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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This soup is so simple to make and so delicious. 🙂 Followed the recipe except added a bit more garlic and onions (per my usual).
Today I had to use up some wonderful fresh asparugus a neighbor gave us. Made this recipe, but cut ingredient amounts down to 1/3 (only had 10 ozs of trimmed asparagus). I purposely went a little light on the lemon. Had a small parmesan rind so did simmer with that. Probably used a bit more onion than called for, and added asparagus tips in with the rest of the asparagus; did not save them for a garnish. The soup was very good. The reduced amount was enough for 2 very generous bowls. So glad I could put the asparagus to good use!
My husband made this soup for our dinner last night and I must say it was outstanding!!!
I highly recommend it!!!
I over-cooked some asparagus, so I spent twenty minutes turning it into this amazing soup. Everyone raved like it was from a fancy restaurant; it went perfectly with our crab brioche sandwiches. I will absolutely use this fantastic recipe again.
Made the recipe as given and it was delicious! Thank you!
I simmered asparagus stems in broth with onions last night and this morning looked for recipes to salvage it (brought back some painful childhood memories of boiled asparagus…) I did not exactly follow your recipe, but did add in all your extra ingredients except lemon. It took a lot to ultimately eliminate the boiled asparagus flavor and make tasty.
I really only came to add that I want to try the recipe as written and also experiment with using preserved lemon. Thanks for the direction!
Love this soup!
This soup was delicious
I did make several adjustments
I only used one bunch asparagus and added 1 cup of cooked rice before puréing with immersion blender made soup thicker and creamier
Good morning Jenn,
I have made many of your wonderful recipes and they all were delicious. Unfortunately I must’ve done something wrong as this didn’t turn out well. I cooked my asparagus for over an hour and the veggies were soft and well done. I used my immersion blender repeatedly and every time I picked it up, there was a lot of “mush” on the bottom of the blender. Then used a large spoon and kept stirring but that didn’t help. I had a bowl of it and the soup was very stringy. Before refrigerating it, I had to use my colander to strain all of the thick “mush” from the soup.
I wish I knew what went wrong.
Susan
Hi Susan, I’m sorry you had such a problem with this! It sounds like you blended it thoroughly. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? If not, asparagus can be fibrous, but I wonder if perhaps yours was really fibrous. You did the right thing by using a strainer to get the “mush” from the soup, but sorry it was a disappointment!
It sounds like you did something wrong. It did not deserve a 1 star rating. It’s a delicious soup. Please try again with maybe a different blender.
Delicious soup. Made exactly as instructed. Love it and low cal too (I reduced the butter). Thank you. ❤️