This Cheesy Fiddlehead soup turns your fiddleheads into creamy deliciousness! This creamy soup is easy to make, light, healthy, low-fat, meatless and WW friendly! And you can use fresh or frozen fiddleheads.
Fiddleheads are delicious little edible ferns that are special, like Saskatoon berries and cherries, because fiddlehead season only comes around once a year and for a very short time (usually in early spring). But this year, where I live, they were super late (like everything else) due to late snowfalls! But don't worry, if you can't get your hands on fiddleheads, from your local farmers' markets, you can substitute asparagus for this soup.
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This Fiddlehead Soup recipe was inspired by my Cheesy Sautéed Fiddleheads and my Spring Salad with Fiddleheads & Blackberry Vinaigrette , and pairs well with my Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks or Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe!
🥘Ingredients
You don't need heavy cream for this creamy fiddlehead soup. Pureeing the vegetables and adding Greek yogurt, low-fat milk and low-fat cheese mimics that creaminess in a lighter and healthier way!
For this fiddlehead soup, you'll need:
- unsalted butter
- onion
- garlic
- chicken broth
- fiddlehead ferns
- carrot
- milk (1%)
- 0% non-fat Greek yogurt (plain)
- Worcestershire sauce
- soy sauce
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- cheddar cheese (low-fat)
- fresh dill
*See recipe card for quantities
🔪Instructions
STEPS FOR COOKING FIDDLEHEADS (DO NOT EAT THEM RAW!)
*if you eat fiddleheads raw, you could end up with food poisoning or some serious gastrointestinal distress!
You need to follow these 4 steps before making the soup:
- Rinse the fiddleheads, remove any papery brown skin from the tops, and then trim fiddleheads by slicing off as much of the brown parts on their ends as you can. Fill a large bowl with cold water and put the fiddleheads in there for a few minutes, swishing them around with your hands to remove any dirt. * I rub the coils to loosen any dirt as well. Discard the water and repeat this process.
- Add to pot of cold water and bring to a boil.
- Boil for 15 minutes (time it from the time the water is a full boil).
- Drain. * They will be a little darker green in color. *Set aside a few for garnish at this point, if you wish.
How to make fiddlehead soup
Melt butter in a large pot, over medium-high heat. Stir in onion and garlic; sauté onion and garlic until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
Pour 4 cups chicken broth, grated carrots, and fiddleheads into the onion mixture, and bring to a full boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low, uncovered and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and place in base of food processor. Or use an immersion blender and puree right in the pot of soup.
Puree in a food processor. Or cool and add to blender (it will explode out the top if hot and you have a glass blender).
Then return to soup, whisking to combine.
Remove from heat and whisk in Greek yogurt, milk and cheese.
Return to low heat and add fresh dill, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce and heat through, while continuing to whisk, for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and thicken as desired (see recipe card).
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Fiddleheads - you can use fresh fiddleheads or frozen fiddleheads for this recipe or substitute fresh asparagus if you can't get your hands on fiddleheads
- Chicken broth - use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian
- Dill - you can substitute dried dill (although I don't recommend it) but you'll only need to use half the amount.
- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes
- Sour cream and milk - you can use light, fat-free or full fat, if you prefer
- Thickener - you can use roux or potato flakes (affiliate link)
- Serve it in a mug (as in photo above)- you can also get a microwaveable mug with a lid (affiliate links) and take it to work
🥗 Side Dishes
This Cream of Fiddlehead soup pairs really well with a salad or bread. Here are a few suggestions:
- Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks (shown)
- Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe
- Bread Machine Onion & Olive Bread
- Spinach Salad with Honey Lime Cilantro Dressing
🍽Equipment
Because this is a pureed soup, you'll need an immersion blender or a food processor (affiliate links). The benefit of the immersion blender is that you don't have to remove anything - you can blend it right in the pot. If you are using a food processor, I recommend using a scoop and drain slotted spoon (affiliate link) to remove the vegetables for blending.
🌡️Storage
Store this fiddlehead soup in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can freeze it in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes 6 servings, so a serving size is ⅙ of entire recipe. However, you can half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. You will just need a larger pot.
🔢WW Points
This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly @ 5 WW points on my plan. Build it in the app to see how many points it is on your plan! You can also use light margarine or butter to further reduce the WW points. However, if you do thicken it with roux, you need to add additional points. Another way to thicken it is with potato flakes (this is perfect if potatoes are one of your zero (0) point foods!)
❔ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can freeze fiddlehead soup for up to 3 months
Cook fiddleheads by boiling them for 15 minutes before sautéing, frying, baking, or using them in other foods, such as soups.
If you are looking for a great way to use your fiddlehead crop, in a healthy and creamy soup, that's rich and delicious, you'll love this Cheesy Fiddlehead Soup!
⭐ Reviews
Did you LOVE this fiddlehead soup ? If so, please leave a 5 star rating and comment below.
📋 Cheesy Fiddlehead Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups fiddlehead ferns (measure after cooking for 15 minutes)
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1 cup Greek yogurt, plain, non-fat, (0%)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (low-fat)
- ½ -1 tablespoon chopped, fresh dill
- 1 ½ tablespoon both oil and all-purpose flour (OPTIONAL roux for thickening)
Garnish
- grated cheese
- fresh dill
- Fiddleheads
- croutons (optional)
- green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare fiddleheads: Rinse the fiddleheads, remove any papery brown skin from the tops, and then slice off as much of the brown parts on their ends as you can. Fill a large bowl with cold water and put the fiddleheads in there for a few minutes, swishing them around with your hands to remove any dirt. * I rub the coils to loosen any dirt as well. Discard the water and repeat this process. Add to pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes (time it from the time the water is a full boil) Drain. * They will be a little darker green in color. *Set a few aside for garnish at this point
- Melt butter in a large pot, over medium-high heat. Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Pour 4 cups chicken broth, grated carrots, and fiddleheads into the onion mixture, and bring to a full boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, uncovered and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and place in food processor.
- Puree in a food processor or use an immersion blender and puree right in the pot.
- Then return puree mixture to soup, whisking to combine.
- Remove from heat and whisk in Greek yogurt, milk and cheese.
- Add fresh dill, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. cook on low and stirring with a whisk, until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- At this point, if the soup is not thick enough for your liking, add a roux (mix equal amounts of flour and oil - about 1.5 tbsps of each) and whisk into soup. Keep whisking over low heat until soup reaches the desired thickness. Repeat until desired thickness is reached.
Garnish
- Garnish with Cheddar cheese additional fiddleheads or fresh dill
Asha
I never cooked my own fiddleheads at home before. This post was full of great information and tips on how to prepare them. The soup turned out delicious as well
Colleen
We foraged for fiddleheads on our camping trip this weekend so this recipe is perfect timing! This soup looks so creamy and delicious. I'm excited to make it!
Bernice
You are so right Terri. Everything is so late this year. I have plants just coming up in the garden that were planted before May long! I saw fiddleheads at Co-Op a few days ago! This is a great looking soup and I think the cheese would go really well with the fiddleheads.
Elaine
My fiddleheads were late this year, too! Love this recipe--such a nutritious soup!
nancy
I've never cooked fiddleheads before. This soup was easy to make and i love how creamy and tasty it is! Perfect forage ingredients
Vanessa
Great timing! There are still fiddleheads around since everything is so late this year. I had a bunch in the fridge from the farmer's market and this soup was a delicious change from just serving them as a side.