Easy Roasted Parsnip Soup

All the deliciousness of roasted parsnips – in a soup! This Easy Roasted Parsnip Soup can be made with fresh parsnips or leftover roast parsnips. Either way, this delicious soup is very simple to make and can be on your table in under 40 minutes!

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 309kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

For the roast parsnips

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 kg parsnips peeled and cut into small chunks (roughly 2cm / ¾inch cubes - See Note 1)
Salt and pepper to taste (See Note 2)

For the soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion sliced
2 cloves garlic grated or crushed
¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional – or add more if you like things hot!)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
500 ml vegetable stock (from a cube is fine, I used 1 Kallo Organic Vegetable Stock Cube)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

For the roast parsnips (See Note 3)

Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.
Place the chopped parsnips and 2 tablespoons olive oil on a large baking sheet (or 2 small ones) – it should be large enough for the parsnip pieces to spread out in 1 layer (if they are not spread out in a single layer they will steam, not roast!).
Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper (see Note 2), then turn the parsnip pieces in the oil until they are evenly coated with oil, salt and pepper.
Roast the parsnips for 10 minutes
Remove the tray from the oven and turn the parsnip pieces again, then return the parsnips to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
While the parsnips are roasting, you can get on with the rest of the recipe…

For the soup

You can prepare the base of the soup while the parsnips are roasting. (If you are using leftover roast parsnips, START HERE!)
Place the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the sliced 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 garlic, chilli flakes and spices. Fry for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally.
Add the vegetable stock and turn up the heat. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat until the parsnips are ready.
When the parsnips are ready, add them to the saucepan, bring back to the boil and then simmer for 2 minutes.
Transfer the contents of your saucepan to a blender and blitz until completely smooth. PLEASE TAKE CARE AS THE SOUP WILL BE VERY HOT! (See Note 4.)
Return the soup to the pan and add more boiling water if necessary to reach your desired consistency. You can also reheat the soup to your preferred temperature, if it has cooled down. I also recommend checking the seasoning and adding more salt and/or pepper at this point, if necessary.

Notes

If using leftover roast parsnips, you will need approximately 500g / 1lb roasted parsnips. (This is to account for the fact that you will have already peeled the parsnips and also because parsnips lose a lot of water while roasting.)
Personally I don’t add any salt at this point as the stock cube already contains enough salt for my tastes. I also recommend you err on the side of caution here – you can check and adjust the seasoning to your tastes at the end, just before serving.
If using leftover roast parsnips, skip straight to the ‘For the soup’ section and continue with the recipe as written.
If you prefer, you can use a hand blender, however I think this soup works best when blended super smooth, which is harder to achieve with a hand blender.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition