Parsnip Soup

Parsnips aren’t as popular as they were a century ago, and this parsnip soup will make you wonder why. They’re one of the quintessential cold-weather vegetables, along with carrots, rutabagas, cabbage and winter squash. Like those, parsnips are a sturdy vegetable that keeps for a long time in the produce drawer. They taste a bit like carrots, but the flavor is more sophisticated with subtle tones of nuts and spice.

We have lots of good recipes you can turn to for comforting fall meals, but this soup is special. It comes together quickly, with just 15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes or so of cooking time. Curried parsnip soup is just the thing to take the chill of a raw autumn wind from your bones.

Parsnip Soup Ingredients

• Onion: A large onion gives this quick soup a base of savory flavor.
• Carrot: The soup gains part of its color from the carrot, and the carrot also lends a sweet vegetable flavor to complement the parsnips.
• Butter: Any fat will do for sauteing the aromatic vegetables, but butter adds flavor and richness.
• Parsnips: Parsnips give the soup an aromatic, almost nutty sweetness that plays well with the curry powder.
• Chicken broth: Starting with prepared chicken broth, rather than simmering the soup from scratch to make a broth, is a great timesaver.
• Curry powder: Curry powder’s balance of pungent spice and mild chile heat nicely complements the parsnips’ sweetness.
• Milk: The milk thins out the parsnip puree, making a smooth and slightly creamy soup.

Directions

Step 1: Cook the vegetables

Kristina Vanni for Taste Recipes

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot, and saute them until the onion is tender. Add the parsnips and cook for 2 minutes longer. Stir in the broth and seasonings. Bring the saucepan ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer the vegetables for 12 to 15 minutes or until the parsnips are tender.

Step 2: Puree the soup

Kristina Vanni for Taste Recipes

Cool the soup slightly. In a blender, process the soup in small batches until it’s smooth. Return the pureed soup to the saucepan, stir in the milk and heat it through before serving.

Editor’s Tip: Don’t fill your blender jar more than 1/3 full for any given batch. Place a kitchen towel over the lid and hold it in place with one hand while blending. Otherwise, the hot soup will often make the lid fly off, with hot soup splashing all over the kitchen (and the cook)!

Kristina Vanni for Taste Recipes

Parsnip Soup Variations

• Go vegetarian (or vegan): This soup lends itself pretty easily to a vegetarian or vegan version. For ovo-lacto vegetarians, it’s simply a matter of replacing the chicken broth with a good vegetable broth. For a vegan version, replace the butter with your cooking oil of choice and switch to a nondairy milk.
• Roast your vegetables: Roasting root vegetables lightly caramelizes them, brings out their natural sweetness and intensifies their flavors. It’s a chef’s hack that’s often used for cold-weather soups, and it works great in this recipe as well. You can either roast the veggies specifically for the soup or roast extra if you’re preparing them as a side dish and then make this soup the next day. Saute the onions as the recipe says, then add the broth, seasonings and roasted vegetables. As soon as they’re heated through, you can skip ahead to the blender.
• Change the flavoring: Curry powder is a delicious option for flavoring the soup, but by no means the only one. Garam masala is an easy substitute. Southwestern flavors of cumin, coriander and chile peppers (or any chili powder or southwestern seasoning mix) taste delicious in the soup, and you can finish it with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Adding minced fresh ginger or garlic to the sauteed onions brings a different and interesting note. Alternatively, you can let the vegetables’ own flavors come to the fore, adding just a pinch of nutmeg to make the soup taste creamier and emphasize the parsnips’ sweetness.

How to Store Parsnip Soup

Leftover parsnip soup should be cooled as soon as possible after the meal, then refrigerated in food-safe storage containers with tight-fitting lids.

How long will curried parsnip soup keep?

Like most leftovers, your leftover soup is good for three to four days in the refrigerator. For longer-term storage, pack it into freezer-safe containers with airtight lids and store it for three to six months. It will retain its quality best if you apply parchment or some other barrier directly to the surface of the soup to keep air away from it. For the best storage life in your freezer, freeze the soup initially in its container but then vacuum-seal the resulting brick of frozen soup in a heavy-duty bag.

Can I make the parsnip soup recipe ahead of time?

Yes, absolutely. Like many other soups, it will taste even better the second day as the flavors mature and continue to develop.

Parsnip Soup Tips

Kristina Vanni for Taste Recipes

How can I make the parsnip soup recipe creamier?

Adding cream is the easy answer. The soup already has a rich mouthfeel and smooth texture, but replacing the milk with cream dials things up a notch. You can use the same quantity of half-and-half or heavy cream, depending how rich a soup you want. In a vegan version of the soup, you might opt for cashew cream or the rich “cream” that rises to the surface of canned full-fat coconut milk. Also, a tiny pinch of nutmeg can make the soup taste creamier, even when you’ve used milk—this is a classic chef’s trick (it takes just a pinch and you shouldn’t be able to identify it as nutmeg).

Can I puree the soup with an immersion blender instead?

Yes, if you don’t have a regular blender or prefer your immersion blender, you can use that. Just be aware that even the best immersion blenders won’t puree quite as well as a powerful countertop blender. If you want a perfectly smooth soup, pour it through a wire strainer after using your immersion blender. The strainer will catch any lumps, and you can push the softened vegetables through the mesh with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula. It’s not an essential step, but it gives a smoother, more polished result.

I have leftover parsnips. What should I do with them?

It’s a good problem to have! I like to slice parsnips thinly with a vegetable peeler and caramelize them slowly in a heavy skillet with a little bit of butter and some warm spices until they’re crisp. They make a nice side dish or garnish when prepared that way. You can also add parsnips to your mashed potatoes or make parsnip puree as a side dish in its own right. Really, they’re at home in almost any kind of cold-weather comfort food. Check out some of our favorite parsnip recipes for further inspiration and ideas.