Cream of Asparagus Soup gets better with the addition of Parmesan cheese and lots of garlic. The best part, it’s ready in under 15 minutes!
Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. You can tell that if you check out how many asparagus recipes I have on this site.
Here’s A Video Showing How To Make This Asparagus Soup
Asparagus And Parmesan
Probably my all-time favorite is this easy appetizer. You basically roast asparagus for a short time, then you let it come to room temperature. Shave on large shards of Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with chunky sea salt. Serve it as a finger food. Everyone loves it. It’s amazing.
That combination of asparagus with Parmesan cheese is what made me think to add Parmesan cheese to Cream of Asparagus Soup. And then, what goes great with Parmesan cheese? Garlic! It was a no-brainer.
I swear, you are so going to love this one.
Small Cuts Cook Quickly
The SouperTip for this SOUPin15 recipe is to cut your veggies very small. If the soup was going to simmer for a long time, it wouldn’t matter how big you cut your asparagus. It would get soft for sure. But if you want the asparagus to get soft in just a few minutes, you need to chop it small.
Trim the tough ends off of the asparagus by holding a clump of five or six spears in your right hand by their bottom ends. Grasp a few inches up the spears with your left hand. In a quick motion snap them all at once between your hands. Discard the bottom ends and repeat the process with more asparagus spears.
Chop the trimmed asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Note that they don’t have to be even or really pretty since you’re going to purée them in the end. All that matters is that they’re small.
Use A Good Knife
And here’s a hint, to chop things small and fast, it’s all about the knife. A great knife lets you slide right through a bunch of asparagus at once, making quick work of your chopping. Here are some of my favorite good quality knives for the job:
- Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Forged Knife Block Set
- Victorinox 3 Piece Chef’s Knife Kit
- KitchenAid 8-in. Chef’s Knife
Learn more about knife skills and taking care of your knives at our sister site, TheCookful.
Print
Cream of Asparagus Soup with Parmesan and Garlic
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This classic soup is better than ever because of the addition of Parmesan and garlic. You’re going to love it!
If you want an asparagus garnish like in the picture, before blending the soup rescue a couple of asparagus tips and then chop them. You can alternatively use chopped chives or a swirl of whipping cream as a garnish. Or both!
Yield: 7 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups low or no-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 small onion
- 2 lbs. asparagus
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 oz. parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Measure the broth into a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put a large pot or Dutch oven over low heat. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the pot. As it melts, peel and chop the onion. Add the onion to the butter. Stir and cover. Increase heat to medium.
- Trim the tough ends off of the asparagus as described in the blog post above. Discard ends. Chop remaining asparagus into small (½-inch) pieces. Add to the onions. Stir and cover. Peel and mince the garlic. Add it to the asparagus along with the salt. Stir.
- At this point the broth should be finished heating. Add it to the asparagus. Cover. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce to a simmer.
- Cook until asparagus is tender, 2-3 minutes. While it cooks, shred the Parmesan.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Add the cream and heat through over medium heat but do not bring to a simmer.
- Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
Deborah K Bonner says
Regarding a question asked earlier in the feed by Jan: I use the Recipe Nutrition Analyzer, https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076. For this recipe is give 47.8 g of carbs, I cannot figure out why the carb count is so high, any ideas anyone?
Calories 1413
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 132.4g 170%
Saturated Fat 79.1g 395%
Cholesterol 422mg 141%
Sodium 186276mg 8099%
Total Carbohydrate 47.8g 17%
Dietary Fiber 20.8g 74%
Total Sugars 20.2g
Protein 40g
Vitamin D 16mcg 80%
Calcium 769mg 59%
Iron 20mg 110%
Potassium 1990mg 42%
Jean Skaff says
Why do you have to heat the broth before you add it
Christine Pittman says
Jean, That’s if you want the soup to be ready in under 15 minutes. You can get the broth heated up while you’re doing other things. I’m big on multitasking! If you’re not in a hurry, you can add cold broth instead. Heat to a boil and then reduce heat and cook until asparagus is tender.
Alice Downing says
Your asparagus soup is FABULOUS! I made it exactly as you stated, using my fresh home grown asparagus.Very quick, easy, delightful, beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe
Christine Pittman says
Alice, I’m delighted that you liked it so much. Thank you for letting me know!
Kristine Thompson says
This soup is unbelievable. I do have leftovers though. Can they be frozen?
