This Easy Parsnip and Apple Soup is a delicious combination of parsnips, bramley apples, onions, potatoes and just a touch of thyme. Not only is it delicious, but it’s packed with nutritional goodness, it counts as at least 2 of your 5 a day and only contains 268 calories!
A very delicious pairing!
I do so love the combination of parsnips and apples – it’s such a delicious pairing. And it works especially well in this Easy Parsnip and Apple Soup.
To go with the tangy flavour of the apples and the earthy sweetness of the parsnips I’ve added onions, potatoes, vegetable stock and just a touch of thyme. The result is a delicious soup that is very easy to make and takes just 30 minutes to make!
How to make Parsnip and Apple Soup
And this soup really is very simple to make!
All you need to do is fry the onions and parsnips, then add the potato, apples, vegetable stock, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes then tip the soup into a blender and blitz until completely smooth. Easy peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
What are the best apples for Parsnip and Apple Soup?
Hands down the best apples for Parsnip and Apple Soup are Bramley apples (AKA cooking apples). They are the only apples that have enough ‘oomph’ to stand up to the parsnips. If you use regular desert apples, they will get a little lost in this soup and your soup won’t taste apple-y enough.
What to serve with Parsnip and Apple Soup
This easy peasy Parsnip and Apple Soup is delicious with homemade bread – for example my Super Simple White Bread or my Super Simple Wholemeal Bread.
Alternatively it’s also great with soda bread. For example:
- Easy Irish Soda Bread with Yogurt
- Guinness and Treacle Soda Bread
- Easy Cheese Soda Bread
- Easy Fruit Soda Bread
- Easy Soda Bread Rolls
What to drink with Parsnip and Apple Soup
This is definitely a ‘white wine’ soup. Not least because red wine does not generally pair well with apples.
Happily there are lots of white wine options that pair well with this soup. Good options include:
- Chardonnay – particularly oaked styles
- Viognier
- Chenin Blanc
- White Bordeaux
- White Rioja
(This would also go brilliantly with cider, if you want an alternative to wine!)
What to do with leftover Parsnip and Apple Soup
Place any leftovers in a lidded container in the fridge, where they will keep for up to 3 days.
To reheat, tip into a saucepan, along with a small splash of water. Reheat over a medium heat until piping hot all the way through.
Alternatively, you can reheat this soup in the microwave.
Can you freeze Parsnip and Apple Soup?
Absolutely! This soup freezes beautifully. Place the cooked and cooled soup in a lidded container in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 3 months.
(I prefer to freeze this soup in individual portions so I can use it for 1 person servings in the future – lunch for me when everyone else is out, for example.)
Reheat as above.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Parsnip and Apple Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 750 g parsnips peeled and chopped into small chunks, (roughly 1cm cubes)
- 250 g baking potatoes peeled and chopped into small chunks, (roughly 1cm cubes – See Note 1)
- 250 g bramley apples peeled and chopped into small chunks, (roughly 1cm cubes – See Note 2)
- 750 ml vegetable stock - from a cube is fine (I used one Kallo Organic Vegetable Stock)
- 4 small sprigs of fresh thyme leaves only, (see Note 3)
- Salt and black pepper to taste (see Note 4)
Instructions
- Place the olive oil and diced onions in a fairly large saucepan and gently fry for 3 minutes, with the lid on, until softened but not brown. Stir occasionally.
- Turn the heat up high and add the parsnips. Fry with the lid off, stirring regularly, until the parsnips and onions are nicely browned. (Take care not to burn them!)
- Turn the heat back down and add the chopped potato and apple, and stir to combine all the vegetables. (See Note 5)
- Then add the vegetable stock, thyme, salt and pepper. Turn up the heat again to bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on, or until the vegetables are quite soft.
- Tip the soup into a blender and blitz until completely smooth. PLEASE TAKE CARE AS THE SOUP WILL BE VERY HOT! (See Note 6.)
- If necessary, return the blended soup back to the saucepan and warm back up to your desired temperature. Add more water if the soup is too thick for your liking. You may also wish to check the seasoning at this point too.
- Serve with homemade bread.
Notes
- I find the best potatoes for this recipe are the kind that are sold as ‘baking potatoes’ or ‘jacket potatoes’.
- You must use bramley apples or you won’t be able to taste the flavour of apple in this recipe.
- Only use the thyme leaves in this recipe. Pull the leaves off the stems by pinching the top of the stem between two fingers and pulling downwards along the stem. Discard the stems.
- I prefer to only add black pepper to this soup, as the salt content of the stock cube makes this soup salty enough for my tastes.
- Make sure you turn the heat down and add the extra veggies first BEFORE you add the stock. If you add the stock straight into the parsnips, the stock will bubble violently and may splash you (or make a mess of your stove!)
- If you prefer, you can use a stick blender or leave the soup un-blended.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Frau Virtin says
The sweetness of the apple with the earthy parsnip is a great combination—perfect for a healthy, cozy fall meal. My whole family loved it, even the kids! This is definitely going to be a go-to recipe for us during the cooler months. Highly recommend!
Eb Gargano says
Aw yay – I am so happy to hear you and your family liked it so much! Thank you for this lovely review 😀
Lynda Roberts says
I found this too tart but once I’d added a small amount of honey it was much better.
Eb Gargano says
Aw, I am sorry to hear you found it a little too tart. I guess we all have our preferred level of sweetness / tartness. I prefer things a little on the less sweet / more tart end of the spectrum, but adding honey sounds like a great idea if you prefer a little extra sweetness!
rosie says
I can’t eat onion. Do you think this would still work without it?
Eb Gargano says
Absolutely! It will still taste good without the onion. Onion does add a little sweetness, though, so I recommend you taste the soup at the end and, if you find it’s not quite sweet enough for your tastes, you could add a touch of honey to balance the flavours out. Enjoy!
Chris says
I substituted a fennel bulb for the onion, and as you suggested, put a drop of honey in at the end to add the sweetness the onion would have given, and it worked really well – my husband and I both enjoyed it, so thank you for the recipe. I am sure I would like your original even better, but at the moment onion is out for me!
Eb Gargano says
Yay – that’s so great to hear! Love the idea of adding fennel 😀 Thank you for this lovely review and 5* rating!