Carrot-Parsnip Soup With Parsnip Chips Recipe (2024)

Recipe from "Cooking Light Way to Cook Vegetarian"

Adapted by Tara Parker-Pope

Carrot-Parsnip Soup With Parsnip Chips Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Rating
5(1,103)
Notes
Read community notes

Winter root vegetables lend their complementary, slightly sweet flavors to this hearty soup that came to The Times from Cooking Light magazine. Parsnip chips – thinly-sliced parsnips fried for five minutes in olive oil – sprinkled over the top add a delightful crunch. Stir in more water or broth if you prefer a thinner consistency. —Tara Parker-Pope

Featured in: Cooking Light’s No-Meat Thanksgiving Meal

Learn: How to Make Soup

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

  • 2tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • cups chopped yellow onion
  • 3cups coarsely chopped parsnip (about 1 pound)
  • 3cups water
  • cups coarsely chopped carrot (about 1 pound)
  • 2(14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth
  • ¼teaspoon salt
  • ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½cup parsnip, cut into ⅛ inch slices
  • 1tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

171 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 566 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Carrot-Parsnip Soup With Parsnip Chips Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add chopped parsnip, water, carrot and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes

  2. Step

    2

    Place half of carrot mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed carrot mixture in a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining carrot mixture. Stir in salt and pepper.

  3. Step

    3

    Heat remaining 5 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add parsnip slices; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle parsnip chips and chives over soup.

Ratings

5

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1,103

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

C.

This is a warming soup, lovely in its simplicity. Not sure why the recipe calls for simmering for 50 minutes; even with "roughly" chopped carrots and parsnip, 20 minutes is more than enough for the vegetables to get super tender. Add spices and herbs for more complexity of flavor.

Jody

I added a fennel bulb and 1 apple, which gave a nice, rounded flavor. I used stock from a bone-in pork shoulder instead of vegetable broth, added a little yogurt at the end as well.

ChefKevin

Larger parsnips sometimes have bitter and slightly woody centers. I always take a taste of the center and if it's too bitter or woody, I remove it.

Shelly

Very simple and 'clean' soup. To save time, I simply put the onion, carrot, and parsnip through the slicer on my food processor. The soup is completely blended smooth at the end anyway so why waste time dicing? I usually skip the chips, though they do add a nice texture.

Elizabeth

While so many soup recipes call for the laborious (and often, very messy) removing of a portion of the soup to the blender and the addition of the extra bowl for the puree-in-progress, it's so much easier (and these days, affordable) to just get an immersion blender stick. You can puree the soup to your liking in the actual soup pot with a lot less labor and washing up afterwards.

AnnieLes

When I make soups that end up puréed, I cut back on the water (making sure there’s still enough to cover). After the veggies are cooked I add enough ice cubes to make up for the water I held back. This cools the soup quickly and allows me to safely purée much sooner.

jennifer

I added about an inch of fresh ginger finely minced with the onions. I also only puréed half the soup, leaving chunks of carrots and parsnips which add some nice flavor as you eat the soup.

Claire Duncan

Vegetarian food doesn’t have to be boring. Add ginger and garlic to onions right at the beginning, keeps it from being too sweet. Also go head and salt then as well. I didn’t have chives so I added thyme, whole, then removed before blending. Good Winter/Fall soup.

Casey Jones

A very nice winter/early spring soup. The chips add some nice texture.

Cloud

Based on a comment by Jody, I added a chopped fennel bulb and apple along with the carrots and parsnip. Then had the inspiration of subbing a bottle of dry apple cider plus water for the vegetable broth. This produced a soup with an excellent slightly tangy flavor. It's quite good cold as well as served hot so would be a good summer soup. I'd cooked it before according to the recipe and prefer the additional flavor notes added this way.

Cherryspy

If we're sharing our alterations then, I recommend fulfilling this soup's quantity requirements with what you have on hand. I used three small salsify, one large parsnip, one pound of carrots, one leek, half of a yellow onion, one small fennel bulb, one clove garlic, and one quarter of an apple (it was sitting on my counter needing a purpose). Probably tastes only slightly like Tara intended but, it is delicious!

Micky

I made this soup last week...added dried thyme, a bit of honey and a baked yukon gold potato to make it more creamy without cream. I'm about to make it now. A chef suggested I use silken tofu instead of the potato, which I"ll do and also add apple as Jody suggested. So many ways this soup can be varied!

Sara

I added rosemary and some smoky ground pepper to make it more flavorful.

MSB

This is a great recipe. I added a small sweet potato because it was in the farm box. In addition to onion, I added garlic, thyme and a pinch of powdered harrisa. To save some steps, once the veggies were soft and cooked, I used an immersion blender. It's not a smooth soup now, but became a delicious rough looking peasant soup. Made parsnip chips in air fryer.

healthy easy recipe

So easy to make! I added 2 tbs of garlic and 1 of ginger. Came out incredible.

Olga

Wonderful soup! I used chicken stock and spiced it up with ginger, a lot of roasted garlic, two shakes of Siracha and some cayenne. Will make again!

Rina

Following recommendations here: dded 4 garlic cloves and approx 0.5inch of ginger.Skipped the roaster parsnip garnish.Was excellent

ML

My parsnips burned pretty fast, so think I need to turn the heat down and monitor more closely. 5 minutes was too long. I made the soup in the IP on high pressure for 7 minutes. I chop the vegetables into big 1-2 inch pieces. Added some butter and salt at the end. It was so sweet and flavorful. We ate it with naan.

