One of my most popular culinary teaching classes has consistently been my “Soups, Simplified” course. The students always indicated in their feedback that they were blown away by how much they learned in this class. As well, they pledged that they would never, ever dispose of vegetable scraps or peelings again after completing the course. The class always included several treats for the students. For example, this Silky Strawberry Balsamic Soup with Yogurt Drizzle was a hit! It was served at the beginning of the program as an amuse-bouche prior to starting the class discussion. I thought I would share it this easy-to-make recipe with my readers since it is also very popular for Valentine’s Day, as well as luncheons or bridal and baby showers. This elegant gluten-free soup is served chilled and can be made in minutes with fresh or frozen strawberries.
Chilled Silky Strawberry Balsamic Soup with Yogurt Drizzle
CHEF TALK: This delicious chilled soup takes mere minutes to make. Make it ahead and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Just before serving stir in the sparkling wine or Processo. Serve the soup as an ‘amuse bouche’ or as a first course. This soup is gluten-free. If desired, just before serving, drizzle with the yogurt and grind a bit of freshly ground black pepper on top of the soup.
Yield: 4 – 6 servings (approximately 800 ml)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) sliced strawberries or chopped, thawed frozen strawberries
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) Greek yogurt or flavoured yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) White Balsamic vinegar
- 2 – 4 teaspoons (10 – 20 g) sugar (depending on the tartness of the strawberries)
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
________________ - 1 cup champagne, sparkling white wine, Prosecco, or ginger ale, optional
- yogurt for drizzle
Garnish: A swirl of yogurt (thinned out with a bit of milk or cream), sliced strawberries, a sprig of mint and/or finely diced fresh strawberries
METHOD:
- Place the sliced strawberries into a food processor or blender.
- Add the yogurt, balsamic vinegar, sugar to taste and vanilla bean paste.
- Puree until combined. CHEF TIP: In the restaurant setting, soups such as this are often strained to achieve a silky texture. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer. Place the mixture into a bowl.
Straining the Strawberry Balsamic Soup to create a silky texture
- Cover the mixture well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to 24 hours. It will thicken up slightly.
- If you are using the champagne, pour into the soup and stir well to combine the mixture. CHEF TIP: Add the champagne just before serving and the soup will have that extra fizz sparkle!
- Garnish and serve cold in small chilled bowls or ceramic tasting spoons to be served as an amuse-bouche. For the tasting spoons (shown below), I prefer a more viscous liquid, so I do not add the champagne before serving.
Silky Strawberry Balsamic Soup with Yogurt Drizzle
Prep
Inactive
Total
Yield 4-6 servings
This delicious chilled soup takes mere minutes to make. Make it ahead and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Just before serving stir in the sparkling wine or Processo. Serve the soup as an ‘amuse-bouche’ or as a first course. This soup is gluten-free. If desired, just before serving, drizzle with the yogurt and grind a bit of freshly ground black pepper on top of the soup.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) sliced strawberries or chopped, thawed frozen strawberries
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) Greek yogurt or flavoured yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) White Balsamic vinegar
- 2 – 4 teaspoons (10 - 20 g) sugar (depending on the tartness of the strawberries)
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup champagne, sparkling white wine, Prosecco, or ginger ale, optional
- yogurt for drizzle
Garnish: A swirl of yogurt (thinned out with a bit of milk or cream if necessary), sliced strawberries, a sprig of mint and/or finely diced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Place the sliced strawberries into a food processor or blender.
- Add the yogurt, balsamic vinegar, sugar to taste and vanilla bean paste.
- Puree until combined. CHEF TIP: In the restaurant setting, soups such as this are often strained to achieve a silky texture. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer. Place the mixture into a bowl Straining the Strawberry Balsamic Soup to create a silky texture/caption]
- Cover the mixture well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to 24 hours. It will thicken up slightly.
- If you are using the champagne, pour into the soup and stir well to combine the mixture. CHEF TIP: Add the champagne just before serving and the soup will have that extra fizz sparkle!
- Garnish and serve cold in small chilled bowls or ceramic tasting spoons to be served as an amuse-bouche.
Notes
This gluten-free soup can be made in minutes with fresh or frozen strawberries. Chill for several hours before serving. For a special touch, grind a bit of freshly ground black pepper on top of the soup just before serving.
For further details, including photographs, please refer to my original post: https://urbnspice.com/my-recipes/silky-strawberry-balsamic-soup-yogurt-drizzle/
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Courses Dinner
Cuisine Canadian
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
% Daily Value |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
If you love soup (and who doesn’t?), you will also enjoy these recipes:
Cabbage Roll Soup
Tomato-Potato Soup with Roasted Garlic
Cream of Fennel and Gruyere Soup with Sherry
Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:
- Vanilla Extract
- Vanilla Bean Paste
- Straining
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If you try my recipe for Chilled Silky Strawberry Balsamic Soup with Yogurt Drizzle, please leave me a comment below with your feedback.
You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!
Denise Paré-Watson
The Urbnspice Chef
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How can that possibly be so easy!? It’s gorgeous – and recently my IG feed keeps mentioned that there’s a new brand of Canadian greenhouse grown strawberries in grocery stores. Will have to check that out and make this happen! Diane | Kitchen Bliss | FBC
I am so happy to hear that you will try this soup, Diane. And I must also find out about these brand new Canadian greenhouse grown strawberries that you mentioned (and I will let my fellow bloggers know because we are all dreaming of spring, right?). Thank you so much for your comments.
This is the kind of flavor and texture I’d love to have in a soup, especially with the bite of mint. It makes me sad when people push the mint garnish aside and it’s the only thing left over on the plate when the meal is over. Poor forgotten herbs. This sounds spectacular, Denise! Must try!
Isn’t that so true, Nicole! I notice the same thing with mint. I used the tiniest sprigs for this soup post because the little ceramic spoons are only about 2 inches long. That little hit of freshness is so refreshing. Let me know if you try it – I would love to know what you think. Thanks so much for your comments.
Denise, this strawberry soup sounds divine! I’ve had strawberries on the brain lately, maybe because I’m dreaming of spring. 🙂 I will be trying this lovely recipe as soon as the local strawberries are available.
I so agree with you on that, Colleen. I am dreaming of spring as well, so, to make you smile, I will tell you that I used frozen organic strawberries for this post. They were so sweet that I did not need to use much sugar at all. Let me know if you try it 🙂 And thanks so much for your comments – I do appreciate it so much!
I love the silky smooth texture of this soup. I can imagine how my guests would be blown away (like your class students) if I make this for an amuse-bouche for their course meal. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Tell me , if I use ginger ale instead of wine do I still add it to the soup just before serving? It is a must try for me now coz I am so much blown away just by looking at the pictures.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Fouzia. You can certainly add the ginger ale just before serving. But, first, I will tell you my secret – sometimes, because I want the somewhat thicker texture of the strawberry soup so that I can make a yogurt heart decoration, especially for amuse-bouche, I skip the step of adding wine or ginger ale. It is just as delicious without this step. Does that make sense? If you try it, please let me know 🙂
I LOVE this pretty in pink soup and can only imagine how delicious it must be, not to mention the smiles it must bring to everyone’s face when served with this lovely soup!
Thanks so much for your comments, Marisa! It is such a pretty soup and delicious as well.