Have you ever wondered what to do with asparagus ends? Wonder no more! Here’s how to turn those woody ends of asparagus into creamy, flavorful, asparagus ends soup.
WHAT TO DO WITH ASPARAGUS ENDS
This asparagus soup recipe was originally posted in May of 2011. We’ve updated the post with new photos, a video, and some additional tips. Here’s a peek at the original!
Every time I used to cook with asparagus, I would fret over those woody asparagus ends that I’ve always been taught are good for nothing but the compost pile.
While I can add them to my freezer bag of vegetable scraps to make stock, I felt like there had to be something more I could do with them to let the bright taste of asparagus still be featured.
That’s how I came up with this asparagus soup recipe using leftover asparagus ends.
ASPARAGUS ENDS SOUP SUPPLIES
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HOW TO TRIM ASPARAGUS
Trimming asparagus is actually quite simple.
- Hold an asparagus stalk with one hand gripping the woody end, and one hand gripping between the middle and the other end.
- Gently bend the asparagus until it snaps.
- You can continue trimming the rest of the asparagus this way, or use a knife to cut them all at once to about the same size as the first one you snapped.
- Save the woody asparagus ends in the freezer for making soup.
HOW TO MAKE ASPARAGUS ENDS SOUP
The reason asparagus ends are thought to be inedible, is that they are extremely tough and fibrous, like a freshly broken tree branch. You can gnaw on them, but you’re certainly not going to eat them.
But the asparagus ends still have great flavor. I haven’t been able to find any research on this, but I’m guessing they have nutritients as well. So it’s time to stop throwing them away!
BOIL THE ASPARAGUS ENDS
- Whether you’re using freshly trimmed asparagus ends, or frozen ones you’ve been saving for months, the first step is boiling them. You can do this in a large pot on the stove, or in a pressure cooker.
- Add water to about 1 inch above the level of the asparagus ends (they will float so just push them down to check the level).
- Simmer on the stove for 40 minutes, or cook in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes.
BLEND THE ASPARAGUS ENDS
- Your asparagus should be pretty soft now. Use an Immersion Blender to puree the asparagus ends as much as you possibly can.
- Then pour the puree through a mesh strainer with a big bowl or pot underneath to catch the stock.
- Use a spatula to stir and press the fibrous pulp until all the liquid has been squeezed out.
Once passed through a strainer, the inedible pulp discarded into the compost heap, a beautiful light and fresh asparagus stock is left behind. The asparagus flavor is strong, but it’s now a clean palette, ready to accept new flavors and textures.
MAKE YOUR ASPARAGUS SOUP CREAMY
- Start another pot, this time with a little avocado or coconut oil, some cloves of garlic and chopped potatoes and onions.
- Cook for about 10 minutes until they’re turning golden brown, gathering flavor.
- Add the asparagus broth and turned on the heat again.
- Simmer 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to blend.
- Use your immersion blender again to puree the soup until completely smooth and creamy.
- Add fresh lemon juice, salt, and pepper to enhance the flavor of the asparagus.
- OPTIONAL – stir in some milk or cream for additional creaminess.
ASPARAGUS ENDS SOUP TOPPINGS
At this point, you soup is ready to eat. It would be a wonderful light soup for a soup course or side dish. And it’s perfect for Easter brunch!
If you want to serve the soup as a main dish, I suggest making it a bit more filling.
We like to add some roasted asparagus, pan crisped prosciutto, a sprinkling of fresh parmesan, and a bit of lemon zest.
In the comments below, someone added leftover rotisserie chicken, cooked asparagus, garlic and fresh mushrooms. Another reader substituted sweet potatoes for the red potatoes.
You can keep the soup dairy free and vegan, and just add in your favorite chopped vegetables, or some leftover beans or quinoa. I bet chickpeas would be great!
PIN TO SAVE ASPARAGUS ENDS SOUP FOR LATER:
Creamy Asparagus Ends Soup
Have you ever wondered what to do with asparagus ends? Wonder no more! Here's how to turn those woody ends of asparagus into creamy, flavorful, asparagus ends soup. Feel free to mix your favorite leftover meat or veggies into the soup. You can also simply omit the optional milk, cheese, and prosciutto to make this dairy free and vegan.
