How to Make Vegan Parsnip Soup
How to make vegan Parsnip soup – creamy, spicy and so comforting, a real classic, and so easy to make!
Today’s soup was a complete transgression from the soothing broths that we love. Today’s soup was big, bold and punchy, a real Wintery soup (although it was actually quite mild).
It was also fun to make and was in the bowls and our mouths with pleasing rapidity and I was using up some rubbery parsnips that were lurking in the fridge.
Ahh, the parsnip! (Or Pastinaca Sativa if you will), It looks sort of like an anemic carrot but tastes quite, quite different. Earthier, sweeter and more herbaceous. You may have had them roasted for Sunday lunch, maybe with charred spindly bits. But it’s also great in a soup, and even better as a vegetable chip.
Did you know that parsnips contain potassium and antioxidants? Or that in the Middle Ages people made sweet pies from them, using it as a sweetener. And did you know that Parsnips have a higher glycemic index than chocolate which makes them a slow burning energy food. But don’t just take my word for, Jabeen Begum over at WebMD has written a great article on why the humble parsnip could be a great addition to your diet.
Of course, you might not always want to choose parsnip over chocolate (and who would?), but it’s certainly an option in these diet-obsessed times we live in. Unless, ahem, deep fried.
How to Make Parsnip Soup
This soup is Curried Parsnip with Parsnip Crisps. It is cooked in much the same way as Potato soup, which is to say that the vegetable in question is sweated down with some onion, stock and then pureed in the blender. The main difference between Potato soup and this soup is the intense flavour of curry and lemon juice that punctuates the sweet Parsnip. It is completely delicious, very warming (the heat that penetrates through the soup is startling) and great with the Parsnip Chips – another victory against my deep fat frying fear. These crisp beauties are a revelation.
Try my other hearty vegan soups
- Vegan Ribollita, packed full of dark leafy veg, and filling white beans
- Green Chili Soup with Hominy
- Baked Potato Soup: perfect for Fall evenings
- Hot and Sour Soup, for when you’re feeling virtuous
- Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup – this soup has Fall written all over it!
Parsnip Soup with Parsnip Crisps
Ingredients
For the Soup
- 2 Parsnips - peeled, cut into dice
- 1 Potato - about 100g, peeled and diced
- 1 Onion - large, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 Clove Garlic - finely chopped
- Peel of half a small lemon - reserve the juice for later
- ½ tbsp Curry Powder
- 10 g Vegan Butter
- 4 cups Vegetable Stock
- Seasoning
For the Parsnip Crisps
- 1 Parsnip
- Vegetable Oil for Frying
Instructions
To make the Soup
- Add the butter to the pan and gently fry off the chopped onions and garlic until softened.
- Add the lemon peel and cook for a 2 minutes more.
- Stir in the curry powder and cook for a minute, until the powder is absorbed into the oniony/lemony mixture.
- Add the parsnips and potatoes to the pan and stir gently. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat.
- Pour over the stock, replace lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the parsnips are tender.
- Blend, then taste for lemon juice (which is essential as it brings out the flavour of the curry powder, no more than half a lemon should be necessary) and seasoning.
- Serve with some vegan Sour Cream stirred through and top with the fried Parsnip Chips.
To Make The Parsnip Chips:
- Peel the parsnip.
- You can now proceed two ways. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off strips of parsnip so you will have crisp, sweet ribbons or carefully cut into rings so they look like more traditional crips (potato chips). These will take longer to cook.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a saucepan until a sample parsnip chip sizzles but not frantically so, in the oil.
- They will take between 1 minute and 2 minutes to cook, depending on thickness.
- Drain on kitchen roll whereupon they will crisp up.
- I don’t think that they require any salt as I love their sweetness but this is your personal choice.
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
I have just started using parsnips, I don’t know why I have ignored this veggie so for long. Your soup recipe looks easy and I love how thick and creamy this soup is.
will look in our local grocery for some parsnip and make this soup.
This soup looks irresistible and so flavorful! I have never made parsnip soup and cannot wait to try it! Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe!
This soup looks delicious.. thanks for sharing the recipe
Just perfect as it gets colder now! I love the idea of making some parsnips chips to go with it, too:)
I loved this parsnip soup! It is very comforting, smooth, and very creamy! I’ve got my wisdom teeth removed so I was so happy I found this soup! Thank you!
I had a bumper crop of parsnips in my garden this year, and I was running out of ideas on how to use them. This soup was so good! I loved the addition of curry powder!
I love parsnips and this is a delicious soup! It was so creamy and flavorful! Perfect for a chill Fall day!
I don’t use parsnips much but after having this soup.. Parsnips deserve more love and attention! It was delicious and didn’t take long for me to make at all. I really enjoyed the addition of the parsnips crisps on top too!
Just made this soup for the first time. It’s delicious and the lemony flavour just adds depth to the soup. I’ll remember your tip about lemon bringing out the flavour of the curry powder next time I’m making a curry!
Fabulous! I’m so happy you loved the soup, it’s so good isn’t it? Lemon or tamarind paste both work to add a sharpness/depth to curries!