The other day I was craving a cold soup, but I didn’t have enough ingredients for either of my favorites – Cold Cucumber Soup and Cold Asparagus Soup. However, I knew I had a little asparagus and half a cucumber and some other “green” vegetables. So I preceded to empty the crispers of anything fresh and green. Once everything was laid out on the countertop, I saw that I had plenty of ingredients for a cold soup. Everything that was green or white got chopped and thrown into a pot with a little spicy curry powder. For lunch the next day, Bobby and I had this delicious cold curry vegetable soup!
If you don’t have all of the ingredients listed in the recipe, that’s not a problem. This cold curry vegetable soup can be made with just about any green or white vegetable. Be sure to check out the Kitchen Notes for ways to change it up to best fit your tastes and what you have on hand.
*See Kitchen Notes for substitutions and more information about recipe and ingredients.
- 2 – 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- ¼ to ½ medium onion, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- ½ green bell pepper, chopped
- ¼ – ½ pound asparagus*, chopped
- ½ large cucumber, chopped
- 2 cups stock or broth*
- 2 cups water
- ½ tsp. sweet & spicy curry powder*
- ½ tsp. white wine vinegar
- Generous amount of cracked white pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 avocado*, chopped
- Heat the olive oil in a medium size soup pot over medium-low heat.
- When hot add the onion, garlic, celery, and bell pepper. Saute’ the vegetables until soft, about 7 minutes.
- Add the cucumber and asparagus.
- Saute’ for 2 to 3 minutes then add the stock/water. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the curry powder and vinegar. Let the soup cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
- Add the cracked white pepper. Taste. Add salt if needed.
- Let come to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
- Before serving, add the avocado and blend again. You could save half of the avocado as garnish if you choose.
- Serve with a grilled cheese or crackers of your choice.
Ingredient Amounts – The amount of ingredients can vary depending on what you have on hand. Just adjust the amounts to what you have available. However, be careful of adding too much of any one ingredient as I talk about next.
Vegetables – For this particular recipe, the theme is “green”, so any green vegetable (or white), can go into the soup. You could do the same soup with “yellow” or “red” vegetable for a completely different flavor. Here are some ideas for a “green” soup:
- Substitute the asparagus with broccoli or the onion with leeks.
- Add some chopped fennel or use fennel fronds as a garnish
- Add sweet peas, English peas – any shelled peas (don’t add the pods because they might be too tough and stringy to puree’ properly)
- Throw in some chopped parsley or any herbs of your choice after blending
- Use green summer squash
- Add a few greens (spinach, kale, Swiss chard) without the stems (The stems might not puree’ very well.)
- Omit vegetables that could be overpowering in flavor such as collard greens and cabbage
The only thing you need to be careful of is adding TOO much of any one thing. You want all of the flavor to blend together and provide a mixed vegetable flavor that, with the curry and the avocado, is delicious! By using too much of any one vegetable, or using a vegetable such as collard greens, you might overpower all of the other flavors in the soup.
Curry powder – Bet you thought this soup had green chile in it, didn’t you? 
I thought about it, but I changed my mind when I saw a cute little jar of Sweet & Spicy Curry Powder that I got from an Asian spice shop. I had already tasted the soup, so I knew that the curry powder would be perfect with it – and it was! Thus is the trick to seasoning a soup like this. Taste it first, then decide what herbs or spices would complement it.
Liquid – You can use all stock or broth or even water. However, I like using half and half – half stock and half water. You may need to add a bit more liquid once you start to puree in order to acquire the consistency you like.
Avocado – A nice ripe avocado is a great substitute for dairy. It provides a very creamy and pleasant texture, as well as adding to the overall flavor of the soup. You may choose to only puree’ half of the avocado, then use the other half for garnish.
I hope this soup has set your creative juices in motion and you’re sitting there thinking “So what’s in the fridge that I can use to make a cold soup?”
Have fun and enjoy!
For more cold soup recipes, check out this roundup of more than 20 chilled soups.
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I’ve never had a curried cold soup and I love the idea of avocados and asparagus together… really original. Thank you for sharing it with us on foodie friday.
