Brussels Sprouts Soup Recipe (European Style)
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Brussels Sprouts Soup is an amazing dish that can be served from the end of summer throughout the cold winter months. It’s very easy to make and tastes delicious. It can be served chunky or creamy, depending on your preferences, and accompanied by a piece of crusty bread.
If you’re looking for more Brussels Sprouts recipes check these two super popular recipes: Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, and Cheesy Brussels Sprouts with Gruyere and Bacon.
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Brussels Sprouts Soup – a perfect meal from late summer, through the cold winter
The Brussels Sprouts pick season is from September to late February. I usually find them most plentiful in the farms on Long Island right around the same time as apples are in season. They’re known for their slightly bitter taste. But the later into the season the sweeter they become. Apparently, Brussels Sprouts like to be touched by the frost.
Therefore this Brussels Sprouts Soup can be enjoyed anytime, for almost half of the year. It’s a super easy recipe that my mom used to make all the time. Personally, I love it chunky, because this is how I grew up eating all soups; but my kids like it creamy, so I blend some of it for them. Feel free to go either way.
It may be hard to believe that my kids actually eat Brussels Sprouts. I know. For those who follow this blog, you know this is even more implausible because they are very picky eaters. As a result, I always struggle with getting healthy veggies into them. Soups are one of the very few successful vehicles I’ve had to hide veggies in. Perhaps it was my persistence with my first son that he eats a bowl of soup every day, that they’re both accustomed to Mom’s colorful soups. Or perhaps kids just dig the consistency. Either way, I always make certain that it’s tasty and smooth.
One of my older son’s favorites is this Creamy Spinach Soup. My little guy spits up everything that has any texture that doesn’t agree with him. That means 0 vegetables! But, then he sees his older brother eating a bowl of soup and he goes for it too. I consider this a huge success. They both eat healthy portions of this Brussels Sprouts soup.
(*insider secret: juicing is also a tremendous way to sneak veggies into your little people)
If you are a fan of Brussels Sprouts, bookmark this recipe because you’ll reuse it often.
Ingredients Needed to Make Brussels Sprouts Soup
For a full list of ingredients with measurements, scroll down to the printable recipe card.
This is one of those recipes that require only a handful of simple ingredients and it comes out absolutely delicious. Here’s your grocery list:
- Brussels Sprouts;
- Leek;
- Potatoes;
- Carrots;
- Celery;
- Parsnip;
- Olive Oil, or butter;
- Broth (Chicken or Vegetable);
- Heavy Cream;
- Salt and Pepper, to taste;
- Parsley to garnish.
How to Make Brussels Sprout Soup
For full instructions and nutritional values please scroll down to the printable recipe card.
- Prepare your vegetables:
- Peel and chop carrots;
- Clean and chop your leek;
- Peel and cube the potatoes;
- Clean and chop celery;
- Peel the parsnip (I use it whole and discard it at the end of cooking because I don’t care for its taste, but feel free to chop it like carrots and leave it in the soup);
- Wash your Brussels sprouts, discard outer leaves, and gently trim the ends (you can leave them whole or cut them in halves, making sure that the stem is intact so they don’t fall apart in the soup).
- Cook the Soup:
- In a Dutch Oven or other pot with a lid, heat up butter or olive oil;
- Add leeks and cook for a few minutes;
- Add carrots, and celery, and cook for another couple of minutes;
- Add Brussels Sprouts, potatoes, and parsnip;
- Pour in the broth, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes, until all the veggies are cooked.
- Finish up the Soup:
- Pour the cream into a cup and slowly add some of the soup broth to temper the cream;
- Once you have a full cup of liquid, pour it over into the pot;
- Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper;
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
- For more intense flavor, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice into each bowl
- You can also add some Maggie seasoning if you can find it (In Poland we use it all the time and I can find it in Polish specialty stores, but you can also get it on Amazon at the link above).
Ways to Alter this Recipe
- Vegan: you can easily make this recipe vegan by:
- using olive oil and not butter;
- skipping the cream;
- for a thicker consistency, you could blend some of the soup.
- With Meat:
- Brussels sprouts go hand in hand with bacon, so you could fry up some bacon, chop it, and then add it to the bowls for serving;
- Another good meat option would be seared, cubed ham; seared kielbasa, or other sausages.
