Parsnip and Kale Soup

Name: Parsnip and Kale Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 large onion (diced); 2 stalks celery (thinly sliced); 1 Tablespoon turmeric; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 4 cloves garlic (roughly chopped); 1 1 b. parsnips (peeled and chopped); 1 bunch curly kale (woody stems removed, torn into pieces.); 8 cups veggie broth (or combo water and broth); 2 Tablespoons maple syrup**

Published: Mar 11, 2022 · Modified: Sep 27, 2023 by Debra Klein · This post may contain affiliate links · 38 Comments

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A healthy parsnip soup that’s blended with kale for a super nutritious and tasty plant based pureed vegetable soup everyone will love. This easy parsnip soup recipe is warm and comforting, hearty and delicious….exactly what chilly days call for.

deep green creamy soup in a white bowl on a white saucer. The soup is sprinkled with crispy kale and red pepper flakes.

This post has been updated from the original posted on January 14, 2019.

Jump to:

Ingredients and Substitutions
Why you’ll love this soup:
How to make it
Debra’s Pro Tips
Easy Kale Chips (bonus recipe)!
MEAL PREP AND STORAGE
More pureed vegetable soup recipes
📖 Recipe

Um…yes, please….said Hubby asking for seconds…which is a huge win since he’s a firm “I don’t eat cooked greens” believer. But now? He’s a super fan of kale in soup. Whoa, what? Pureed kale soup is delicious and different.

Yeah…one taste and he was a convert! This parsnip and kale soup is so rich in flavor….It’s the cooked parsnips, they add so much depth to this vegan soup.

Don’t let the color fool you! This creamy kale soup is all kinds of tasty mixed in with some serious earthy undertones….that, plus an easy recipe that’s also super nutritious and now everyone’s happy around here. Gorgeous green color thrown in for free!

If you’re looking for a pureed vegetable soup…ahem, a way to sneak stuff in…then you’re going to want to make this STAT. It’s a combination of creamy kale soup and delicious soup with parsnips rolled into one. The best kinda twofer out there!

Ingredients and Substitutions

In addition to being soup season, it’s also cold and flu season. As soon as someone comes down with something, everyone suggests soup to help them get better. I’m suggesting soup as preventive medicine. Nourishment from food, especially easy to digest soup, is readily available for your body to absorb.

raw ingredients for pureed vegetable soup including curly kale, celery stalks, parsnips, onion, garlic, turmeric, salt and pepper, maple sryup

Kale: I used curly green kale. You could also use purple kale or lacinato kale. Kale is a good source of minerals that most people don’t get enough of. Leafy greens, like kale are nutrient dense..packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber, but low in calories….greens are also an excellent source of energy.
Parsnips: Provide creaminess, a little zing of zesty flavor and a burst of sweetness. Plus parsnips are low in calories, high in fiber, vitamin C and potassium. As far as vegan parsnip recipes go, this soup is tops on the list of favorites. If you prefer your parsnips roasted, this roasted root veggies recipe is for you!
Celery: Antioxidant and flavor rich.
Onions + Garlic: Flavor boosters that also fight inflammation, aid in digestion and boost immunity.
Turmeric: Adds to the earthy flavor, plus it’s anti-inflammatory, increases the absorption of antioxidants, boosts immunity, balances hormone levels, aids in digestion.
Maple syrup: Optional, but I think it helps balance the rustic flavors beautifully.
Veggie broth: It’s SUPER EASY to make your own with this vegetable broth recipe. I store mine in the freezer so I’m always ready to make a pot of soup. If you buy it already made, be sure to read the ingredients carefully to make the best choice. If you get caught in a pinch, make my vegetable bouillon...you’ll have delicious homemade broth in 5 minutes.

Why you’ll love this soup:

white bowl filled with pureed kale soup, sprinkled with herbs and red pepper flakes. A bowl of crunchy kale chips in the background.

Easy to make with minimal equipment.
Nutritious: detoxifying, immunity building, inflammation busting and loaded with vitamins and minerals.
Creamy: rich, velvety texture and dairy-free.
Meal prep friendly: make it when it works well for you…it freezes beautifully and reheats like a dream!
Budget friendly: An entire pot of soup that’s hearty and satisfying for less than a visit to the drive through for one person.
Tasty: Rich and creamy with a subtle earthy flavor that’s warm and comforting.

