This luscious vegan asparagus soup is made extra rich and creamy by blending up veggies with raw cashews. And guess what: you don’t even need to soak the nuts! This soup can be on the table in 40 minutes flat.
Happy second day of spring everyone! And of course it’s snowy where I live. Back in February it was beach weather, and the first two days of spring it’s blizzarding. Not that I’m complaining! In fact, I like it. I hope the first day of summer is like this too.
Anyhow, I didn’t plan it this way, but it just so happens that I had the perfect spring snowstorm in spring recipe lined up for today!
Asparagus is the big early spring veggie that I look forward to every year, and it’s been abundant lately at my local markets. So that covers the spring aspect of the recipe. But then there’s the soup part. Soup is perfect for cold snowy weather. And this is creamy soup no less, which is so nice to indulge in when it’s cold outside.
Cashews are my favorite ingredient for making creamy dairy-free bisque-style soups like this. They’re great at replicating that rich lusciousness you get from milk or heavy cream, but also, and this is why I love them in this particular kind of recipe, they’re easy. You don’t need to soak them for this recipe! Just like in my vegan broccoli cheese soup, the cashews in this vegan cream of asparagus soup get boiled with the veggies. That softens them up so they blend up nice and creamy!
The soup starts with some garlic and onions. Then you add the asparagus and sauté for a few minutes.
Next, in with the broth, cashews, and just a little bit of potato to get the soup nice and thick. Boil everything for about 20 minutes until the veggies are soft.
Then you blend it all together.
Warm the soup back up if needed, and season it up with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.
I topped mine with a few seared asparagus spears and drizzle of coconut milk, but you can skip it or use your favorite non-dairy milk if you like.
Tips for Making the Perfect Batch of Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup
- Be patient when you blend the soup. It can take a few minutes if you don’t have a high-powered device (I don’t!), but it will eventually get nice and smooth.
- To trim the ends of your asparagus, grab a spear at the middle with one hand, and grab the woody end with your other hand. Bend until it snaps! It will break at just the right place.
- I used 4 cups of broth to make the soup in the photos, so it was nice and thick. If you like yours thinner, add up to an additional 2 cups of broth.
- Leftovers will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup
This luscious vegan asparagus soup is made extra rich and creamy by blending up veggies with raw cashews. And guess what: you don't even need to soak the nuts! This soup can be on the table in 40 minutes flat.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch pieces (cut all but about 8 spears)
- 1 cup diced russet potato (about 1/2 pound or 1/2 of a medium potato)
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 4-6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Coconut milk or another non-dairy milk, for garnish (optional)
- Fresh chives, for serving
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, until it becomes soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and all but 8 spears of asparagus. Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more, until the asparagus begins to soften.
Stir in 4 cups of broth, potato, and cashews.
Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potato and asparagus are very soft.
Transfer the mixture to a food processor bowl in batches and blend until smooth.
Return the mixture to the pot. Thin with up to 2 cups of additional broth if desired. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat if needed.
Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with the remaining teaspoon of oil and place it over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the reserved asparagus spears and cook just until they become bright green and tender-crisp.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle with non-dairy milk, sprinkle with chives, and arrange a few asparagus spears on top of each bowl. Serve.
This was delish! I made it a bit creamier with sunflower seed cream. Do u think it would freeze ok? How.long does it last in the fridge?
Wow, this was amazing and super easy! I only had 1.5 lb of asparagus so I added a package of frozen peas to the soup a minute or two before it was done. It was the hit of our luncheon!
Great idea to add peas! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Absolutely loved this recipe, my new favorite soup!
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that!
Made this yesterday and it turned out so good! So easy. So fast. Healthy ingredients. Filling. Recipe is a keeper!
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed it!
I don’t have raw cashews but I do have almond milk. Can I use that instead?
I think it would work if you increase the amount of potato a bit!
I just made this and subbed chickpeas for the cashews- still turned out incredibly flavorful! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Great idea! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was so delicious and was quick to make. So glad I found your website and will be trying many of your recipes! Thank you.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much!
Can I leave out the broth… Only because I don’t have anything available at the moment..?
The broth adds quite a bit of flavor, but you could probably get away with subbing water. You’ll probably need to increase the amount of salt as well. :)
This recipe is so delicious and EASY! My Mom’s garden is bursting with asparagus (thanks to a very wet Midwest spring) so I actually put in double the amount of asparagus and it still turned out wonderful! I will definitely be making this again!
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it! And I’m jealous of all your asparagus!
Absolutely love this soup -Thank you!
Very welcome! I’m so glad you like it!
Really good soup. My 9 year old son despises asparagus and he told me that this soup is “OK”. That’s a big deal for him to actually tolerate asparagus.
Instead of saving 8 spears, next time I would just cut off all the tips and saute those–the tips are so pretty in the soup.
Lol. Coming from a kid, I’ll take it! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Erika!
Family all Loved it. Great hit!! Will not disappoint
I’m so glad it was a hit!! Thanks Karen!
I made this tonight, and it was amazing! I doubled the recipe and used a large sweet potato instead of russet potatoes. I added a half-can of coconut milk, additional fresh minced garlic, and two tablespoons of ginger paste. I garnished it with the fried asparagus tips and sunflower seeds… ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! My four-year-young vegan granddaughter loved it, as did my carnivorous twenty-one-year old son! Thank you. ❤
That sounds delicious, and I love the idea of using sweet potato! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
SO GOOD! I added three cups of frozen peas since I only had about a cup of asparagus and subbed the cashews for tahini. Served it with black rice. One of the best meals I’ve made this year. Super rich and healthy and I definitely want to make more of in the future. Thanks so much for this :)
Sounds like a delicious meal! Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent! I used pecans in place of cashews because that’s what I had on hand.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Dawn!!
Wasn’t at all impressed with this soup. The soup ended up being much too watery after adding 4 cups of broth. Furthermore I would suggest straining the soup before adding salt/pepper/lemon, some strings of the asparagus were still in there. I put mine in a blender because I didn’t have a food processor, I wonder if that’s why it wasn’t as creamy as was promised. Overall a bland flavor and won’t be using this recipe again. But for those of you that like this recipe, I would recommend using full fat oat milk like Oatly (plant based, non dairy) for the final drizzle, adds a different dimension.
I’m sorry you didn’t like it! Are you sure you measured everything properly? Mine always comes out thick and creamy. The blender could’ve been the cause of the strings, and if it didn’t blend fully that might be why it was watery.
Great recipe! I added porcini mushrooms and their soaking broth at the end, and instead of garnishing with asparagus I cut off 12-16 of the asparagus heads and cut them in half and I added them back into the finished soup and cooked for 10 minutes to add texture. The real test will be my boyfriend, but I love it!
I’m glad you like it! I love porcini mushrooms, and that sounds like a delicious variation!