The combination of the asparagus and avocado did turn out good. 🙂 Thanks Diane!
I love it when we discover something wonderful from what we have on-hand. Of course, I think that’s why my soups rarely taste the same way twice. 😉 Great soup idea!
I bet Reese and Mark makes great curry powder! 😀 I love cold soup that is served at restaurants, but I haven’t made one at home. When it’s chilled, it is a wonderful dish to serve to the guests. I should consider giving it a try. When the appetite goes down in hot summer, cold soup sounds very appetizing!
Yes – Reese & Mark make an EXCELLENT curry powder and it was perfect for this soup. You’d love it. I agree – cold soup makes a nice little start to a dinner party.
This takes ‘bottom of the fridge soup’ to wonderful new heights, MJ! I love the flexibility of this recipe (although the ingredients you have used include many of my favourite veggies) and the way you have used avocado to make the soup creamy. It sounds just delicious! I like the sound of a sweet and spicy curry powder too. Thank you for sharing another wonderful recipe with the Hearth and Soul hop.
Yes it does! 🙂 Thank you so much April! I was really surprised how creamy the avocado made this soup along with adding another layer of flavor. Season & Spice’s curry powder is awesome!!!
What a fantastic looking soup! I read the title wrong the first time, I saw “Cold-Curing Vegetable Soup.” However, I wouldn’t be surprised if all those great green vegetables helped to cure a cold! This dish looks so great for a hot summer day!
Thanks Amber! I bet the soup could cure the common cold! You can’t get much healthier than this. 🙂
Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you actually understand what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Please also visit my web site =). We will have a hyperlink trade contract among us!
Delicious curried soup love vegetable soup a lot.
Using curry powder in cold soups….how innovative!!! I need to try this one. Looks beautiful, the clicks are gorgeous.
Thanks so much Minnie! The curry was an afterthought that worked out surprising well. Of course, it was really good curry!
Everything that goes into the soup is fabulous, MJ! We’ll be picking our garden vegetables this weekend and your soup is top off my list to make. Thank you for sharing such an inspiring dish.
Thanks Reese! Oh to use your own fresh picked vegetables!! I’m so jealous! Hope you and Mark are having a fabulous weekend! Enjoy!
MJ, I am going to have to try this. the only cold soup I’ve eaten or made is gazpacho – it’s time to branch out – I’ll wait for warmer weather though. Cheers
Thanks Carole! I too love Gazpacho, but love to mix it up. Hope you enjoy!
I don’t often crave cold soups, but I do curry and spicy too. Your soup sound amazing! It’s finally summer here so now I can make your recipe. Thanks for sharing, looks so yummy:)
Since I can never get enough avocado (my favorite!) I’ll have to thank you for the idea of blending one into a cold soup – fantastic idea! 🙂
You’re most welcome Jen! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
That is so COOL Peach Lady!
Hi MJ – I love cold soups in pretty much any shape or form! My wife isn’t such a fan sadly so I don’t often bother making them. The colour is beautiful and great call on the avocado – it’s got such a creamy, smooth, “dairy-like” consistency hasn’t it?!
Thanks Charles! Bobby wasn’t a fan of cold soups for a long time, but when I first starting making the cold cucumber soup he became a fan and now enjoys just about any cold soup I make. The avocado was actually a last minute idea and it sure did work. 🙂
MJ, your cold soup makes me regret my today’s plans for lunch… The colours are bright, sunny and I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to enjoy it on a hot summer day we are lucky to have today.
I hated cold soups as a child because the most frequent one included beetroots (hated by most children at least at the time) but nowadays I love even the beetroot one (probably because I like beetroots now too). I don’t think I have ever seen a cold curried soup, so your invention is extremely creative and original to me! I love it.
Thanks Sissi! I wasn’t too fond of cold soups as a kid either, but now I love them all summer long! Still not crazy about beetroot. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
I made this for lunch and it was umm umm good. I used everything you used except I didn’t have a cucumber and I threw in a cup of leftover mashed potatoes and a few cilantro leaves. To get it cool enough for lunch with less than an hour’s lead time I used ice cubes instead of water. I also have a sweet hot curry powder that the family doesn’t really care for in my traditional curry dishes but it was perfect for this. I’m sure this will be a repeat. GOOD JOB!