How to Serve Brussels Sprouts Soup
In Poland, we eat soups as a first course of dinner, followed by the main dish that would usually involve some sort of meat with potatoes and veggie on the side.
However, nowadays I like to eat my soups for lunch with a toasted piece of good bread or baguette. It could also serve as a vegetarian dinner with a piece of bread and salad.
You could serve it chunky as I did here. Or you can blend it for a creamier version. If you want your soup chunky but a little thicker, you could pour a couple of ladles into a blender, blend it and add it back to the pot.
Other Delicious European Soups to Try:
- Rosol – Polish Chicken Soup
- Polish Dill Pickle Soup
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Instant Pot Bean Soup with Spinach and Pesto
- Slow Cooker Cabbage Soup
Brussels Sprouts Soup Recipe (European Style)
Ingredients
- 1 Leek Cleaned and chopped
- 2 stalks Celery Chopped
- 3 Carrots Medium, chopped
- 4 Yellow Potatoes Medium, chopped
- 1 Parsnip Whole or chopped
- 3 cups Brussels Sprouts Cleaned, outer leaves removed, whole or cut in half
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Butter + optional more Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling to finish up the soup
- 5 cups Broth Chicken or vegetables
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- Lemon juice Optional, few drops into each bowl to enhance a flavor
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
- Maggi Seasoning Optional to taste
Instructions
Prepare your vegetables:
- Peel and chop carrots;
- Clean and chop your leek;
- Peel and cube the potatoes;
- Clean and chop celery;
- Peel the parsnip (I use it whole and discard it at the end of cooking, but feel free to chop it like carrots and leave it in the soup);
- Wash your Brussels sprouts, discard outer leaves, gently trim the ends (you can leave them whole or cut them in halves, making sure that stem is intact so they don't fall apart in the soup).
Cook the Soup:
- In a Dutch Oven or other pot with a lid, heat up butter or olive oil;
- Add leeks and cook for about 3 minutes, until softened;
- Add carrots and celery and cook for another 3-4 minutes;
- Add Brussels Sprouts, potatoes and parsnip;
- Pour in the broth, cover and cook for about 20-25 minutes, until all the veggies are cooked.
Finish up the Soup:
- Pour the cream into a cup and slowly add some of the soup broth to temper the cream;
- Once you have a full cup of liquid, pour it over into the pot;
- Check for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper;
- Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.
- For an extra flavor's boost add a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a few drops of Maggie seasoning (all of which are optional).
Notes
Ways to Alter this Recipe
- Vegan: you can easily make this recipe vegan by:
- using olive oil and not butter;
- skipping the cream;
- for a thicker consistency, you could blend some of the soup.
- With Meat:
- Brussels sprouts go hand in hand with bacon, so you could fry up some bacon, chop it, and then add it to the bowls for serving;
- Another good meat option would be seared, cubed ham; seared kielbasa, or other sausages.
Serving Suggestions:
- You could serve it chunky;
- Or you can blend it for a creamier version;
- If you want your soup chunky but a little thicker, you could pour a couple of ladles into a blender, blend it and add it back to the pot.
Nutrition
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What a fun veggie soup! My kids all love brussels sprouts, and this will be a hit with them.
My kids love this soup so I hope yours will too 🙂
I’d never had brussels sprouts soup before but this delicious soup changed that! I love how it has so much flavor and it’s so easy to make.
Thanks Sapana!
I LOVE Brussels sprouts and can not believe that I’ve never seen them in a soup before! This is genius – can’t wait to try it!
Thank you, Lauren, let me know how you liked it 🙂
I know what I will be having for dinner tonight! This soup looks amazing; worthy of a restaurant, indeed!
Looks so creamy and chunky and delicious. I love all the veggies in this. Not your typical soup veggies.
I just made this for dinner and it turned out really good! I added half a teaspoon on white pepper. The perfect dinner!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Can I freeze this soup? So yummy
Absolutely. I freeze soups every week. Just use the good container 🙂
I had to work to convince my wife that this could be a good recipe. She doesn’t like Brussels sprouts as much as I do. I loved the soup and she liked it enough that she wants to make it again! (We added small sausage pieces.)
