This potato and parsnip soup is rich, creamy and delicious. Made with just a few simple ingredients this creamy soup is perfect for when the weather gets cooler.
Jump to:
Rich, creamy and full of flavour, this soup is everything you want from a homemade soup. It's filling too, so it's perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Just serve with some good crusty bread for a very comforting meal.
The parsnips bring a little sweetness and that distinctive parsnip flavor to this soup. While the potatoes bring the creaminess. Cooked together, potatoes and parsnips create a lovely creamy texture. Add in some cream, then you have a deliciously smooth soup that's filling and comforting.
This soup is a great way to use up any leftover veggies you have from your Sunday dinner. It's also a very budget-friendly recipe and a very customizable recipe.
🛒 What You'll Need
- Parsnips - You'll need 3 medium-sized parsnips for this recipe, I peel my parsnips.
- Potatoes - I use floury potatoes for this soup. Maris Piper potatoes are great, you could also use russet potatoes.
- The base for the soup - I use one medium brown onion, one medium carrot and one stalk of celery. These are diced and cooked in olive oil until softened.
- Vegetable Stock - I use two vegetable stock cubes added to boiling water to make the stock or vegetable broth. You can make your own stock or broth if you like.
- Herbs - Fresh herbs are best for this soup and I use fresh thyme and fresh parsley. I also add 2 cloves of garlic, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cream - To get that creamy texture I add single cream also known as pouring cream or light cream in the USA.
🔪 How To Make Potato and Parsnip Soup
Please see the recipe card below for the full instructions and the full ingredient list.
1. Start by cooking the onion, carrot and celery. Add the olive oil to a large saucepan. Add the diced onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of salt and cook over low heat for at least 20 minutes. Once the vegetables have softened add the minced garlic cloves and the thyme leaves and cook for another minute.
2. Now add the chopped parsnips and potatoes and stir well.
3. Then add the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer over low to medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until the parsnips and the potatoes are soft.
4. Remove the soup from the heat and blend it using a hand blender or immersion blender. You can also use a food processor for this if you want just be careful as the soup will be extremely hot. Finally, once the soup is creamy and smooth, pour in the cream. Return this soup to the heat and stir the cream into the soup. Serve with the chopped parsley and finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese if you are not vegetarian.
👩🍳 Top Tips
- Note of caution, this soup will be piping hot when you blend so be careful. Due to the thickness, this soup will spit so I tend to blend this with my hand right at the top of the blender to avoid getting burned.
- The cream will cool down this soup when it is added so it is important to return the soup to the heat to bring the temperature back up.
💭 FAQs
Yes, you can. Leave the soup to cool then transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. I usually reheat this on the hob. I add a splash of water to it to loosen it up as it will thicken once left overnight. I recommend stirring this often too as the soup can stick to the bottom of the pot
if you don't stir it.
As this is a smooth creamy soup I always peel the potatoes. If you are not going to blend this soup you could leave the skin on, and you will end up with a chunky soup.
I tend not to freeze soups that have cream in them as there is a risk that the cream will split and you can end up with a grainy texture to the soup.
🔄 Variations
- Spice it up - You could swap out the thyme for some earthy warming spices. Ground cumin or ground coriander would work well. Some curry powder with be a good idea too.
- Swap the potatoes - If you wanted to you could easily swap the regular potatoes for sweet potatoes. If you did do that I would go down the route of adding some warming spices too.
- Make it vegan - This soup will be quite thick and creamy once it is blended, so you could add more water or stock and omit the cream altogether.
🍽 More Tasty Parsnip Recipes
- Carrot and Parsnip Soup - This is another very comforting and filling soup, it is such an easy recipe too. This is a great recipe for using up any leftover carrots and parsnips hanging around the fridge.
- Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips - One of my favourite side dishes this earthy dish is a classic that everyone loves.
- Spiced Parsnip Fritters - Fritters are a great way to use up left-behind veggies and these fritters are so tasty and great for a weekday lunch.
- Curried Parsnip Soup - This creamy spiced soup is warming and filling and perfect for Autumn.
- Creamy Mushroom and Leek Soup - This is such a great soup for winter, it's rich creamy and filling!
🍲 Some Of Our Favourite Soup Recipes
Creamy Potato and Parsnip Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium brown onion diced
- 1 medium carrot peeled and diced
- 1 stalk of celery finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic finely minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 large floury potatoes, I used Maris Piper. peeled then cut into equal-sized medium chunks.
- 3 medium parsnips peeled and cut into chunks
- 1.2 litres (2 pints) of vegetable stock made using 2 vegetable stock cubes
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) of single cream
- flat-leaf parsley as a garnish (optional)
- Grana Padano cheese or parmesan cheese for serving (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan.Add the diced onion, carrot and celery along with a pinch of salt and cook over low to medium heat for at least 20 minutes, stirring often.Once the vegetables have softened add the minced garlic and the thyme leaves and cook for a few seconds until you can smell the garlic.
- Next, add the chopped potatoes and parsnips to the pot. Stir well well.
- Then pour in the stock and season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Simmer over low to medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes and parsnips are quite tender. You can check how tender they are by piercing them with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Once the potatoes and parsnips are cooked you can now blend the soup.I use a hand blender to blend the soup until it is smooth.
- Finally, return the saucepan to the heat and pour in the cream. Stir continuously, until the cream has been fully absorbed into the soup and the temperature of the soup is hot.
- Serve immediately with a garnish of chopped parsley and some grated cheese.
Notes
- Storage/Freezing - Keep any leftovers in an airtight container once cooled. Use within 3 days. Reheat on the hob for best results. Add a splash of water to loosen the soup when reheating. I don't recommend freezing this soup.
- Nutritional Information - All nutritional information shared is an estimate based on third-party calculations. If calorie count and/or nutritional values are important to you, we recommend putting the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary depending on which brands were used. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household. The nutritional information for this recipe does not include any cheese added as a topping.
- Weights and measurements - For US readers, I use Cuisipro measuring cups and spoons, and a Pyrex measuring jug for liquids. These are the industry standard. Cup/spoon volumes can differ from brand to brand, for accuracy, I recommend weighing all ingredients if possible for the best results.
Sara
Excellent - lovely, tasty soup!
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Sara 🙂
Jen
It was delicious. I used russet potatoes as suggested in the article. I will be making it again.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Parsnips are my favourite vegetable but this is the first time I've had them in a soup. Creamy and delicious and definitely my new soup for the winter months.
Carrie Robinson
I just love parsnips, but I definitely don't cook with them enough. I am going to make this soup very soon- looks so creamy & comforting! 🙂
Tavo
This Creamy Potato and Parsnip Soup was a hit at my dinner table! The flavors melded together perfectly, and the texture was just the right amount of creamy. I also appreciated the little tips you sprinkled throughout the recipe; they made the cooking process a breeze. You've got a knack for making comfort food feel gourmet!
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Tavo. I'm so glad you all enjoyed it 🙂
Annette
Perfect coming into the cold weather