This quick and easy Spicy Parsnip Soup recipe combines the wonderful flavours of parsnips, ginger, cumin, turmeric and garam masala, with just a touch of chilli… The result is a delicious and nutritious soup that can be on the table in under 30 minutes!
How to make parsnip soup even better? Add spice!
Parsnips make such a delicious soup, so it’s not surprising that my Easy Peasy Parsnip Soup is one of my most popular recipes.
But I can go one better… because parsnips pair so wonderfully with spice, I’ve created this Spicy Parsnip Soup. This delicious soup recipe combines the wonderful flavours of parsnips, ginger, cumin, turmeric and garam masala, with just a touch of chilli.
The result is a veritable hug in a bowl and the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold winter’s evening… or to have for lunch after you’ve been for a chilly country walk.
If you like parsnips and spice, you are going to LOVE this soup!
How to make Spicy Parsnip Soup
This Spicy Parsnip Soup is so easy to make! All you need to do is gently fry the diced onions, then add the spices and fry for 1 minute more. Next, add the chopped parsnips, vegetable stock, salt and black pepper, and simmer for 15 minutes until the parsnip pieces are quite soft. Finally tip the soup into a blender and blitz until completely smooth (or use a stick blender). Easy peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
Make it your own
This recipe is very easy to adapt! Here are some ideas…
- Add in a stick or two of diced celery along with the onions
- Add in a couple of chopped carrots along with the parsnips
- Swap half the parsnip for celeriac
- Use 3 teaspoons of mild curry powder (or to taste) instead of the spices and chilli
- Use ½ a teaspoon ground ginger instead of the fresh ginger
- Add in 100g (3½oz) dried red lentils for a more filling soup (simmer for 5-10 minutes longer)
- Add a swirl of double cream or coconut milk right at the end for a creamier soup
Packed with nutritional goodness…
This Spicy Parsnip Soup is packed full of nutritional goodness. Parsnips are an excellent source of many important nutrients: packing a hearty dose of fibre, vitamins, and minerals into every serving. Chillis too are rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants. And many spices, such as turmeric and ginger have anti-inflammatory properties.
Better still, this delicious soup counts as 2 or your 5 a day and only contains 255 calories!
What to serve with Spicy Parsnip Soup
Personally, I think the best accompaniment to soup is crusty bread, especially soda bread, which can be made just before and popped in the oven while you make the soup.
You could also serve the soup and bread with a selection of cheeses for a more substantial meal.
This soup would also make an excellent starter for a dinner party, or even on Christmas Day!
What to drink with Spicy Parsnip Soup
This soup goes very well with aromatic white wines, such as Riesling, Viognier or Pinot Grigio. It also works well with Chardonnay. I would steer clear of red wines, but a fruity rosé would be OK.
What to do with leftover Parsnip Soup?
Parsnip soup keeps very well in the fridge and is very easy to reheat – making it a great ‘make ahead’ option.
Simply place the cooked and cooled soup in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep for up to 3 days.
To reheat, tip into a saucepan with a splash of cold water, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes or until the soup is piping hot all the way through.
You can also reheat this soup in the microwave, if you prefer.
Can you freeze Parsnip Soup?
Parsnip soup can absolutely be frozen! In fact, it’s a really great option for filling the freezer. (Top tip – make double and freeze half!)
Place the cooked and cooled soup in an airtight container in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Spicy Parsnip Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions peeled and diced
- 1 cm ginger grated (or 1 teaspoon pre-chopped ginger – see Note 1)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes or to taste
- 1 kg parsnip peeled and cut into small chunks (roughly 1cm cubes)
- 750 ml vegetable stock (from a cube is fine – I used 1 x Kallo organic vegetable stock cube)
- Salt and pepper to taste (See Note 2)
Instructions
- Place the olive oil and diced onions in a fairly large saucepan and gently fry the onions for 4 minutes, with the lid on, until softened but not brown. Stir occasionally.
- Add the ginger, garlic, garam masala, cumin, turmeric and chilli flakes and fry for 1 more minute on low, stirring frequently. Add a small splash of water if it gets too dry.
- Add the chopped parsnips, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and turn up the heat. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on, or until the parsnip pieces 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 3.)
- If necessary, return the blended soup back to the saucepan and warm back up to your desired temperature. You may also wish to check the seasoning at this point too. If the soup is a little thick for your tastes, add a little extra water at this point to achieve your desired consistency.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with homemade bread.
Notes
- To make this soup even easier, you can use ready chopped frozen ginger – which is easy to find in most supermarkets.
- 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.
- If you prefer, you can use a stick blender or potato masher - or leave the soup un-blended.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Viv says
Hi can you make the parsnip soup in a slow cooker
Eb Gargano says
I’ve never tried this in a slow cooker but I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work. You will need to fry up the onions and spices first, though, and then after that it’s only 15 minutes simmering time, so I would question whether it’s worth doing it in a slow cooker for the sake of 15 minutes. Personally, if I wanted to get ahead, I would make this whole soup in the standard way, then put it in the fridge and reheat it when I wanted to eat it. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Jen Parkin says
Really delicious soup. And perfect at the moment when supermarkets are full of parsnips on offer. I added double cream left over from Christmas to make it extra special. Thanks Eb
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay – I am so happy to hear this! Thank you for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating! 😀
Mrs gillmore says
750ml of fluid to 1kg parsnips made a thick puree that needed about 1 litre of water to call it soup????
Did I do something wrong?
Eb Gargano says
Ach – soup thickness is such a personal preference thing – some prefer thicker soups, while others prefer thinner soups. Personally I prefer thicker soups, as it means you get more of the taste of the vegetables, which I like – but I totally appreciate your tastes may be different to mine.
I always err on the side of ‘thicker’ in my recipes, as thinning a soup down is much easier than making it thicker. But I always put a note in my soup recipes to say ‘If the soup is a little thick for your tastes, add a little extra water at this point to achieve your desired consistency.’
That said, I am surprised that you needed an extra litre of water. I am wondering if perhaps you were simmering on a slightly higher heat, or you did not put a lid on the pan, or you used a larger saucepan than me – all of those things would mean more evaporation, which could explain why you ended up with such a thick puree.
Hope that helps… and at least it’s an easy fix for next time you make this soup! Eb 🙂