Creamy and rich with a refreshing parsley flavor, a simple cream of parsley root soup recipe is an easy way to use this special root vegetable. While parsley root can be added to other soups as you would carrots or parsnips, a creamy soup celebrates them as the focal point. If you want people to taste the pure, natural flavor of parsley roots, this is probably the best way I know how to do it.

Parsley root soup garnisheed with parsley leaf oil. — A creamy soup garnished wtih herb oil.

I made this for a dinner with my friend, foraging author Sam Thayer. We both share a love of unique roots and I thought he'd appreciate the velvety texture as a way to have them as the feature of a dish.

A whole bunch of parsley roots with leaves and stems attached on a wooden cutting board. a — Fresh parsley roots with leaves attached.

Parsley roots are an obscure root vegetable that can be hard to find. The good news is that celeriac or parsnips make a great substitute for parsley root in any recipe.

Chef's Tips

Small amounts (4-5 oz) of the soup are fine as-is, but larger bowls should be garnished with something to add texture like croutons, pickled or roasted mushrooms, or chopped toasted nuts.
A little color will make your soup come alive, especially a drizzle of oil. Extra virgin olive oil is fine, but an infused red or green oil made from tomatoes, parsley or another herb will really make it shine.
For a deeper flavor you can sacrifice the white color of the soup and use roasted roots. It will noticeably sweeter, with a light khaki or beige color.

How to Make Parsley Root Soup

The soup is simple to make, especially if your parsley roots are very large. First the roots are cleaned. If your roots are pretty clean already they can simply be scrubbed, if they're dirty or homegrown you'll want to peel them. Once the roots are cleaned they're thinly sliced into coins.

Cleaning parsley roots by scrubbing with a dish brush in a bowl of water. — Scrubbing the roots with an abrasive pad to clean them.

Slicing parsley roots into thin slices with a knife.

The soup base is made from leeks and onion cooked slowly in a little butter until tender. Then the parsley root is added, along with chicken or vegetable stock.

Cooking leeks and onion in a pot with butter.

Adding sliced parsley root to a pot of leeks and onions cooking in butter. — Adding sliced parsley root to the pot.

A bowl pouring chicken stock into a pot of parsley roots, onions and leeks cooking. a — Adding chicken stock to the pot.

Everything's simmered slowly until the roots are very tender, then pureed in a highspeed blender with some heavy whipping cream.

A bubbling pot of parsley root and vegetables cooking. — Cook until the roots are tender.

Pouring heavy cream into a blender with cooked parsley roots , leeks and onion to make soup. — Put the mixture into a blender and add some heavy cream.

Spooning green herb oil over a bowl of parsley root soup. — Garnishing the soup with a green herb oil.

To get the soup extra smooth I like to drizzle a small amount of oil into the blender, but that's optional. Once the soup is pureed you'll double check the seasoning to see if it needs salt. Although it can be served right away, if you cool it and refrigerate overnight it'll improve in flavor the next day and is easy to make ahead of time.

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Creamy Parsley Root Soup

A rich, creamy soup with parsley root and vegetables simmered in chicken stock and pureed with cream.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Appetizer, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: parsley root soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 328kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 10

Equipment

1 2 quart sauce pot
1 High speed blender
1 wooden spoon

Ingredients

1 lb parsley root scrubbed clean and cut into half inch coins
1 medium yellow onion diced
1 small leek washed and diced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter separated

Instructions

In a small 2-3 quart soup pot, sweat the onion and leek in half of the butter until almost tender on medium heat, about 5 minutes.
Add the parsley root and chicken stock, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes or until the parsley root it very tender.
Transfer the soup to a blender, add the cream and butter, and very carefully puree the soup starting on low speed and working up to high.
Puree the soup until very smooth. If it seems thick, puree it for another 60 seconds, adding spoonful of extra cream or chicken stock until you like the consistency.
Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning for salt to taste, then serve.

Video

Notes

I love garnishing white soups with green herb oils. Parsley root is often available to purchase during the spring, so if you have access to ramp leaves I definitely recommend spooning some ramp leaf oil on it.

Nutrition