Our easy dairy free asparagus and spinach soup with no cream recipe is healthy but packed with vegetables this has lots of flavor. Vegetarian & vegan.
This asparagus and spinach soup can be made in a dutch oven or Instant Pot recipe as well. I will explain them both below for you below. Instead of a cream based soup this is healthier and a lighter option served as a side dish or vegetarian meal.
There are a few variations you can change up when it comes to this. You could use kale instead of frozen spinach, chicken broth instead of vegetable, and even other veggies could be added. Use those that would cook rather quickly like asparagus does. Celery, bok choy, peas and cubed squash would be good choices.
When it comes to produce we don’t always have a huge selection since we live in a smaller town. Many times I have a recipe in mind and have to swap things out depending on what is in season and reasonably priced. When I do find these stalks on sale I will make this and our asparagus ground beef pasta that week!
What is asparagus soup made of?
- Onion, yellow or white, diced fine are a nice add in that are cheap but add great flavor and texture
- Fennel, chopped is fabulous. If you have never had this vegetable it offers great nutrients and a pop of flavor.
- Minced garlic can be store bought or diced fine from fresh cloves
- Asparagus, bottom 1.5″ removed and discarded, cut remaining pieces in thirds
- Vegetable broth is better than water to add more flavor to the soup,
- Spinach, or kale with leaves, stems removed
- Salt and pepper are just basic seasonings, use what you wish
Serve with croutons and/or parmesan cheese on top. In total it takes about 30 minutes total, not too bad for a healthy soup with fresh produce.
Variations
If you like your ingredients really really soft you can adjust as needed after you release the pressure. That is easy to do with the saute function. Just lift the lid, test, and if you want everything more tender set to saute and let it boil for maybe 1 more minute longer. That should be all you might want or need.
Do you need cream in soup?
Absolutely not, you can make delicious meals without any heavy cream at all. Of course it will have a different texture and flavor but then will be dairy free for everyone to enjoy with fewer calories an fat too.
How do you thicken cream soup without cream?
I don’t think this needs to be thickened and it is quite popular served as is as a broth based meal. If you did want to thicken it though you could boil small diced potatoes in another pot and blend until smooth. Then fold this in to make “creamy”.
Asparagus and Spinach Soup Recipe
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 fennel, chopped
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 lb asparagus, bottom 1.5" removed and discarded, cut remaining pieces in thirds
- 6 c vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp dill
- 3 c spinach, or kale with leaves, stems removed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Wash, chop or mince all your vegetables.
- In a dutch oven on your stovetop heat at medium high and add your olive oil. When hot add onions and saute for 5 minutes to soften. (if you want to add meat, I would use ground spicy sausage. If adding do so now and cook until it is no longer pink)
- Then add fennel, garlic, asparagus and saute for 1-2 more minutes.
- Pour in broth, add dill, salt and pepper and lemon juice. Stir.
- Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are as tender as you'd like them to be.
- Add fresh spinach leaves or kale and submerge into liquid. Cook for 5 more minutes so they soften. Serve topped with croutons and/or parmesan cheese.
- Instant Pot instructions: Saute olive oil and onions first, if you want to add diced kielbasa do so at this time. When onions are softened turn pot off. Add all other ingredients, stir. Lock lid and close steam valve and cook on high pressure for 1 minute. Do a quick release. If not tender enough for your liking, set to saute and bubble until they are as tender as you'd like (shouldn't be necessary).
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you use frozen vegetables to make soup?
Yes, this is how to cook frozen asparagus just enough to get it defrosted. I prefer fresh but that isn’t always available. Once you prep everything there isn’t much to it. Typically everyone wants their onions softened so sauteed with a bit of olive oil or butter at the beginning will get that done.
Can you cook soup in a Dutch Oven?
I do like making dutch oven recipes because cast iron is my jam. The material creates an even heat and is large enough so the contents don’t overflow. In some cases you could double the ingredients and it would still be fine.
From there you just throw everything in. On the stovetop you’d want to set your kale or spinach leaves aside though. In an Instant Pot everything gets thrown right in since the cook time is so fast. In a pot you want to add those last or else they would get way too soft and not the right texture.
in pressure cooker
This is another choice you could dice and add into the mix here. Remember that all of these are somewhat delicate. What I mean by this is it doesn’t take very long at all for them to get tender. That is why if you make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe (or any other brand of pressure cooker) it only takes one minute! I think that is perfect timing.
in slow cooker
Below explains the stovetop version. If you wanted to make a healthy Crockpot soup you could do so on low for a few hours until ingredients are tender too. You can print recipe below but here is a quick step by step to see what I am talking about before you get to prepping.
Other vegetables soups you’ll love
Looking for other vegetable soup recipes after asparagus and spinach soup? We have a bunch of them with and without heavy cream in them. As a dairy free version you can always use coconut milk instead. Our butternut squash carrot soup and pumpkin soup with canned pumpkin are great examples of that.
so easy and quick