Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup

This luscious vegan asparagus soup is thick, creamy and absolutely delicious! You’d never guess it was dairy-free. It’s easy to make and can be on the table in 40 minutes flat.

Asparagus is the big early spring veggie that I look forward to every year, and it’s been abundant lately at my local markets. But it doesn’t always feel like spring this time of year. That’s why this creamy vegan asparagus soup is pretty much my ultimate early spring recipe.

Classic cream of asparagus soup is a pretty simple dish made from just a handful of ingredients, asparagus and heavy cream being the two stars of the recipe. With that in mind I set out to veganize the dish using my favorite ingredient for replicating the richness of heavy cream: cashews.

Blended cashews are my favorite ingredient for making creamy dairy-free bisque-style soups like this one. They’re great at replicating that rich lusciousness you get from milk or heavy cream.

And, good news, we’re using a hack that allows us to skip the usual step of soaking cashews before blending. Read on to learn how it’s done!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Fresh asparagus.
• Olive oil. Just about any high-heat oil can be substituted here. Canola oil, corn oil, coconut oil and avocado oil will all work.
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Potato. The recipe calls for a russet, which is the best option for this soup, but other varieties like red potatoes or Yukon gold will work if that’s what you have on hand.
• Raw cashews. It’s important that your cashews are raw. Roasted cashews won’t give your soup the right flavor or consistency.
• Vegetable broth.
• Lemon juice.
• Salt and pepper.
• Toppings. These are all optional, but feel free to garnish your vegan asparagus soup with some extra asparagus tips, coconut cream or cashew cream, fresh parsley, dill or chives.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

Prep everything before you begin cooking. Dice the onion, peel and dice the potato, mince the garlic, and trim and chop the asparagus.

Tip: Here’s the best way to trim the woody ends from your asparagus: grab a spear, grasp it in the middle with one hand, and at the base with your other hand. Bend until the base breaks off. It will break in just the right place!

Heat the oil in a large pot and add diced onion. Sweat the onion for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until it becomes soft and translucent.

Add the asparagus pieces and cook them with onion until they turn bright green and tender-crisp. Add the garlic and continue cooking everything for about 1 minute.

Tip: Optionally, set aside a few asparagus tips to garnish each bowl of soup. You can use them raw, or remove them from the pot after cooking them with the onion for a few minutes but before adding the broth.

Add the broth, raw cashews, and diced potato to the pot. Raise the heat and bring the broth to a boil.

Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, until the asparagus is soft and the potato pieces are fork tender.

Tip: Boiling the cashews is what allows us to skip the step of soaking them! I borrowed this trick from my vegan broccoli cheddar soup recipe, but it works as a shortcut in many recipes where you’d normally need to let your cashews soak for several hours to soften them up for blending.

Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and blend until its smooth and creamy. You may need to work in batches, and it may take a few minutes to fully blend the soup if you aren’t using a high-powered blending device like a Vitamix.

Tip: I don’t recommend using an immersion blender for this particular recipe, as it would be very challenging to get all of the cashews smoothly blended.

Warm the soup back up on the stove if needed, and season it up with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. You can also thin it with up to 2 cups of extra broth if you’d prefer a thinner soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top it as you like.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover vegan cream of asparagus soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing this soup.

More Creamy Vegetable Soups

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Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup

This luscious vegan asparagus soup is thick, creamy and absolutely delicious! You’d never guess it was dairy-free. It’s easy to make and can be on the table in 40 minutes flat.

Ingredients

• 2
  pounds
  fresh asparagus spears
• 1
  tablespoon
  olive oil,
  divided
• 1
  medium onion,
  diced
• 3
  garlic cloves,
  minced
• 4
  cups
  vegetable broth,
  plus up to 2 additional cups
• 1
  cup
  peeled and diced russet potato
  (about 8 ounces or half of a medium potato)
• ½
  cup
  raw cashews
• 1 ½
  tablespoons
  lemon juice
• Salt and pepper,
  to taste

Optional Toppings

• Asparagus tips
• Coconut cream or cashew cream
• Fresh dill, chives and/or parsley

Instructions

1. Trim the ends from the asparagus spears (Note 1), then cut the spears into 1 to 2 inch pieces.

2. Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 4 minutes, until it becomes soft and translucent, stirring frequently.

3. Add the asparagus and cook it with the onion for about 3 minutes, until it turns bright green. (Note 2)

4. Add the garlic and cook it with the asparagus and onion for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.

5. Stir in 4 cups of broth, along with the potato and cashews.

6. 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.

7. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor bowl in batches and the soup blend until smooth. Always be very careful when blending hot liquids.

8. 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.

9. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with toppings of choice and serve.

Recipe Notes

1. To trim, grasp a spear by the middle in one hand, and by the base in another hand. Bend the asparagus until it breaks. This will remove just the tough portion at the base.
2. Optionally, reserve a few tips to garnish each bowl of soup. You can set them aside and use them raw, or cook them according to step 3 and then remove them from the pot before you proceed with the recipe.
3. This recipe makes about 6 cups of soup, assuming you only use 4 cups of broth.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup

Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups)

Calories 229
Calories from Fat 106

% Daily Value*

Fat 11.8g18%

Saturated Fat 2.2g11%

Sodium 601mg25%

Potassium 690mg20%

Carbohydrates 21.1g7%

Fiber 6.3g25%

Sugar 10.5g12%

Protein 8.5g17%

Calcium 75mg8%

Iron 6mg33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.