Can I use frozen Brussel sprouts?
Yes, they would work just fine.
This is a wonderful soup. I’m not a fan of brussel sprouts but my husband loves them so I looked for a recipe we might both like. We both loved it. We added a few leftovers from the garden including fresh sweet corn and squash (but no parships – not a common vegetable in the U.S.). Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to making this on a cold night.
try using leftover roasted brussel sprouts in this–YUM!
I absolutely love this recipe! Can’t wait to make the different variations you suggested.
This soup is delicious. I took two cups out after veggies were cooked and put in blender with 1/2 c cream.
Added the blended to the pot. Added thyme, salt, lemon pepper and simmered for 14-16 mins.
This turned out to be a great soup. It could be one of my favourites going forward. For the people who say they don’t like brussels sprouts because of their inherent bitterness, this should still too be a winner.
OH MY GOODNESS, this soup was sooooooo good and very easy to make. I loved the parsnip so I cut it up as suggested and left it in the soup. It is such a savory soup with a little sweet bite because of the parsnip. It’s a keeper and will be a staple during soup season. The first thing most people say is “I don’t eat brussel sprouts”! Erase the thought and try this recipe, you won’t be disappointed as it takes the poor veggie that no one likes to eat except smothered in cheese and bacon to a whole other level!!!! I’m checking out some more of your recipes and will be making them tonight. Thanks again for sharing your gift of cooking.
Cooking with ingredients that you don’t like eat is understandable to a degree. Meaning that one,as an example wouldn’t eat boiled bay leafs yet their flavoring is desirable.
My reason for commenting is your dislike of parsnips. Why not substitute turnip,celery ir parsley root or sweet potato?
After all, with inflation and budgets we may pay to choose foods that we intend to eat and enjoy.
My Bostonian parents cooked many root vegetables including parsnips, rutabagas and turnips that I’ve always loved to eat.
My brothers and I were raised in DC with it’s extremely diverse population and tremendously wide varieties of international foods.With only a few exceptions (eg chitterlings, headcheese, blood sausage ) I’ve enjoyed eating some food that could be considered unusual, exotic or unique.
One found on my first driving trip in the Florida panhandle. I’ll never forget seeing that hand paint sign in big bold red letters
BOILED PEANUTS on the side of the road.A big kettle over a fire filled with green peanuts being boiled and sold. Food adventurous I had to give them a try. At first a little peculiar but by the end of the bag I was hooked. Of course peanuts are legumes so really not strange to boil. Eastern North Carolina’s no heavy red sauce
instead vinegary BBQ became my favorite on first bite. In Little Havana” Miami Florida I ordered
” whatever their eating a table away. Big big mistake.When it arrived the young server asked “You like this…” I don’t know what is it? ” Calves brains” No no no I ended up paying for two entrees including my second order of a Cuban sandwich that I thoroughly enjoyed.
This soup was amazing! I left in the parsnip and it adds so much to the soup without being overwhelming. Used half and half instead of heavy cream as I wanted a lighter version. Wouldn’t change a thing except maybe next time I’ll try puréing a bit of it. I make soups all winter long and this one has earned a spot in the rotation. Definitely a keeper…thank you very much.
This soup is delicious, and the instructions are so easy to follow.
Glad to find this recipe, had a huge bag of Brussel sprouts, and needed something new and different. Perfectly presented, short ingredient list, and quick prep, What more can you ask for? A successful result! Loved by the whole family. Left the parsnip whole, for flavor, then cut it up and served on the side, those who like it, added. (they all added it:)
Bacon was the icing on the cake. Interesting suggestion: I did not have my dutch oven, so I prepared all the saute in a large pan, put all the ingredients in a heavy foil rectangle pan, and covered tightly. 1 hour in the oven at 375F, and presto, dinner with not stress and no cleanup, 5 STARS!
Great recipe! I was supposed to make a huge batch of grilled Brussels Sprouts for Christmas dinner invite today but illness hit the clan so dinner was cancelled. I was looking online to see what to make. I just substituted a couple of things. I didn’t have cream but coconut milk. Love this recipe. I cut some of the sprouts in 14’s so there would be some loose leaves and added a 1/2 block of frozen spinach. Can’t get enough green vegetables! Thanks for the recipe.