This is the most delicious healthy vegan asparagus soup. Traditionally many asparagus soups have been made with cream, so I thought it was important to bring you a fresh, healthy, dairy-free version without cream (I give you an option to make it 'creamy' later!). Soup in Spring? Well, Springtime doesn't always mean warmth. That's why it's totally acceptable to eat soup throughout this season using all the lovely produce that's come into season. Asparagus is such a delicacy this time of year and we need to make the most of it.
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🌿Ingredients
This vegan asparagus soup has familiar and simple ingredients. You'll need:
- Asparagus - if you love asparagus, then you'll love these 15 Delicious Asparagus recipes that you can try after you've made this soup!
- Leeks
- Butter beans
- Thyme
- Vegan white wine - not all wine is vegan but many supermarkets label this well now.
- Olive oil - for sauteeing (or you can sautee in water)
- Vegetable stock (or make your own)
🌱Make your own soup stock!
Why make your own stock? It makes good use of the top bits of the leek & the woody asparagus ends - so great for reducing waste. It also doesn't take long. Simmered for half an hour or so, it really does add a whole other level of flavour that you just can't get with a pre-made stock or standard boullion. I like to add some kombu seaweed to any stocks that I make. It's naturally full of glutamine, which means it imparts a full, rounded umami, which means savoury, flavour to the stock (and is super good for you. Yay!).
But don't worry if you don't have time to make your own stock, you can instead use a good quality stock such as Marigold Boullion or 9 Meals from Anarchy.
👩🍳How To Instructions
Here's how to make this healthy vegan asparagus soup, which requires very little prep time.
- Finely chop the leeks.
- Chop up your asparagus, leaving the spear tips aside for later.
- Sautee the leek in olive oil or water.
- Add the butterbeans, wine, stock & herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Bash the butterbeans with a masher to make the soup creamy.
- Add the asparagus to the soup and simmer over a medium heat.
- Add the asparagus tips at the end for just 5 minutes (so they don't over cook).
1) Get your ingredients ready - asparagus, leek, olive oil, stock, butterbeans, white wine & thyme. 2) Finely chop the leeks. 
3) Chop the asparagus, leaving the pretty tips. 4) Sautee the leek in olive oil or water. 5) Add the butterbeans, wine, stock & herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Bash the butterbeans with a masher to make the soup creamy. 6) Add the asparagus (but not the tips) to the soup and simmer. Add the asparagus tips after simmering for 5 mins.
The nice thing with this soup is you don't need to puree it. You just squish the butterbeans with a potato masher to break them down a bit & let out their starchy insides. This starchyness adds a luxurious silky quality that works so well with the asparagus and makes the soup creamy.
You can also use cannellini beans instead of butterbeans, both will add that delicious creamy mouthfeel that's so yummy.
❓FAQ for vegan asparagus soup
For this one you need the tops of the leeks, the woody ends of the asparagus, some pepper, a piece of kombu seaweed and some other veggie trimmings.
No blender needed! Just mash the beans up a bit with a fork or a potato masher to give creaminess to the soup. Of course you could blend the soup if you wanted to. An immersion blender is great for this.
Asparagus tips are a little more tender than their stalks, so add them to the soup about 5 minutes before serving. You can even just steam them over the soup if you want to be fancy & serve them on top of the soup as a garnish.
You could blend up the soup (an immersion blender is easiest for this, but a food processor is also great) and then add a bit of coconut milk or vegan cream. This would be delicious!
Yes. Double-check that your stock is gluten-free though (most are).
Yes - just put it in an airtight container and it will last for months.
🥣What to serve with the soup
The match made in heaven is soup and bread. Here are some of our favourites that we love to mop up the juices of this vegan asparagus soup with.
You could also add some ground black pepper at the end, or even a squeeze of lemon juice. If you want something really special, try my homemade version of vegan parmesan cheese!
🍲Other soup recipes
We love a good healthy soup recipe, and plenty of them lend themselves to spring! These are delicious:
📖 Recipe
Healthy Vegan Asparagus Soup Without Cream
Equipment
- 1 Chef's knife or vegetable knife
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
For the stock (optional)
- Handful leek tops
- All the the woody asparagus ends
- A few parsley stalks
- 1 10x 5 cm piece kombu
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- water to cover
- carrot, onion, parsnip & other veggie trimmings if you have them
For the Soup
- 200 g (1½ cups) asparagus (1 bunch/15 stalks )
- 200 g (2¼ cups) leek (finely chopped, about 1 medium leek)
- 250 g (1½ cups) cooked butter beans (equivalent of 1 standard tin/can)
- 4 sprigs thyme (1 tsp)
- 120 ml (½ cup) vegan white wine
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (for sauteeing, can also use water)
- 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock (make your own - see recipe above - or use good quality boullion powder)
Instructions
To make the stock
- Add all the stock ingredients into a large pot. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for half an hour to 1 hour (depending on how much time you have!).
- Drain and keep the liquid. *Warning- be sure to drain into another large pot. Not down the sink.
To make the soup
- Finely chop the asparagus stalks reserving the asparagus spear tops. Chop the leek finely too.
- In a large saucepan gently sautee the leek in the oil or water.
- Add the asparagus stalks, the wine, the butterbeans, the thyme and the stock.
- Simmer for around 10 mins until all the veggies are soft.
- Squish the butterbeans around the pot with a potato masher and taste. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Add the asparagus spear tops in, and simmer for another 3 minutes so they are just cooked but still green.
- Serve with crusty bread or on it's own, making sure each person has a fair share of the asparagus tops.
Susanne Chambers says
Delicious vegan recipe. I was not sure how big is a 'tin' of beans? I assumed it's the common can size (400 g /15 oz) but am not sure because my soup felt like it needed more beans to be more creamy. Also, is it supposed to be drained beans or non-drained?
Thanks
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Hi Susanne,
Thanks for the feedback. I'll update the recipe to be clearer..
A 'tin' of beans is 400g and I did drain these.
You could always add more beans if you want a creamier soup- give them a bit of a bash around to really bring out their starchy creaminess.
Tavo says
Yumm! The soup was awesome! I love cooking with fresh asparagus!
Ashley says
Delicious! We need more vegan recipes/soups without cream.
Angela says
What a fabulous soup! Love the addition of the butterbeans here. So delicious!
Casey says
This soup was delish! We love asparagus! I added a little coconut milk for extra creaminess and it was perfect!
Michelle says
Love all of the fresh ingredients in this recipe. It's perfect for asparagus season!