Parsnip, Chicken & Orange Soup
Submitted by goobie
Creamy parsnip soup with chicken broth, roasted garlic, and fresh orange juice blended smooth. A naturally sweet winter soup with bright citrus to balance the earthy parsnips.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
40 minREADY
50 minEight parsnips, ten cloves of garlic, and a generous squeeze of fresh orange juice make this soup something special. The parsnips bring natural sweetness (especially if you roast a few first), the garlic mellows as it cooks down with the onions, and the orange juice stirred in at the end lifts everything with a bright, citrusy note you don’t expect.
Softening the onions slowly over low heat for a full 10 minutes before adding anything else builds the flavor base. Rush this step and the soup tastes flat. That patience lets the onions release their sugars and create a silky foundation.
Once blended, the texture is naturally creamy without any cream or butter in the soup itself. The parsnips do all the thickening on their own.
Chef Tips
- Roast half the parsnips beforehand if you have time; roasting concentrates their sweetness and adds depth
- Use hot stock when adding it to the vegetables; cold stock drops the temperature and extends cooking time
- Squeeze the orange juice fresh and add it off the heat so it stays bright and doesn’t cook down
- Blend in batches if your blender is small; overfilling a hot blender is a mess waiting to happen
Variations
- Add a teaspoon of curry powder with the garlic for a warming, spiced version
- Swap chicken broth for vegetable stock to make it vegetarian
- Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of chili oil for crunch and heat
Ingredients
Directions
Soften the onions over low heat in the oil in a heavy covered pan.
After 10 minutes add the garlic cloves, then the peeled and sliced parsnips, reserving any which have already been roasted to add later.
Cook all the vegetables together for 10 to 15 minutes until they are soft, stirring them occasionally and adding any pre-roasted parsnips a few minutes before the end.
Strain the hot stock into the vegetable mixture, add the salt and some freshly ground black pepper, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, then liquidize.
Taste for seasoning and add the juice of the freshly squeezed orange.
Note: Parsnips give of their full sweetness only when roasted and can taste overbearingly rank when cooked in other ways.
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