Ingredients
- 40-60 asparagus ends
- 1 TBS avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 medium red potatoes, chopped
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 cup cream
- salt and pepper
Optional Toppings
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, optional
- 2 oz prosciutto, sliced and fried (optional)
- 12-18 roasted asparagus spears, optional
- lemon zest
Instructions
- Place the asparagus ends in a large pot and fill with water to cover one inch above the asparagus.
- Bring to a boil and simmer 30-40 minutes until asparagus is very soft (it will still be quite fibrous though).
- Blend the asparagus and liquid it boiled in using an immersion blender (In a regular blender, you must blend in very small batches as hot liquids expand. Or let it cool first).
- Strain the pulp out, reserving the liquid.
- Heat the oil in the large pot and add the onion and potatoes. Heat on medium high, stirring for 10 minutes until there are some good golden brown marks on the vegetables.
- Add the reserved asparagus stock and simmer on medium low for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are very soft. Blend well.
- Add juice of the 1/2 lemon, cream and salt and pepper to taste.
- (Optional: garnish the bowls of soup with grated parmesan, fried prosciutto, roasted asparagus spears and/or zest of the 1/2 lemon)
Notes
Nutritional Values are an estimate only, and are for the soup (with cream), not including the toppings.
Approximate cost/serving: Really I don't consider the cost of the asparagus ends as a part of this recipe since it's something that would be thrown away. With the other necessary ingredients it was just $1.80! The optional garnishes will of course increase that cost but on its own the soup was just around 45 cents per serving (yield depending on how many ends you had).
Vegetarian/Gluten Free: The soup is gluten free and without the prosciutto it's meat free. You can omit the cream to make it vegan and add an additional potato to thicken it up if you'd like.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
4 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 200Saturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 29mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 6g
Great post and love the soup.
I’m cheaper than you (I don’t mean that you are cheap.) I took the ends, after trimming off the very end, blended them and DIDN’T strain. They were perfect for a broth or topping or dip, no fibrous stings at al.
Haha that’s great!
Just learned one here. Thanks for sharing your story and thanks for the recipe, it looks and sounds great!
Mmmm. When you mentioned the woody ends awhile ago I was curious to see what would come up with. I should have guessed soup. How smart! It’s been quite a long time since I’ve made an asparagus soup. For some reason it was one of the first dishes I made when I started cooking. Maybe it’s time to bring it back into the rotation.
What a great idea! Not to mention, I can’t believe I had never thought about having a freezer bag to keep vegetable scraps for making stock. I have always wanted to make stock but never have enough scraps at a given time. That is such a great way to collect them! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Let me know how it works out. One of my favorite money saving tips 🙂
I have been looking and looking for an asparagus soup recipe. I am so excited to try this one. It looks great. Your pictures are beautiful and love the great instructions. Thanks !
Sounds great! Can you uase olive oil instead of coconut oil?
You definitely can though you’ll want to turn the heat down a little. I like using coconut oil because it can stand much higher heat without smoking.
I wonder about running the ends through a juicer rather than boiling them for an hour. Hmmm. Might have to try that. Thanks for the post! I was hoping to find something to do with the ends.
That’s a great idea Carolyn! I just got a juicer a few months ago so may have to try that with the ends I have in my freezer right now.
This soup was fantastic!
I’m so glad Lisa, thanks fo rletting me know!
I’ll never toss those ends out again 🙂 Thank you!
I just tried this soup and it is WONDERFUL! Used leftover Easter ham instead of prosciutto and the family ate every last drop. I even made a double batch thinking I’d get two meals out of it. I was wrong… Thanks so much!
I have been into soups lately and just knew my asparagus ends I saved would make a good one! Thanks for the directions and recipe, can’t wait to try this evening.
I also loved your metaphor, a great message that rings true.
Be well!
Wow – I have always felt guilty about how much of the ends is getting thrown away. I googled “what do I do with asparagus ends” and found your site! Great recipe. I used my kitchenaid food mill to puree the ends and broth, then threw in a whole lemon (that I’d used the zest from already). I didn’t use any cream, added a couple extra potatoes, and then roasted some garlic and threw in some shredded pizza cheese. WOW! Will be making that again and again!
The first asparagus is coming out in the area of France that I am in, but the ends of the spear are very
woody. What a good idea it was to google – what to do with the ends – voila I found your receipe.
