Celebrate the flavors of spring with this tasty cream of asparagus soup from scratch. Imagine turning fresh asparagus into a delicious homemade cream of asparagus soup with this amazing recipe.
Homemade cream of asparagus soup recipe
When I started planning for this month-long series of soup recipes, my hubby asked for cream of asparagus soup. He's not a big soup-eater, so when he wants soup I try to please.
The bright green color of this soup is a beautiful touch at the dinner table. It's an easy soup to make and has a zing of flavor that brightens up a dull late-winter day.
How do you make cream of asparagus soup from scratch?
Here's what you'll need to make this delicious soup:
- 1 pound of asparagus
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- paprika
Remove the woody ends from the asparagus spears. I like to snap them off by bending the spear in half. If you do it right, the spear will break at the spot where the woodiness begins.
Then cut the spears into pieces about half an inch long and set aside.
Sauté the onion in butter in a heavy pot until soft, then add the asparagus pieces and chopped garlic and sauté together for about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken broth to the pot, cover the pot and simmer until the asparagus is very tender. This might take as little as 15 minutes - I cooked mine for 40 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, and let the vegetables and broth cool before blending, about fifteen minutes. Purée it in small batches in your blender, saving a few asparagus tips for garnish if desired.
Pour the blended soup back into the pot.
How to add cream to soup without curdling
The next step is to whisk in the sour cream and the half-and-half until the soup is smooth.
The sour cream and half-and-half should be room temperature when you add them to the soup, and the soup should not be boiling hot, otherwise the cream can curdle or separate.
Pour the cream in with one hand while stirring the soup with the other hand, then use your whisk to combine it well until the soup is smooth.
You can add more chicken broth to thin the soup if desired.
Adding the final ingredients
Season your soup to taste with salt and pepper.
Add the lemon juice. Don't leave this step out, your soup needs that bit of acid to really bring out the flavor. Use fresh lemon juice if you can, you'll love that fresh zing!
The soup should be warm but not boiling hot when you add the lemon juice, or it can cause the soup to separate. Use a whisk to stir the lemon juice in.
If the soup does begin to separate, whisk it vigorously to combine it all together again.
Serving cream of asparagus soup
If needed, you can warm up the soup again before serving - after all, it cooled down before you put it in the blender, and then you whisked in the sour cream and the half-and-half and the lemon juice, so it may need to be warmed up a bit.
But don't let it boil, just warm it gently over low heat, and stir it while it warms.
Ladle your cream of asparagus soup into bowls, garnish with asparagus tips, and sprinkle with paprika. Serve with crackers or your favorite bread or rolls.
Can cream of asparagus soup be frozen?
You can freeze leftover cream of asparagus soup in the same way you freeze other cream soups.
Let the soup cool, then put it in an airtight freezer container and label it clearly with the contents and the date.
Cream of asparagus soup can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
How to serve asparagus and additional ways to use asparagus
Here's how to pressure-can asparagus from your garden so you can enjoy this homemade soup all year long.
And if you have an abundance of asparagus and want some different ways to prepare it, check out these 77 ways to prepare asparagus.
Related posts:
Spilt Pea SoupRoasted Tomato Soup
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
French Onion Soup
Updated/rewritten 2/20/2024,
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