad was to skip the salt and add a dash or two of Tony’s cajun spice and a couple dashes of Crystal hot sauce. It was amazing!!!! Definitely in our rotation going forward!
Whole lemon with zest. My wife loved it.