Katie

amazingly delicious

Teens

Delicious! Ran out of parsnips, so no crisps on top bit extra chives and a bit of cottage cheese worked well.

LA

we used all homemade veggie stock instead of store bought stock and water and found the soup had a nice simple flavor. it was a bit too sweet for us and the parsnips we used were a bit strong in the bitter department and in the mouth tingle department (you know that thing strong parsnips sometimes do?). i plan to cut the sweetness with some lemon juice or yogurt while i eat leftovers this week.

K

It seemed bland to me. I might try ginger and garlic, as other folk suggested. didn't have time to make the parsnip chips, so I put pita chips in for crunch and salt.

RB

Meh. Pretty bland even with all farm fresh veggies and added ginger based on other notes.

Fabian

I followed the recipe exactly and the soup tasted very plain.I added mustard seeds to try to get some flavor but next time I would start with adding ginger and maybe some heavy cream at the end

Ricard

too soapy flavor

Mo

Underwhelming. I had high hopes given the 5 star rating. I added a some ginger and garlic with the onions as some others had suggested. It was fine. But nothing special. Kind of bland. I feel like it needs something, but I'm not sure what.

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Carrot-Parsnip Soup With Parsnip Chips Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my carrot soup bland? ›

If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl. Start with the basics. Ensure you've added enough salt and black pepper.

Is it better to steam or boil parsnips? ›

Steaming parsnips really lets their flavour sing – just make sure you cut out the inner core from older, woodier roots before cooking them.

Do you need to peel parsnips? ›

How to prepare parsnips. Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling – just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

How do you make parsnip soup less bitter? ›

I recommend peeling parsnips before adding them to recipes like this parsnip soup. If you don't peel them, you'll likely be adding a bitter taste to the soup. Why is my parsnip soup bitter? If you leave the peels on the parsnip, it can cause your soup to taste bitter.

How does Gordon Ramsay make carrot soup? ›

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions, carrots and garlic, sauté for 4 mins, until they are beginning to soften but not colour. Stir in the ground coriander and plenty of seasoning and cook for 1 min. Add the stock and bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 mins or until the carrots are really tender.

Should I saute carrots before adding to soup? ›

While certain vegetables can work just fine added directly to simmering soups and stews (say, carrots and celery), other vegetables (onions, garlic, and the like) will almost always need at least a brief sweat in a fat-based liquid before adding the remaining ingredients.

What can I add to my vegetable soup to give it more flavor? ›

Dried herbs and seasonings: homemade seasoned salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and dried bay leaves lend flavor to the soup. Stock: I much prefer chicken stock over vegetable stock in terms of flavor, though if you want to keep this soup vegetarian, feel free to use vegetable broth or stock instead.

Why add celery to soup? ›

Carrots and celery do the same thing, hence why we use these three as the base for most soups - called a mirepoix in French. Sautéing these vegetables before using them In soup helps to add a subtle sweet element to the soup to balance the savoury and salty elements.

Can dogs eat parsnips? ›

Yes, parsnips are good for dogs.

Parsnips are full of health benefits for dogs, when consumed in moderate amounts. These root veggies are rich in essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. They contain vitamins C and K, which support a healthy immune system and aid in essential blood clotting.

Can parsnips be eaten raw like carrots? ›

Yes, you can eat parsnips raw. In fact, they make a delightful alternative to raw carrot sticks for dunking into homemade houmous. Raw grated parsnip is also a tasty addition to salads. Just make sure you wash your parsnips well before chopping them and slice off any bits of skin that might look bruised or blackened.

Are parsnips good for diabetics? ›

Several studies show that there's a direct link between the consumption of fibre rich foods, such as parsnips, and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. One cup of parsnips has almost 7 grams of fibre, particularly soluble fibre, which is responsible for lowering cholesterol levels and regulating blood sugar.

How to cut a parsnip for soup? ›

To cut up parsnips, start by peeling away the tough skin and discarding the top and bottom ends. Then feel free to slice them into matchsticks with julienne cuts, cut them into disks on the bias, or core them and divide the more tender parts into small chunks. Bon appétit!

Are parsnips healthier than potatoes? ›

Popular around the world, parsnips are undeservedly overlooked in the mainstream American diet. That's simply not fair, because parsnips are loaded with vitamins, packed with subtle flavors, and are a healthy alternative to potatoes for those limiting their carbohydrate macros.

Can you freeze parsnips? ›

To freeze: Cooked or uncooked parsnips can be frozen. You can blanch in boiling water for a few minutes and cool in ice water or roast in the oven before freezing. To defrost: When you take food or drink out of the freezer, it's important to defrost it safely. Don't defrost at room temperature.

Do you peel parsnips Jamie Oliver? ›

“The acidity of the vinegar cuts through the sweetness of the parsnips beautifully here, and the combo of bay and honey adds a real festive feel. For the best results, don't peel them. ”

How do you thicken parsnip soup? ›

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

How do you reduce the sweetness in parsnip soup? ›

Once this does happen, you can tone down the sweetness by adding spices like cumin, nutmeg or lemon juice. Deviate from the recipe to reduce sweetness. Instead of adding 4 parsnip to the recipe, reduce the number of parsnip by half.

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