Christine Pittman says
I’m actually not sure. It is dairy-based and sometimes dairy doesn’t freeze well.
one water says
Hi Christine, I tell you that I really love what you share day by day to start, you explain them very well without any doubt, have you tried adding concentrate to some soups? and I hope you continue this way and much support from Spain, we also know you here
Jan Kingrea says
Can soneone give the keto nutritional values for the asparagus Parmesan soup? Thank you.
Leonora Dean says
Can cocoanut milk be used in this recipe?
Christine Pittman says
I think you probably could but I’d be concerned about the slightly sweet flavor not tasting right with the savory asparagus, Parmesan and garlic.
Cynthia says
Delicious. I eat the ketogenic diet. This was perfect. My first meal of the day was this soup. I followed completely all the ingredients and directions. I did put the soup in the Vitamix after it was finished due to those with texture issues. I added half slice avocado in my one cup is soup and used 1/2 ounce pork rinds for crunch factor. Thank you. Absolutely delicious!
Asparagus Puree says
I love these types of dishes, easy and simple with a great result at the end, thanks for sharing this wonderful dish really, an excellent job on your part, I did and I love it, I will definitely repeat it again, keep it up And regards
Carolee says
To make a light version, Instead of cream, try adding Marzetti light vegetable dip, you only need a spoonful or 2 to thicken soup up with, can use with any veggie soups. Also I have made delicious asparagus soup with canned (cheapest) asparagus.
Take 1/2 cup onion,
3 pods of fresh garlic crushed and minced ( or gourmet garden in a plastic bottle I keep in the freezer I use about 1 tablespoons)
1/4 cup bell pepper,
saute in butter til transparent (can add 1/2 cup bacon and or diced ham chunks, if you want it meaty)
then add 2 cans (drain off 1/2 of the water in the can) of Asparagus spears,
1 cup of chicken broth,
cook til Hot, 5 min,
take emulsifier and blend it all together,
add the 1 spoonful at a time to taste of the Marzetti light vegetable dip…you can add chicken broth, water or milk to taste and depending on how thick you want your soup. I put Garlic butter croutons in the top of mine for a crunch.! The last asparagus soup I made I added a little left over canned peas, 1/2 cup of rissotto, and some sprinkles of bacon. YUM
Melanie @ Rational Kitchen says
I made this with a combination of fresh asparagus and leftover roasted asparagus that I’d seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. All of those flavors worked perfectly in this simple, beautiful soup. Thanks for the great recipe!
Christine Pittman says
So happy you liked it, Melanie> I love the idea of roasted asparagus in there. Yum!
Nancy says
I am guessing the photo was made with white asparagus. It can be made with either. White tastes better in my opinion.
Christine Pittman says
Nancy, NO it was made with green asparagus. But I think the yellow of the chicken broth and the white of the cream diluted the green color down to a yellow.
Lesley says
Christine – your asparagus soup is delicious! The garlic adds great flavour. It’s a beautiful green colour & as you said, so quick to make. My husband & I loved it & I will definitely make it again.
Christine Pittman says
Thank you, Lesley! It is pretty, isn’t it? So happy you guys liked it.
Brianna Herman says
This may be a silly question, but do you use 2 lbs of asparagus before cutting the tough ends? Or start with 2 lbs, trim the ends and use what’s left. Just want to make sure :)
Christine Pittman says
Brianna, No, it’s not a silly question. It has to do with how people write recipes and how they are meant to be read.
The general difference is between:
2 lbs. trimmed asparagus
2 lbs. asparagus, trimmed
For the first one, you weigh it after trimming the asparagus. For the second, you weigh the asparagus before you trim it. That is, the information after the comma is preparation instructions that you do after you have already gotten out the specified amount.
In the case of this recipe, I’ve written:
2 lbs. asparagus
And then in the instructions section it tells you to trim it. That’s therefore like the “2 lbs. asparagus, trimmed” example. In the ingredient list, you get your whole untrimmed asparagus and weigh it. Then later when following the instructions, you trim it.
Hope that helps!
Paul says
I’m an asparagus grower – this looks awesome – have some cooking using some of my frozen asparagus. Thanks
Lauren Hesse says
Was looking for a recipe ever since our cruise where I fell in love with asparagus soup! This ones perfect no more searching! Made this soup for dinner and it was delicious! There was plenty left over as it was just my husband and I. We loved it!
Shelle says
How does yours look so creamy yellow? By the time I puréed the asparagus in, the soup was green.
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
We are right in the middle of Michigan asparagus season – this soup is right up my alley!
Ginnie says
This sounds absolutely delicious … and so simple, too! Love it!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says
Garlic is one of my favorite things to pair with asparagus, and this looks perfect with the addition of Parmesan too!