Last Updated on 16/02/2024 by Adina
Make the most of the asparagus season with this creamy white asparagus soup. Made with fresh asparagus, it's perfect as a starter or main course.
This creamy white asparagus soup is the most-cooked soup in Germany during the asparagus season.
White asparagus soup or Spargelsuppe is the tastiest, creamiest soup you could make this time of the year. We live in Germany, so we love the White Asparagus with Sauce Hollandaise – which is the absolute number one recipe for asparagus cooking around here – but this little creamy soup is even better!
Velvety and comforting, mild and soothing yet incredibly full of flavor, easy to make, and sure to please anyone (even children who don’t usually dig into this vegetable). It’s also a perfect soup to serve guests; it’s elegant and unique.
Check out the Asparagus Chicken Soup or the Cream of Asparagus Soup with Milk as well; I think you will love it!
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📋Recipe ingredients and substitutions
- White asparagus – about 2 lb/ 1 kg.
- Green asparagus is also great. The dish will taste a bit different, but it will also be delicious.
- Leek: Only the white part of a small leek, about 2 oz/ 60 g. You can replace the leeks with a small white onion or two shallots.
- All-purpose flour and butter
- Heavy cream: Sub the heavy cream with single cream or full-fat milk. Heavy cream makes for a rich and luxurious soup, but if you are worried about the calories, the alternatives are ok.
- Spices: Fine sea salt or Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, nutmeg, and a vegetable or chicken stock cube.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Try more asparagus recipes: Asparagus Potato Salad, Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes, or Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake. Or make this amazing Jerusalem Artichoke Soup.
👩🏻🍳How to make white asparagus soup?
Make the asparagus broth
- Wash the stalks thoroughly. Snap or cut the woody ends and peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler (1).
- Combine: Place the woody ends and the peel in a pot. Cover with about 6 ½ cups/ 1.5-liter water/vegetable/chicken stock. I use a cube of vegetable or chicken stock most of the time. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar (2).
- Simmer: Cover and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve into another pot (3). Discard the woody ends and the peel.
Make the soup
- In the meantime, chop the spears into small pieces. Keep the heads separated in a small container.
- After straining the broth, wipe the pot clean with a kitchen towel.
- Roux: Melt the butter, add the chopped leeks (or shallots/onions) and a pinch of salt, and cook them gently until softer, but don’t let them take any color, about 2-3 minutes (4).
- Sprinkle the flour on top and stir everything for about 2 minutes (5).
- Slowly add the broth while whisking continuously to avoid any clumps forming (6).
- Once you’ve added all the broth, add the asparagus pieces (not the heads) (7).
- Simmer: Cover, bring to a simmer, lower the heat, and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft (8).
- Add the heavy cream and blend the soup (9).
- Return it to the heat, add the tips, and reheat gently for 4-5 minutes; the heads of the plant should remain crunchy and not get very soft.
- Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a little lemon juice (or white balsamic vinegar) to balance the flavors.
🔊Expert Tips
Broth: Use the woody ends of the stalks and the peel to make the broth. The broth is flavorful, but I still think it needs some help in terms of flavor. I always add a vegetable or chicken stock cube to the soup.
Asparagus tips: Keep them separated, and only add them to the white asparagus soup at the end of the cooking process. They only need a few minutes of cooking time, they will remain slightly crunchy, and they will add a bit of extra something to this beautiful dish.
Reheating: If you cook the recipe in advance, keep the tips in an airtight container in the refrigerator and only add them to the soup when you reheat it before serving. When reheating it, do it gently, and don’t let it come to a boil again.
Thicker soup: If you like the soup to be thicker, don’t add all the broth at once. Add about ¾ of it, blend the soup once cooked, and adjust the thickness with more of the remaining broth according to your preference.
❓Recipe FAQ
The white sort is cultivated underground so no light can reach the spears. That’s why they remain white instead of turning green like the plants grown overground.
It has a milder flavor compared to the green sort. That’s why it’s best when served simply, using fewer other ingredients that might steal its show.
Yes. You might get away with the peeling part when using green spears, but the white ones should always be peeled; the peel is tough and stringy. After removing the woody ends, peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler, starting underneath the tops and going all the way down.
🍽️What to serve with it?
Check out our collection on What to Serve with Soup.
Do you like this recipe?
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Creamy White Asparagus Soup
Equipment
- 1 soup pot
- 1 Blender
- 1 Sieve
Ingredients
Asparagus broth:
- 2 lb white asparagus 900 g – 1 kg
- 6 ½ cups water 1 ½ liter
- 1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
- 1 teaspoon sugar
White asparagus soup:
- 1 piece of leek only the white part 2 oz/ 60 g, Note 1
- 2 oz butter 60 g
- 2 oz all-purpose flour 60 g
- 1 cup heavy cream 250 ml, Note 2
- a few gratings of nutmeg
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar to taste
Instructions
Asparagus broth:
- Prepare asparagus: Wash the stalks thoroughly. Snap or cut the woody ends and peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler. Place the woody ends and the peel in a pot. Cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and the stock cube.ends and peel of 2 lb white asparagus / 900 g + 6 ½ cups water / 1.5-liter + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
- Simmer: Cover and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve into another pot (preferable in a jug pot, it will make pouring easier). Discard the woody ends and the peel.
Asparagus soup
- Chop asparagus: While the broth cooks, chop the spears into small pieces. Keep the heads separated in a small container.
- Pot: After straining the broth, wipe the pot clean with a kitchen towel.
- Roux: Melt the butter, add the chopped leeks (or shallots/onions) and a pinch of salt, and cook them gently until softer, but don’t let them take any color, about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir everything for about 2 minutes.1 piece of leek + 2 oz butter / 60 g + pinch of salt + 2 oz all-purpose flour / 60 g
- Add broth: Slowly add the broth while whisking continuously to avoid any clumps forming (Note 3). Once you’ve added all the broth, add the asparagus pieces (not the heads).
- Cook soup: Cover, bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until the pieces are soft.
- Blend: Add the heavy cream and blend the soup.1 cup heavy cream/ 250 ml
- Asparagus tips: Return the soup to the stovetop, add the asparagus tips and reheat gently for 4-5 minutes; the heads of the plant should remain crunchy and not get very soft.
- Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a little lemon juice (or white balsamic vinegar) to balance the flavors.a few gratings of nutmeg + fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste + 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar to taste
Notes
- Leeks: Sub with 2 shallots or one small white onion.
- Cream: Sub with single cream (or full-fat milk). However, heavy cream makes the most luxurious soup.
- Thicker soup: If you like the soup to be thicker, don’t add all the broth at once. Add about ¾ of it, blend the soup once cooked, and adjust the thickness with more of the remaining broth according to your preference.
mjskitchen says
I recently made a creamy green asparagus soup which was somewhat similar, but now that I'm looking at yours, I wish I would have used white asparagus. Now I just need to find some. It's not very common here, but I do see it every once in a while. A beautiful soup!