Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup is both quick and easy to make, and delicious to serve. This amazing soup is light and filling, and equally good served hot or cold. It’s the perfect dish for a light summer meal, or as a starter for an elegant dinner party.
Nutritional and Health Benefits of Zucchini:
Zucchini, also known as courgette in the UK and other countries, has amazing health benefits. It’s high in nutritional value, and low in calories. Technically, zucchini is a fruit, but is generally thought of as a vegetable because it’s cooked like other vegetables.
In addition to being low in calories, zucchini is rich in fiber, and is an outstanding source of both Vitamin C and manganese. It also contains numerous other vitamins and minerals that promote good health. Read on to learn how to make this incredible zucchini soup!
Ingredients for Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup:
I used the following ingredients: Unsalted butter, onions, garlic, fresh unpeeled zucchini, low sodium chicken broth, salt, freshly ground black pepper, milk, and heavy cream.
For a vegetarian soup, you can use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth. Also, you can use regular chicken broth, but should reduce the amount of salt that you add.
Making the Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup:
Making the Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup was super easy. I started by sautéing the chopped onions in some butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then, I added the minced garlic, and continued sautéing for another 30 seconds until it was fragrant. Next, I added the unpeeled, sliced zucchini, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. I brought the mixture to a boil, reduced the heat to medium low, and covered the pan. After 25 minutes, the zucchini and onion were perfectly cooked.
I let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes before puréeing it in batches in my blender. Then, I returned the puréed soup to my Dutch oven, and stirred in the milk and the cream. I tasted the soup to see if it needed any more salt. It was perfect for our taste!
I served the Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup with a loaf of freshly made crusty French bread for a light summer meal. All through dinner, the Master Taste Tester kept commenting on how good the soup was as he reached for extra helpings. Yum!
Creamy Puréed Zucchini Soup is both quick and easy to make and delicious to serve. This puréed soup is light and filling, and equally good served hot or cold. It's a perfect dish for a light summer meal, or as a starter for an elegant dinner party.
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 pounds zucchini, unpeeled and sliced (about 5 medium zucchinis) (See Tip 1)
- 4 cups (32 ounces) low sodium chicken broth (See Tip 2)
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt (See Tip 3)
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk (See Tip 4)
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) heavy cream (See Tip 5)
Melt butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue sautéing 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add zucchini, chicken broth, salt, and pepper.
Increase heat to high; bring mixture to a boil.
Lower heat to medium low; cover Dutch oven. Cook 25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Uncover and remove from heat. Allow to cool 15 minutes.
Purée soup in 3 batches in blender. (See Tip 6)
Wipe Dutch oven clean. Return puréed soup to Dutch oven, and stir in milk and cream. Correct the seasonings.
Serve hot or cold. (See Tip 7)
Yield: 6 servings.
- The zucchini peel is very tender, and high in nutritional value Therefore, you don't need to peel the zucchini, and really shouldn't! I cut the zucchini into roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. It's not necessary to be exact here because the soup is ultimately puréed.
- For a vegetarian soup, you can use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.
- You can use regular chicken broth. However, you should reduce the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon, and taste carefully before adding any more salt.
- I used whole milk. However, you could also use low fat milk.
- The cream adds richness to the soup, but also calories. For a less rich soup, you could use low-fat cream. Also, you could omit the cream, and increase the milk to 1 1/4 cups. If you omit the cream, it reduces the calories per serving to 115!
- Don't overfill the blender. If you do, it could make a mess! You can also use an immersion blender to pureé the soup.
- This soup is equally delicious served hot or cold. Leftovers can be refrigerated in a covered container for several days.
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