Ends are boiling as I write – I know it will taste excellent. thanks a great idea x
I’m so glad I could help Sandra. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for your recipe I had some ends left so I googled using leftover ends of asparagus your site came up. Thank you also for your story, I have a heart to help youth, work with at risk young people and have heard the same remarks. A little bit of time spent speaking encouragement can change anyones life, good reminder. 😉
You’re so welcome Mona. Thanks for what you do to make a difference for hurting kids!
Thank you so very much, Diana. For years, I have been throwing ends away, and it just killed me. I will never do it again. And, your idea to keep them in your freezer until you have enough is just an inspired idea. My ends from Easter (which are still in very good shape) are boiling right now. Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday ~she will be 92. Guess what we are having for a first course? (smile) Thank you!
You are so welcome Donna. Hope your mother had a wonderful birthday!
Thanks Diana. Great idea, great soup. I’m vegan so I left out the cream. Next time I will leave out the lemon too. Thanks again!
Yeah the lemon would probably be pretty strong without the fat of the cream. Actually, I wonder how it would taste with coconut cream? I may have to give that a try with my next batch of ends!
Work with youth can be so challenging, but just as rewarding. My husband and I are preparing to be foster parents this fall, and so the part about not giving up on tough youth really spoke to me. Thanks for adding a personal touch to this recipe!
This was a fabulous recipe that i have made several times since I originally came ipon it. I eat for my blood type so I had to exchange the coconut oil for earth balance butter, and used sweet potatoes in place of the other kinds. Still fabulous!! Thank you so much! ❤️
I have a bag of Asparagus ends in the freezer. If it’s going to take 40 min of boiling to make the ends soft, I think I’ll try pressure cooking instead. Anyone pressure cooked their Asparagus ends to solve the woody stringy problem?
That’s a great idea Bessie. I made this before I had a pressure cooker. I’ll have to try that next time.
I’ve got asparagus ends in my freezer too and have used them to make a broth for asparagus risotto, but I never thought to keep on cooking them. I’m excited to try out your recipe. Thanks!
Thanks for the the tip on using the ends. A store had asparagus for 99 cents a pound. I decided to freeze the nine pounds of Spears so I wondered if there was a recipe to use the ends. This Soup was Fabulous! I did add some left over rotisserie chicken, cooked asparagus, garlic and fresh mushrooms. Instead of cream I used 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt. No lemon.
I’m so glad Janine! Love your adjustments, it sounds delicious!
Yum! I have a lot of ends leftover from fermenting spears. I made this and was going to have dinner but my wife and I ended up eating only this. Absolutely delicious!
I definitely need to try this – I’m excited for this recipe! I always wondered what to do with asparagus ends instead of just throwing them away.
Can this soup be frozen.
Yes it can definitely be frozen. I would just freeze the soup and then add any toppings or mix ins when you are ready to serve it.
Fast forward to April’s Covid-19 quarantine 2020 … We were down to the bare pantry and freezer essentials, and I finally left the house for fresh fruit and vegetables which now seem like a luxury. Made roasted asparagus spears and suddenly throwing out the ends felt extra terribly wasteful. Googled “what to make with asparagus ends” and your site came up! Added the tops of 2 leeks to the mix and threw in the last cup of spinach we had which gave it a beautiful bright green color. So yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Im doing the keto diet and can’t do potatoes. Is it necessary to use them or will it ryin the soup if I don’t? Thank you this soup looks delish!
Great question Amy. The potatoes aren’t necessary, they’re a starch to thicken the soup. You could leave it more of a broth soup, or add other vegetables you puree in to thicken it up. Cauliflower would be a great substitute!
My personal response is to discourage using cauliflower because 1) cauliflower itself has a strong flavor and *may* conflict with asparagus’ unique flavor, and 2) since cauliflower is not a starch, it won’t thicken the soup like a potato (or wheat flour) would.
Instead, to thicken the soup, I suggest using agar agar, which is a vegetable gelatin made from sea vegetables. Agar agar has net carb count of 0. Excellent for low carb and keto diets!
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I dehydrate my asparagus ends and make asparagus powder. I can then add it to soups, stews, omelets salads or wherever I want to add flavor or nutrition. I can also use it with flour and eggs for noodles the used are limitless. Thank you for another idea.
No need to make soup. Add the asparagus broth to a can of Cambells Cream of Bacon Soup. FAN-FREEKIN’-TASTIC
JOHNNY VINTAGE
I roast the asparagus ends before I toss them in the freezer baggie. When I have enough, I run with your soup recipe. (I often add some sauteed leeks before the final blending of the soup.)