Name: Creamy Asparagus Soup
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds asparagus; 1 teaspoon olive oil; 2 thinly sliced leeks (white and green parts only); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 12 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 4 cups unsalted chicken stock; 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt; .5 cup fresh parsley, chopped; .5 cup heavy cream; 2 tablespoons orange juice; Garnish: heavy cream, cooked asparagus tips, chopped cooked bacon, and parsley

This spring soup can be dressed up or down for any meal.

Marianne Williams

Published on February 7, 2022

Creamy Asparagus Soup — Photo: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Christina Daley

Active Time:

25 mins

Additional Time:

5 mins

Total Time:

30 mins

Servings:

When you see the dreamy green color of this soup, you might be instantly transported back to Grandma's kitchen, a big pot of pea soup burbling on the stove. But in this little green number, peas are nowhere to be found. The real star of this vibrant green soup is one of our favorite spring vegetables: asparagus.

This Creamy Asparagus Soup is as straightforward as cooking down a bunch of staple ingredients—such as leeks, potatoes, and asparagus—and pureeing them all together with an immersion blender (or in batches in a regular blender). Potatoes bring body to this soup, while parsley deepens the already-gorgeous color that this soup gains from the asparagus. The secret ingredient that brings real vibrance and zing to this soup? Orange juice. This unexpected twist gives the cream of asparagus soup a splash of brightness.

This soup can be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for chicken stock and omitting the bacon garnish. Be sure to save the asparagus tips to garnish this soup, along with a pretty swirl of heavy cream and, if you're feeling indulgent, crumbled bacon.

Ingredients

2 pounds asparagus
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 thinly sliced leeks (white and green parts only)
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons orange juice
Garnish: heavy cream, cooked asparagus tips, chopped cooked bacon, and parsley

Directions

Trim asparagus; cut into 2-inch pieces. Set aside 1 cup asparagus tips. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Add reserved tips; cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add thinly sliced leeks and olive oil to Dutch oven. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 minutes. Add Yukon Gold potatoes and minced garlic cloves; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add unsalted chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Cook until potatoes are semitender, 8 minutes. Add kosher salt and asparagus pieces; cook 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in chopped fresh parsley. Process using an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in heavy cream and orange juice.
Drizzle servings with heavy cream; top with cooked asparagus tips, chopped cooked bacon, and additional parsley.