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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Making it for the 2nd. time in 3 weeks. My husband loves it so much, and never would eat asparagus in any way shape or form.
Awesome recipe, thank you!
This recipe is so good – the lemon really adds to the flavour. My husband had made some pickled asparagus and had to cut off a fair bit of the bottoms to fit in the jars. I just used the rest for the soup and did not have any tops for the garnish but it was still great. I did sprinkle a little freshly ground parmesan on mine – but not on his – and we both loved it. Thank you
Best soup ever! I have tried many asparagus soup recipes and this one is the best by far!! I have shared it with so many friends and they all rave about it. It is definitely our favourite meal!
Outstanding!
So good! I also added zucchini because I had one I needed to use. Yum yum! Family fave.
Looks delicious 😋 What brand of immersion blender do you have/recommend?
Hi Dorothy, I have a Cuisinart Smart Stick. Hope you enjoy the soup if you make it! 🙂
Beautiful recipe – sophisticated and clean
We love this recipe so easy and good. We tweak it a bit like adding hot sauce, etc. But amazing recipe. Just put it on Facebook for friends. We are chefs that lived in Ireland and now France and think your recipes are spot on
I made this soup for myself and my husband. To say we loved it is putting it mildly!! We had it for 3 days in a row – all gone now but will certainly be making it very soon again. A good tonic indeed right now. I have made several of your recipes and they are always a great success. Love from Ireland.
OMG… LOVE this soup soooooooo mich and it is totally guilt free!!!
This was really great! I cut the recipe in half and my husband and I ate the whole pan. You really don’t need cream or half and half to make a great soup. I added a dollop of sour cream in the bowls when I served it.
Oh my, this is delicious! Used the recipe as a guide to wing it with what I had on hand – asparagus, onion, garlic. No parmesan. Potato flakes worked to thicken it a bit (and kept the recipe completely dairy-free). Lemon juice brightened it perfectly.
Can hardly wait to make a large batch as written. Maybe there will be leftovers, if I can stop from eating it all at once!
We loved the asparagus soup and it’s inspired us to try more vegetable based soups to improve our diet. We didn’t miss the heavy cream at all .
Hi Jenn! I really love this soup, and have made it many times; thanks so much for (another) great recipe. I’m presently out of onions, but do have leeks. Do you think those would work as a good replacement?
So glad you like it! Yes, leeks will work here – enjoy! 🙂
Is it supposed to have significant sour taste because of the lemon? I followed the recipe and not sure if it’s too sour
Hi Bernadette, it really shouldn’t taste sour — the lemon is just there to add a little brightness. Did you make any changes to the recipe? If not, maybe you’re just a bit more sensitive to the lemon flavor so if you make it again, I’d cut the lemon juice in half.
Hi there. Do you have a suggestion/technique for making this soup (or another) using the discarded woody asparagus ends? I have a few ziplock bags of them in the freezer because I hate to see them go to waste.
Thank you for your time on this question. 🙂
Hi Jennifer, I’ve never held onto those pieces, but I think you could use along with other veggie remnants to make vegetable stock. 🙂
I am reluctant to offer an addendum, but this may be my one contribution to cooking. I have my nerve, especially as I use your ranch dressing weekly.
I don’t like the color of cooked asparagus, so I add fresh green beans or leftovers, chopped, to the pot in time to be cooked but still green at blending time. It’s a beautiful green, more like the tips, and there is no detraction from the flavor.
Just a thought.
O
An excellent recipe – we all loved it. Definitely a keeper!
Can you serve this chilled?
Sure!
I love love this soup .
I bought a big bag of Asparagus from Sams Club and my kids got tired of it, so as not to waste the rest I googled what to do with asparagus and came across this recipe . It was delicious.
I did not have chicken broth at home so I substituted it with chicken bullion and added water . I also added a little cayenne pepper to give it a little kick but it was nice without the pepper too.
Thank you so much for this amazing and healthy recipe.
This soup is incredible!! It’s so creamy and rich it’s hard to believe it’s just chicken stock, asparagus and vegetables with a tiny amount of cheese. Wonderful!
I have made this soup 3 times in 3 weeks…it is truly amazing.
big hit with roommate who hated the asparagus soup her grandmother used to make. I skipped the cream and did add a spare carrot.
Just delicious! A new favorite.
Yeah, this soup is great. I wanted a soup made without a roux and this delivered. beautiful color and the lemon lifted the flavor. I didn’t have any Reggiano cheese so I put a little shredded cheddar in the bowl.
I had to cut the recipe in half since I only had one bunch of asparagus. So even though it didn’t make a whole lot, it was good.
