This marrow soup recipe is hands down the best way to enjoy marrow. It's delicious and flavoursome - not something that everyone always associates with marrow! And it has a naturally creamy texture, even though there's no cream in it.
I suspect that for many people, the search for marrow soup is because they are looking for a way to use up marrow. It's easy to end up with a few too many in the garden, and neighbours are often looking to give them away. But if you've got this recipe on hand, they are a really useful vegetable. And marrows store brilliantly, so you can make up a batch as and when you fancy. (This delicious fragrant marrow curry is another great solution for extra marrows.)
Why make marrow soup:
- Easy to make Just one pot and a stick blender, and a very simple process.
- Tasty Just a tiny bit of butter and a few extra seasonings, and this marrow soup is quite delicious. Marrows are naturally quite creamy, so this soup has a lovely texture.
- Healthy The soup is basically a mix of vegetables and stock, so it's a great healthy way to fill up without too many calories, and get an extra portion of veg. Try a mugful of soup as a healthy snack.
- Uses lots of marrow Marrow is the hero ingredient!
- Easy to scale up I've purposely done the measurements for this recipe so that they can easily be scaled up depending on the size and quantity of marrow that you have.
- Great for meal prep. Homemade soup is ideal for meal prep, and is really quick to reheat.
- Budget friendly. Marrows are generally pretty cost effective, and this soup will help to fill up hungry tummies.
Ingredients
Marrow. It really doesn't matter about the size of the marrow for this recipe, as you'll be using it by weight. Vegetable marrow is super easy to prepare. Just give it a wipe, and cut it into slices. Then lay each slice on its side and cut into cubes. I don't think it's necessary to peel the marrow as the skin softens down as it cooks, but if you are worried that it will be too hard, then peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler. If it's a very large ripe marrow, there may be some seeds inside. If so, remove these as they will remain chewy even when cooked. (You might be able to save them to grown more marrows next year!)
Onion and garlic. These are essential to add a sweet, savoury note to the soup. It's important to saute them first before adding the other ingredients as they'll add a much better flavour that way. You could use either white or red onions.
Olive oil/butter. If you're not vegan, then it's good to use a mix of butter and olive oil for the recipe. This will allow the onions to brown more easily, and give them a good flavour. If you'd prefer all olive oil or another healthy oil, that will also work well however. The amount of fat in the recipe is fairly low, so it's not a key ingredient.
Stock is an important ingredient in the recipe. You could use either vegetable or chicken stock. Of course homemade stock would be great, but a stock cube will also work perfectly well in this recipe.
Seasoning and spices. You'll want to season your marrow stock well as marrow isn't naturally very flavoursome. However, you may not need extra salt and pepper as bought stock is often quite salty. Make sure that you taste the soup and adjust the seasoning as you go. Three alternative spices which work well in marrow soup are:
- Nutmeg, which adds a sweet nuttiness. Either use a quick grating of fresh nutmeg, or a quarter teaspoon of ready ground.
- Ginger. Marrow and ginger is a classic combination. If you want to use fresh ginger, then grate about 1 cm of ginger into the onion mix as you are cooking it so that the flavour mixes in well. Alternatively you could use a quarter teaspoon of powdered ginger.
- Curry powder. For a spiced marrow soup, add a teaspoon of curry powder, either mild or strong as you prefer.
Scaling up the ingredients
For each 500 g of vegetable marrow, you'll need 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 500 ml of stock, plus spices. That quantity will make 3-4 servings. You can easily double or triple the amount of soup that you are making. Just remember that you'll want plenty of space in the pan as you are cooking and blending, so get out your largest pan if you are planning on scaling up!
How to make marrow soup
Start by sauteing the onion in hot oil/butter. It's important to get a good colour on the onions as the caramelisation will add a lovely flavour and richness to the soup. About 5 minutes should give a deep golden colour. Add the garlic and your choice of spice and fry for another minute or so.
Add the stock and diced marrow. If you are using a stock cube, you can just crumble the cube into the pan and add 500 ml of boiling water. Cover the pan and bring up to a gentle simmer.
Simmer for about 15 minutes until the marrow is soft.
Blitz with a hand (immersion) blender until completely smooth. You could also use a blender or food processor if you prefer. I like to use a hand blender as it means less washing up! If you've left the skin on the marrow, the soup will be flecked with green.
Serving suggestions
You can serve the marrow soup immediately, or prepare it ahead and reheat it through on the stove. It will store well in the fridge for up to 3 days, and you can also freeze it in airtight tubs.
Marrow soup goes really well with this flourless seed bread, or gluten free savoury cheese scones for a quick healthy lunch. Add some chopped nuts or chopped boiled egg for extra protein.
Frequently asked questions
Marrow is a low calorie vegetable which is part of the squash family. Marrow is high in fibre which can help to benefit your digestion. It is also a good source of vitamins A, B and C along with a number of other vital vitamins and minerals.
In this soup recipe, the skin will soften as the marrow cooks, so there's no need to peel your marrow. But if you feel the skin is particularly tough, you can peel if you prefer.
Marrows and courgettes are both from the same family. Courgettes are smaller, and marrows are larger. Generally, a marrow is a courgette that has been left on the plant for longer. However, if you are growing marrows or courgettes yourself, you'll see that different varieties are recommended, depending on whether you are planning to harvest them as courgettes or marrows.
You might also like these other healthy soup recipes:
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Recipe
Marrow Soup
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 10 g butter or use an extra ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic peeled and very finely chopped or minced
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg or use ginger or curry powder
- 500 g marrow cut into 1.5 cm cubes
- 500 ml vegetable or chicken stock fresh or use 1 stock cube plus 500 ml water
Instructions
- Heat a large pan on a medium heat, and fry the onion in the olive oil and butter for 5 minutes. The onions will take on a lovely golden colour.
- Add the garlic and spice and fry for another 2 minutes.
- Add the marrow and stock. If you are using a stock cube, just crumble it into the pan and add 500ml boiling water. Cover the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. After this time the marrow will be soft.
- Blitz the mixture in the pan with a hand blender until completely smooth. You could also use a blender or food processor if you prefer.
Notes
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 cm grated fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon dried ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
Guy says
Probably the best home made soup I've ever made. Did some last year with curry powder. Am planning on doing a few variations this time around. A beautifully creamy soup to die for.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you for your comment - I'm glad you loved the marrow soup:)
Kristin says
Very impressed, definitely the best marrow recipe I've tasted!