Easy and Fresh Creamy Asparagus Soup

This essential early Spring recipe is a simple, easy, and fresh Creamy Asparagus Soup. When you let the flavors of fresh, in-season vegetables shine, it is like Mother Nature kissing your soup bowl. 

The best part of this delicious soup is that it is about as easy as it gets, and you can have this Creamy Asparagus Soup Recipe on your table in less than 45 minutes.

🌿 What makes this recipe special?

This is a simple soup recipe to make and tastes so hearty and nourishing. It is similar to our homemade Cream of Mushroom soup recipe but with asparagus. 

This perfect Spring soup brings great flavors to your table while you ponder what you might plant in your garden or what household projects might lie ahead. Or, of course, just eat the dang soup!

This is a great soup and would make a great side for this Grilled Chicken Legs with Yogurt Mint Marinade recipe. Or if you are looking for a different asparagus recipe, check out this Pancetta Wrapped Asparagus with Orange Glaze recipe. 

Rhubarb is ripe about the same time, and maybe follow up with a delicious Rhubarb Pie. No matter what you make, make sure to treat yourself!

🥛 Ingredients

Asparagus is the star of this recipe, but a few other ingredients pull it together for something special. Here is what you will need:

• Butter
• Asparagus
• Onion
• Garlic cloves
• All-purpose flour
• Vegetable stock
• Salt, or to taste
• Black pepper, or to taste
• Heavy cream

See the recipe card for quantities.

A note on shopping for asparagus

When shopping for asparagus, I tend to prefer bunches with smaller stalks. If you see short, thick, and stubby spears, I tend to pass on those, particularly if the root end is white and the entire stalk appears grainy. 

Asparagus size isn't really the whole story, though. Look at the leaf ends, how the asparagus is stored in the store, and just how healthy (and green) the entire bunch looks. Here is a great video about picking the right asparagus from your local grocery store.

🍲 Instructions

This soup is a simple recipe with out-of-this-world flavor. First, clean some fresh asparagus. Separate the individual stalks into tips, stalks, and roots. Discard the asparagus root ends, then simmer the rest and sweat the stalks with butter and onion. 

Once this all seems tender, add a bit of flour that will become a thickener. Cup by cup, add in vegetable stock, and mix. Then, allow the soup to cook for a while longer.

Blend everything with an immersion blender and finish it off and create a creamy texter. Finally, add some seasoning and heavy cream.

Cleaning asparagus and the anatomy of asparagi

Did you know that the plural of asparagus is asparagi? Well, you shouldn't, because it isn't. 

I really wanted this to be the plural form of the word, and some Latin roots point to it, it isn't real. The plural of asparagus is asparagus. 

When talking about them, we might say 'a bunch of asparagus.' Asparagi isn't a thing. That is ok. I will still use the word because I like saying 'asparagi'. This is a small guide to properly make chopped asparagus.

All of the parts

We have already covered the plurality of asparagus. If you take one asparagus out of a bunch of asparagus, you can examine each asparagus spear individually. An asparagus spear is separated into three main parts.

We have the tip, which is the very leafy end of an individual spear. Then, we have the stalk, which is clearly different than the tip and the largest part of a stalk. 

Finally, we have the root, which oftentimes changes into more of a white color than the healthy, green stalk. It is often the thickest part of an asparagus spear and is difficult to eat, as it is woody and grainy. 

Remove the terrible root ends

Have you ever bitten into asparagus and found yourself gnawing on a woody end that is difficult to chew? Likely, it wasn't cleaned appropriately. Today, we are going to help you clean your asparagi so you can enjoy them better. 

Take an individual asparagus spear and hold it between your two hands at the bottom of the spear. Bend the bottom third until the spear snaps. This is a pretty good approximation to where the less desirable root end and the stalk separates.

While you can do this with every single spear, that individual spear is likely a pretty good indicator of what the rest of the bunch will be like. Take a chef's knife and just lop the rest off using that first spear as my guide. The root ends can be discarded.

Asparagus tips

You should be able to see the separation between the very leafy tip and the stalk. The tips are going to be used later, so save them in a separate dish. I estimate where the tips end for the whole bunch and lop off the end. I then put these aside. 

Stalks

Only the stalks remain. This is the majority of an asparagus spear and will make up the bulk of this soup. Take the cleaned asparagus and loosely chop them into 1-inch to 3-inch sections. 

Using a blender instead of an Immersion Blender

If you don't have an immersion blender [affiliate link], consider buying one. They can really make so many jobs more manageable. When it comes to vegetable soups, an immersion blender is really a valuable tool. If, however, that isn't an option, you should be able to use your regular kitchen blender.

You know your kitchen tools better than I do, so I recommend using your blender instructions and common sense when blending hot liquids.

After simmering the asparagus stocks in vegetable stock for a while, blend the soup. A standard blender is your choice if you don't have an immersion blender.

Be careful when dealing with hot liquids in your blender. Don't fill your blender more than about half full when dealing with hot liquids.

Use a kitchen towel when holding the top of your blender when dealing with hot liquids. Blend in batches. These are the basics of blending hot liquids in your blender, but the most important thing is to be safe and not burn yourself!

Really, though, immersion blenders are awesome. As a person who does not like too many kitchen gadgets, I feel like this one is worth it!

🤷 Substitutions and variations

There are a few ways that this can be changed up.

• Dairy - So, my recipe calls for heavy cream because heavy cream is delicious. I put no warranties on the end product, but you should be able to substitute whole, 2%, or skim to lighten the load on calories and fat. Heck, you could even use sour cream. 
• Butter -I also start off with four tablespoons of butter. I think you could probably get away with two. I am not saying that the skim milk, 2 Tablespoons butter version of this soup is going to be as good as the full-fat recipe, but I get it. Sometimes, you just gotta watch them calories. Not me. Not today.
• Vegan option - Use Olive Oil instead of butter and non-dairy milk instead of cream. 
• Vegetable Broth - You could use chicken stock or chicken broth instead. Also, for a low-sodium option, use low sodium broth or homemade broth to control the salt intake.

❓ FAQ

📝 Tips and tricks

• Use an immersion blender [affiliate link] for best results, but you can also do this in small batches in your blender.
• Buy fresh asparagus and I would suggest going for smaller spears.
• To lighten the recipe, you could substitute whole, 2%, or skim milk for the heavy cream.
• Use fresh asparagus for the best results.

🛠 Products used in this recipe

• Immersion blender
• Large pot

😋 Did you make this recipe?

That is awesome, and thank you so much for giving this Creamy Asparagus Recipe a try. If you could leave a rating in the comment area below, it would be greatly appreciated. This lets me know how I am doing and also helps others decide if they want to make this recipe. Most of all, thanks for visiting Ramshackle Pantry.