This soup is delicious! I made it with fresh asparagus today and my picky eater husband who only likes a couple of my soup recipes said, “now you are going to make this again?”. I topped it with grated Asiago cheese since I didn’t have Parmigiano-Reggiano and it was so good. I will be making this often.
Delicious! I followed the recipe, but did not have any lemons. It was great. Thanks again for another nice meal. I paired it with the spinach quiche which was amazing as well.
I don’t usually comment on blogs but this recipe was amazing and you definitely deserve that feedback! My partner and I are both seasoned home cooks and this was such a wonderful spring treat. I have been looking for an incredible asparagus soup for years after testing one in a restaurant and this has surpassed that for me. We love your recipes and thank you for this fantastic supper!
Absolutely delicious soup!
It’s a wonderful recipe! I used leftover fresh cooked asparagus; reduced the ingredients by half; and pureed it using the Hot Soup setting on my Vitamix. A new family favorite! Thank you!
I love all of the recipes I’ve tried on your site. This one is terrific!
Loved this!! I ran out of chicken stock and used a bouillon cube (+ water) and turned out amazing! The creaminess w/the cheese & tart flavor with lemon was perfectly balanced
Made several times, exactly as Jenn has written this one. It’s excellent and we will continue to make this delicious soup.
Great recipe as is. I love it and wouldn’t change a thing.
Great recipe, thank so much!
Absolutely delicious! My new favourite soup. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you.
So easy and delicious. I enjoyed the brightness of the lemon and the aroma and creaminess of the cheese. I will make this again.
Hi, Jenn. I love your recipes!
I am home making your asparagus soup. I have grated, not shredded, parm cheese but Am not sure how much to use. Is there a one to one conversion?
Thanks so much!
Jamie
The amount of grated may be slightly different than that of shredded but I think you’re fine sticking with 1/2 cup. If you happen to have a kitchen scale, you’ll need 50 grams. Hope you enjoy the soup!
I made this soup for the first time and it came out very well! Looked just like the picture. I broke off and discarded the tough bottoms of the asparagus stalks and used a stick blender to process when it was done cooking. I was prepared to pour through a sieve, if necessary, but it came out completely smooth with no stringiness. Didn’t have any fresh herbs to garnish top but asparagus tips and grated cheese garnish looked very nice. Had a couple of bowls for dinner and also froze two bowls. Will definitely make this again soon! Thanks, Jenn, for the recipe! Anne
My husband LOVED this soup! And he is not usually ok with a “just veggie” meal. I loved that it was light and creamy without added cream. It is also made better with the added step of the cooked tips. In fact, we are having a small dinner party tonight and are serving soup, salad, and good bread. Simple and delicious!
I love this soup. I make it regularly. It is so creamy without the added calories
I’m wondering if I could blend the asparagus with some broth in my nutri-bullet blender before heating? I don’t have an immersion blender and that would save blending a hot liquid. What do you think? Thanks
Hi Dona, I’ve never tried it, but I suspect it would be hard to blend them to a smooth consistency that way – sorry!
Hi, currently in NZ with no fresh asparagus, can I use tinned? How much? Thank you, Jenni.
Sure, Sarah, that should work. Just make sure to drain and rinse it. Enjoy!
This is a beautiful soup. I am fond of the flavor of leeks in my soup so substituted leek and shallots for the onions. For my vegan friends I use vegetable broth. It is so light, fresh and flavorful! Everyone raves about it! Thank you Jennifer for yet another winner.
Very good, went really well with your kale and Brussels sprout salad!
Do you mean you gently broke up the eggs before you added them, or that you “scrambled” them gently in grease before adding them to the soup?
This soup was delicious, I also added 4 eggs slightly scrambled. Loved the thickness without the cream. Reminded us of the way our great nana’s asparagus soup was made.
Another great recipe. Very tasty and enjoyable. A must try.
I have made this asparagus soup many times. It is the best and so easy and healthy.
This is simple and delicious.
excellent soup! always find something yummy to make on this site.
Can u freeze this soup? Maybe leaving out the lemon juices? This recipe makes an amazingly delicious soup!
Yes, Betsey, this freezes nicely! See the bottom of the recipe for freezer-friendly instructions. 🙂
Flavorful, Light, Delicious and easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly and it was easy. Will definitely be making this again.
Just Wonderful
The best recipe for Asparagus Soup. I mad a small adjustment. Instead of chicken stock I use half Vegetable and half Coconut milk..
I have so many friends that LOVE this soup I make a double portion.
6 stars.👍
I just made this soup tonight for my wife and I. Had to substitute extra old fort cheddar for parm, and it was still a great soup.
thanks