Thanks Sis! I can always count on you! 🙂 The mashed potatoes sound like a perfect thickener for this and of course you can never go wrong with cilantro. How clever of you to use ice cubes for a quick cool! I’ll have to remember that one. So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the wonderful comment!! Hugs to you all!
interesting to serve cold curry soup.. but smart use of curry powder, it always jazz up any dish.
What a marvelous summer soup! I’m impressed with your ingenuity!
Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? A soup that not only tastes great but clears out you fridge too!
Yep – that’s always nice! 🙂
The soup looks beautiful! Love the color!
Hi MJ. This soup sounds delicious. I love cold summer soups and the addition of curry to a vegetable soup is a fantastic idea. Definitely want to try this one. Thanks for a great post!
Thanks Bill! I’m sure cold soup are a must in your hot and humid weather. Stay cool!
A good looking soup and nutritious!
I love curry in soup. It’s too cold for cold soup but I will keep this in mind. Winter doesn’t last long here. 🙂
Thanks Maureen! Actually this soup is good hot as well as cold. Stay warm my friend!
What a fanatic soup, MJ, made even more so because it was made on the spur of the moment with what you had on-hand. How creative! Thanks, too, for the tips and notes. They’ll apply to just about any soup, not just the one you shared today.
Thanks John! I agree about the Kitchen Notes. Hope you’re having a great week.
I am looking at the ingredients and aside from the curry, the 4 cloves of garlic is what added to the drool factor here. 🙂 Although I have to admit that I’ve never had cold curry soup before but I am sure this will be a hit on my dinner table. I hope you and Bobby are having a great week! 🙂
Thanks Ray! I actually think 4 cloves of garlic is a minimum for me. 🙂 Hope you’re having a wonderful week!
What a vibrant and lovely color of green! It must have been so healthy with all of those veggies thrown in. I learned from Cooking Spree that we shouldn’t mix red and green veggies:) Your curry soup sounds heavenly!
Thanks Barbara! I’m not familiar with “Cooking Spree”. Need to look it up. I’m assuming you don’t mix red and green in a puree?
I could make this warm too because we are having such a rainy weather here! Lovely recipe!
Thanks Peachy! Yes – it would be just as good serve warm.
A cold curry soup is the best, so deliciois 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
P.S. To prepare for my exams now I won’t be commenting for around 4 weeks – See you in a month my friend 🙂
Thanks Uru! Good luck on your exams!
Oh this soup is beautiful MJ! I love cold soups in the summer. Unfortunately, my creativity with it all doesn’t ever get past gazpacho! I would definitely love to try this one. A nice chilly soup with warm spicy heat……perfect! Gorgeous photos as usual!
Thanks so much Anne! Cold soup is actually rather easy to make, as you can see. I do love gaspacho, but since we eat a lot of cold soup, I have to mix it up. 🙂
This is my soup, I mean made for me!
It is always great to unload pantries and fridge and doing it in such a creative and tasty way it is even better!
Love the avocado addition. How much chard to you think would be too much for this. I just harvested the last of it.
It was good before, but the avocado definitely made it better! Thanks! Depending on the size of the leaves, 3 large leaves at most. If you make it, leave your version in a comment please. 🙂
I love when you can use what you have on hand to make a fabulous dish like this. 🙂 This looks cool and perfect for this hot weather. 🙂
Thanks Ramona! Yes – it is perfect for hot weather!
I have never had a cold CURRY soup…I meant when I thought of curry, steaming hot usually has come to my mind…your soup looks very inviting!
Thanks Angie! The curry powder was the perfect spice for this soup, and yes, this was my first try at curry and cold. It worked great!
these are calling my name, i love to have a hot cup.
Wonderful looking soup! I love curry in anything, but rarely use it in cold soups. I gotta change that! The use of avocado is inspired. Really nice – thanks.
Thanks John! This was my first time using curry in a cold soup and I have to say that the curry really made the soup.