This is not your typical cream of asparagus soup. It's rich, flavorful, and hearty, packed with tender asparagus, and topped with crispy bacon and buttery croutons.
Cream of Asparagus Soup with Bacon and Croutons
The preparation for this Cream of Asparagus Soup is simple and straight forward. But, the bright flavors and contrast of textures is anything but ordinary.
Start by cooking the bottom half of asparagus stalks in a garlic, onion, and white wine broth until soft. Blend the base into a smooth, creamy soup before adding tender asparagus tips, a bright splash of fresh lemon juice, and a decadent enrichment of cream and egg yolks.
Stir in a handful of scallions and top steaming bowls of soup with crispy bacon and buttery croutons.
Traditionally, you might serve cream of asparagus soup as a starter. And, you can certainly still do that with this recipe... but, fair warning. This soup is so good you might loose interest in the main course.
Cream of Asparagus Soup is a Delicious Way to Use Asparagus Ends
Asparagus is one of my absolute favorite vegetables, especially in the Spring when it's at its peak. In the Spring and early Summer months, I can often find bunches of thin asparagus stalks that are so tender, you can cook and eat the entire stalk.
But, much of the time, when shopping for asparagus, I am greeted with a produce shelf full of thick asparagus stalks with tough, almost woody ends.
This situation is also fine with me. Snapping each spear in half, wherever it naturally wants to break, and roasting or sautéing the tender asparagus tips nearly always yields a plateful of crisp-tender spears that are so good I cannot imagine ever getting tired of them.
But, what do you do with those tough, woody, ends? Make cream of asparagus soup, that's what.
How Much Asparagus Do You Need to Make This Soup?
So here's the deal: This recipe calls for 3 pounds of asparagus. Snap the spears in half, boil and puree the ends, saving the tender tips to add at the end. This is what you do when you're making this soup from 3 pounds of freshly purchased asparagus.
However, the next time you're snapping asparagus spears in half because the ends are tough and inedible, don't through those ends away! Put them in a zip-top bag and store them in the freezer so that you can use them later to make soup.
If using reserved asparagus ends to make your soup, simply purchase 1 pound of fresh asparagus so that you have a handful of tender tips to toss in at the end.
If you're making this soup a part of Weekly Spring Meal Plan #4, this is exactly the situation you've created for yourself.
You should have approximately 2 pounds of asparagus stems in your refrigerator left over from the Roast Chicken and Sautéed Asparagus you prepared earlier in the week. Since the recipe calls for 3 pounds total, snap one additional pound of asparagus in half, following the instructions in the recipe to cook and puree the stalks then add the tips at the end of cooking.
Homemade Croutons
Homemade croutons are such a great way to use up leftover bread, and SO much better than any purchased variety.
They are simply a matter of chopping bread into cubes, tossing with olive oil and spices, and baking. So, if you have some leftover bread and a few extra minutes (make them while the soup simmers), I urge you to go ahead and make a batch to go with this soup. You'll be happy you did.
Used in this recipe:
- Vitamix Blender
- Dutch Oven
- Stainless Steel Strainer: You can choose to not strain this soup at all, however there will be small fibrous pieces in the soup without straining. The holes in typical colanders are too large to filter out the small fibers, and the holes in fine mesh strainers tend to be too small. My preference is for this Stainless Steel Strainer which has the perfect size holes for catching most of the fibers while letting the soup strain through.
More popular soup recipes:
- Black Bean Tomato Soup {Vegetarian}
- Creamy Chicken Chili with Chorizo and Roasted Corn
- Potato Cheese Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
- Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Cream of Asparagus Soup
This is not your typical cream of asparagus soup. It's rich, flavorful, and hearty, packed with tender asparagus, and topped with crispy bacon and buttery croutons.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs fresh asparagus (*see note)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb thick cut bacon
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 6 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
- 2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (more to taste)
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2-4 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- 1 bunch green onions (scallions), white and light green parts sliced thin
- Croutons, for serving, preferably homemade
Instructions
- Prep the asparagus by snapping each stalk in half wherever it breaks naturally. Separate the tops of the stalks from the bottom. Cut the asparagus tips into pieces that are about 1-inch long and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large, heavy bottom saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces and add to the hot pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Pour all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan and return to the heat, turning the burner to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and crushed red pepper, and cook 1 minute longer.
- Pour in the wine, turn the heat to high, and let boil until reduced to about 2 tablespoons of liquid. Add the broth or water, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, and the bottom half of the asparagus stalks. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the stalks are very tender.
- Working in batches, and being cautious of the hot steam, ladle 2-3 cups of asparagus stalks and broth into a blender. Purée until smooth, then pour through a strainer (*see note) into a large bowl. Continue until all of the soup has been pureed.
- Add the cream and egg yolks to a small bowl, or large measuring cup and whisk to combine. Very slowly, pour about 1 cup of the still warm puréed soup into the cream and eggs. Whisk constantly while you pour in the hot soup so that the egg yolks don't scramble. Set aside for a moment.
- Return the rest of the strained soup to the saucepan. Set over medium heat and bring back to a gentle simmer. Add the tops of the asparagus stalks and cook just until fork tender - about 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the cream and egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly as you pour to prevent the yolks from scrambling.
- Stir in 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice as you like. Stir in the sliced green onions.
- Serve topped with the crispy bacon and croutons.
Notes
- This recipe can be made with 3 pounds of freshly purchased asparagus spears OR the equivalent of reserved, frozen asparagus ends and a handful of fresh asparagus tips. See the section in the above post titled, Cream of Asparagus Soup: The perfect use for the woody ends of asparagus, for more information about saving and storing the woody ends of asparagus so that you can make soup with it later.
- Straining Cream of Asparagus Soup: You can choose to not strain this soup at all, however there will be small fibrous pieces in the soup without straining. The holes in typical colanders are too large to filter out the small fibers, and the holes in fine mesh strainers tend to be too small. My preference is for this Stainless Steel Strainer which has the perfect size holes for catching most of the fibers while letting the soup strain through.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Missie Woody says
Delicioso!! Says my 7 year old son!! I want to add some potatoes next time, but the flavor is amazing! Definitely a new favorite!!
RebeccaBlackwell says
Hi Missie! YUM! I love the idea of adding potatoes! I'm totally going to do that the next time I make this! I am so happy your son thinks this is "delicioso". 🙂 And, so happy to hear that a 7 year old at a bowl of green soup. You must be raising him right. 🙂