How to make it

First get all your ingredients prepped and ready to go: Wash the kale, remove the woody center stem and tear the leaves into smaller pieces. Peel the parsnips and roughly chop.

wooden board filled with curly kale. The woody stems have been removed and are sitting on the left side.

wooden board with parsnip peels and a vegetable peeler, three peeled parsnips and some chopped parsnips plus a chef's knife

Then dice the onions and garlic, slice the celery. Measure the spices and maple syrup.

Soup is an easy way to up your consumption of veggies.

2. Heat a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Use a Tablespoon of veggie broth to saute the onions and celery until translucent. Add more veggie broth if needed to keep the pot from becoming dry.

Dutch oven on the stove with celery and onions.

dutch oven on the stovetop with onions and celery sauteeing.

3. Next, add the turmeric, salt and pepper and mix well. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Any time the pot becomes dry, add another Tablespoon broth.

dutch oven with cooked onions and celery, sprinkled with salt, pepper and turmeric

turmeric sauteed onions and celery, with chopped garlic on top.

4. Add parsnips and kale, then mix well. Make sure parsnips and kale are coated in spice mixture.

dutch oven with an orange looking base, topped with chopped parsnips and a bunch of curly kale.

wilted kale, parsnips and onions in a dutch oven.

5. Pour in remaining veggie broth and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes until parsnips are tender and kale has softened.

yellow-ish orange broth and cubes of parsnips plus lots of kale in a dutch oven.

dutch oven on the stove filled with cooked kale and parsnips in a rich orange broth

6. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. You can also transfer the soup to a blender or food processor for a smoother texture. Once the parsnip soup is smooth, pour in the maple syrup and then cook for another 10 minutes. This is the healthy version of cream of kale soup.

immersion blender inside a dutch oven pureeing green veggie soup

blue dutch oven on the stove, filled with a pureed green kale soup, with a wooden spoon.

7. Ok…..soup’s done! I like to sprinkle with fresh herbs and crushed red pepper….makes it look pretty and adds a little spice.

Blue dutch oven filled with creamy kale soup, sprinkled with red pepper flakes.

Debra’s Pro Tips

Three white bowls filled with creamy kale soup, a bowl of kale chips and a small dish of crushed red pepper. — er. Yum.

Take it to go! Fill your thermos with boiling water, let it sit while you heat the soup. Empty the water and then fill with hot soup…it will stay warm until you’re ready to enjoy.
Pass around some crushed red pepper and a pitcher of maple syrup so everyone can customize to their preferred flavor palette.
No need to spin the kale dry after you wash it…it’s going into the soup pot anyhow.
Put soup in crockpot on the “warm” setting and let everyone help themselves to a hot bowl of soup when they’re ready….a great idea when everyone’s coming in from sports or meetings and eating at different times.
No kale? Change it up…use spinach.

Easy Kale Chips (bonus recipe)!

I love kale chips. They’re a great snack, anytime…and, they’re also perfect for crumbling into this creamy kale soup. The right color, flavor, texture…they just fit in seamlessly. AND…you can whip up a batch while the soup is cooking.

Wash the kale. Remove woody stems, break into small pieces and then THOROUGHLY DRY. If the kale is still wet when you bake it, it will turn out soggy. For crispy kale chips, you must start with DRY kale.
Spread kale onto large rimmed baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Mix well. It’s easiest to do this with your hands.
Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 10 minutes. Toss well. Bake for another 10 minutes until crisp and crunchy.
Enjoy right away. Crunchy kale chips are best when freshly made. Kale chips will lose their crunch if stored. If this happens, just pop into a 325 oven until dried out and re-crisped.

parsnip and kale pureed soup in a white bowl, sprinkled with fresh herbs, crushed kale chips and red pepper flakes.

MEAL PREP AND STORAGE

SERVE: Serve warm, garnished with fresh herbs, crunchy kale chips, crushed red pepper and a drizzle of maple syrup.
PREP AHEAD: Wash and chop all veggies in advance. Store in containers in the fridge until ready to make soup. Make soup when it’s convenient for you and gently reheat on the stove when you’re ready to serve.
STORE: Soup will stay good in the fridge for a week or freezer for 3 months.
FREEZE: Cool completely. Use freezer safe zip top bags to freeze individual servings. Lay flat in the freezer. Or, freeze in quart sized mason jars, making sure to leave at least and inch at the top for soup to expand as it freezes.

More pureed vegetable soup recipes

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