A creamy soup made with parsnips! This simple vegetarian soup recipe includes both dairy and dairy-free options, ready to eat in one hour. Inspired by the parsnip soup from Stardew Valley.

Well, it’s somehow still freezing outside – so let’s eat parsnips… with cream. This soup is simple, it’s vegetarian, and not too ridiculously expensive to make. If you use cow’s milk it even includes some protein. Plus this soup features parsnips, a vegetable I fondly refer to as “the other carrot.”

This soup has a savoury, creamy flavour, with just a hint of sweetness. The sweetness actually comes from the parsnips themselves! Did you know the Ancient Romans (the O.G. parsnip eaters) used them as a source of sugar in their cooking before cane sugar as we know it was widely commonplace in Europe?

The parsnip is native to Europe in general, and they were used pretty interchangeably with carrots for quite a long time. They are pretty similar to carrots, apart from their colour and flavour, that is. I also find them slightly more pointy at the tip than your average carrot.

Funny enough, the name parsnip may derive from the Middle English word for turnip “nep” or nepe” combined with pas (either from the word for parlsey, or from the Latin pastinum – a type of fork). I guess they thought parsnips were a type of turnip, maybe because of the colour.

In reality, parsnips come from a root vegetable family called Apiaceae, which includes parsnips, carrots and celery. They all produce flowers of some kind. Indeed, there are close to 4000 species in this plant family, including everything from cumin, dill, fennel, and parsley all the way down to poisonous hemlock and giant hogweed.

Parsnip Soup in Stardew Valley

You can make parsnip soup in Stardew Valley using a cookout kit or in the farmhouse kitchen. The recipe is one parsnip, some fresh milk, and some vinegar. You’ll get the recipe in the mail from Caroline once you have three hearts with her.

If you are looking to get your hands on some parsnip soup before Caroline warms up to you from you showering her with gifts, just check Krobus’s shop or the Stardrop Saloon on Saturdays. You may be in luck, and find a rare order of parsnip soup for sale.

Parsnip Soup in Stardew Valley: Parsnip + Fresh Milk + Vinegar.

Of course, the only person in Stardew Valley who adores parsnip soup is Pam. Why am I somehow not surprised? Most of the townspeople just “like it” – Krobus, Leo and Willy dislike it, of course. But the best tip I have: Harvey hates it. Use that information as you will. Can you tell I don’t particularly like Harvey much?

If you don’t want to eat or gift your precious parsnip soup, you can also combine it with some cloth on Emily’s sewing machine and use it to make a rather jazzy-looking green halter top (known only as “shirt”). Fancy indeed.

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Creamy Parsnip Soup

This creamy parsnip soup recipe makes 4 servings, ready to eat in 1 hour or less.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Wash, peel, and roughly chop the parsnips and potato. 
2. Dice the onion and mince the garlic, then set aside. 
3. Add the oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Once heated, add the onion, then cook for 2-3 minutes, until translucent. 
4. Add the parsnips, potato, broth, garlic, dried herbs, and spices. 
5. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.
6. Uncover the soup and stir in the milk and vinegar. Remove the pot from the heat.
7. Use an immersion blender (or standing blender) to puree the soup until smooth.
8. Adjust the seasoning by adding salt (if needed), and mix in the fresh chopped herbs.
9. Serve the soup hot, drizzled with a little extra milk, if desired.

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Precarious Parsnips Rashes

So, did you make this parsnip soup? Let me know!