Creamy Spiced Parsnip Soup Recipe

Our trick for turning sweet, earthy parsnips into a delicious, creamy soup: adding aromatics that complement and contrast, like jalapeño, ginger, and coriander.

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Editorial Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated November 23, 2023
Overhead view of a white bowl of creamy spiced parsnip soup, garnished with whipped cream and cayenne.

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

Why It Works

  • A base of aromatic vegetables like onion, leek, garlic, and celery provides the foundation for the parsnips' natural sweetness.
  • Complementary and contrasting aromatics, like citrusy coriander seeds, spicy jalapeño, and fresh-yet-warm ginger, add just enough dimension to make things interesting.

Parsnips are possibly my favorite root vegetable. Their sweet, earthy flavor is just irresistible. But like most things—even great, delicious things—they can be a little one-dimensional on their own. That's especially true in a soup, where boiling and simmering don't necessarily offer the same level of flavor transformation as, say, roasting. (Of course, you can roast your main soup ingredient first, but then you lose some of its pure, clean flavor.)

The key to overcoming that is to layer complementary and contrasting flavors. Like most creamy vegetable soups, I start with a basic method of sautéing aromatics in butter or oil. For this soup, I used a combination of onion, leek, celery, and garlic. If I had left it at that, I'd have ended up with a very simple, but possibly boring soup.

Instead, I added a few other aromatic ingredients for interest: coriander seed, a spice that I can not get enough of, is fragrant in a kind of woodsy, citrusy way; jalapeño, meanwhile, adds just enough heat to warm the mouth, and fresh ginger backs that heat up with its own particular combination of bright and warming spice.

A spoon of creamy spiced parsnip soup is held up for the camera.

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

Then I add the parsnips and just enough chicken stock to cover (though you can make this vegetarian with vegetable stock or even water), and let it simmer until everything is tender. The blender turns the soup creamy, despite its lack of dairy, but I take the extra step of pressing it through a fine mesh strainer with the help of a ladle to get an even silkier texture. (If I owned a high-power blender, which I sadly don't, I could get an even better texture without straining it at all.)

A serving of creaky spiced parsnip soup, ready to be savored.

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

It comes out a little too thick, so the last step is to thin the soup to the desired consistency with water or more stock, if you have it.

I garnished the soup with whipped cream that I'd lightly seasoned with allspice and a dash of cayenne for color, but if you'd rather not introduce dairy, you could garnish with so many other things, like glazed chestnuts, sautéed mushrooms, or a lemony gremolata.

January 2015

Recipe Details

Creamy Spiced Parsnip Soup Recipe

Cook 45 mins
Active 20 mins
Total 45 mins
Serves 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds

  • 3 medium yellow onions, diced (about 3 cups)

  • 2 stalks celery, diced (about 2/3 cup)

  • 1 leek, white and light green parts only, diced (about 1/2 cup)

  • 6 medium cloves garlic, smashed

  • 1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed and roughly chopped

  • 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled sliced

  • 3 pounds parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock

  • Water, as needed

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Fresh lemon juice, to taste

  • Whipped cream lightly flavored with ground allspice, for garnish

  • Cayenne pepper, for garnish

Directions

  1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add coriander seeds and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion, celery, leek, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.

  2. Add parsnips and stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until parsnips are tender, about 20 minutes. Using a blender or immersion blender, purée soup until smooth (it will be thick at this point). Season with salt and pepper. For an extra-silky texture, press soup into a bowl through a fine-mesh strainer. Thin soup to desired consistency with water or additional stock and season once more with salt and pepper. Add lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time to taste.

  3. Wipe out Dutch oven and return soup to Dutch oven. Reheat over medium heat, stirring, until hot. Serve, spooning dollops of spiced whipped cream and a sprinkle of cayenne on each bowl.

Special Equipment

Blender or immersion blender, fine-mesh strainer (optional)

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
258 Calories
10g Fat
40g Carbs
6g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 258
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 13%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 8mg 3%
Sodium 548mg 24%
Total Carbohydrate 40g 14%
Dietary Fiber 8g 28%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 31mg 154%
Calcium 111mg 9%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 929mg 20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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