Creamy zucchini soup is something every household with at least one zucchini plant makes frequently during summer months – or it should be. You don’t even have to own a garden, it is enough to have a friend or neighbor with zucchini craze, and you will have a few zucchinis weekly on your table, I’m sure. This is because one humble plant produces abundance of zucchinis if there are enough sunny days in your part of the world. Italians have great climate for zucchini’s growth and I think they are the ones that invented this type of soup many moons ago ;) I suppose some gardener just looked around his garden one day, picked up a few basic plants growing relentlessly there, put them in a pot together with a couple of zucchinis, blended and got pleasantly surprised with its delicious flavor. And as it goes with other perfect recipes, this kind of summer green soup is simple to make, and you can’t go wrong by adding some other ingredients (besides onion, zucchini and basil) if you think it could improve its taste. That’s what I did. I looked around my garden one day, noticed plenty of zucchinis, dill, parsley and two big shrubs of lemon balm herb and the idea for the lemon balm zucchini soup was there. With a minimal effort and short list of ingredients, you can make a perfect appetizer, or pair it with your favorite rustic bread and spoonful of (vegan) sour cream and you’ll have great main dish for a lazy summer afternoon – hot, warm and especially cold.
Lemon Balm Zucchini Soup Recipe
Maybe the best thing about this vegan zucchini soup is not its light, delicious velvety taste, nor the simplicity, but rather its health improving feature thanks to the lemon balm herb. Except giving a gentle lemon scent to the lemon balm zucchini soup, this herb (worldwide known as Melissa officinalis) has been used for centuries to stimulate the appetite, relax nervous system, help with anxiety disorder and improve overall mood. So, if you’re planning to tell your family some crazy news, making this soup first would be a pretty clever idea ;)
- 3 medium zucchinis*
- 1 onion
- 1 handful lemon balm
- 1 handful fresh dill
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 to 4 cups of water (or vegetable broth)
- few basil and parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, juice of half lemon (or to taste)
- larger pot
- blender
- cutting board
- knife
- peeler
- few spoons
- Dice onion, peel and cut zucchinis into smaller pieces.
- Heat the olive oil over low heat; add onion and sauté until translucent.
- Add zucchinis and half amount of water, cover it, turn the heat onto medium, bring to boil and cook for 10 minutes, or until zucchinis are tender.
- Remove pot from the heat, add herbs and spices.
- Pour other half of water, then transfer into blender and blend until smooth.
- Return pureed zucchinis into the pot, adjust consistency with water, bring again to boil.
- Serve with lemon juice.
* For this lemon balm zucchini soup I used light skinned zucchinis and I peeled them to get perfectly smooth soup texture. Because of this, color of the soup is quite light, but if you’d like to get vivid green color for your lemon balm zucchini soup, you shouldn’t peel zucchinis. Color vs. smoothness – it’s up to you to decide…
Just perfect!!!
I will try it!!!
I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, dear Pepi. ;)
I love the scent of lemon balm, so I’ll be making this soup right away!… yumm
Lemon balm is such a miraculous plant, I’m always thinking new ways to use it in my recipes…
Enjoy, dear :)
This is just the most fresh looking and sounding soup I have ever seen, and I just adore your photos! I ate soup every day for a year, and got so fed up of it; this looks like the perfect recipe to make me fall back in love with it again!
Oh, thank you for such a lovely words, Rachel.
I to didn’t care so much for soups, until I purchased blender.
And I do hope, you’ll try this soup – and repeat a few times ;)
lemon balm herb is such an interesting addition in this lovely soup!!
it’s a great idea Jasmin!
XXX
And now I can freely call myself a herb geek ;)
Hope you’re having the best time on vacation, Evi…
hugs ‘n’ kisses
If I ever get fed up of baking courgette cakes, this is the savoury recipe for me!
Laura recently posted…Nutella Chocolate Milkshake Bundt Cake
And when I get a little bit fed up with these kind of soups (too hot weather doesn’t allow us to stand too long in front of the stove), I’ll definitely hop to you blog and try one of those courgette cakes :)
Nice! I must try using lemon balm.
Simona recently posted…cocoa tagliatelle with ricotta, raspberry coulis and chocolate sauce / tagliatelle al cacao con ricotta, salsa di lamponi e salsa di cioccolato
I hope you’ll find some dishes to enrich with this lovely plant, Simone ;)
Wow Jasmin! Deffo an interesting recipe, actually I think I never cooked with lemon balm so far!
Apart from that, again an amazing photo! Love the cutlery, surface and soup bowls, very cool.
Wow, thank you Howie for a beautiful and encouraging comment!
You should definitely try to implement lemon balm in your recipes – it’s original scent between lemon and vanilla will definitely spark a few new recipe ideas :)
This soup looks perfectly smooth, and I like the addition of lemon balm and dill a lot!
Thank you, dear Claudia! I think these two herbs are a nice combination; they even grow and blossom in a same time :)
Oh yes! I could so get it on with this delicious soup! YUMMM :)
So please do, GiGi, and let me know how it all went ;)
XO
OH WOW! This soup looks so comforting and delicious! I have never had lemon balm soup, but sounds intriguing. Can’t wait to try it! Happy Weekend! :)
Happy weekend to you too, dear Anu! I hope, you’ll love this recipe and maybe you’ll even improve it with some of your lovely spices :)
So many times when I go into my garden I know I need to come up with a recipe to deal with the surplus You have made and amazing dish. How lovely that it was fresh from your garden.
Thanks for sharing,
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Yep, some of the plants are so generous, that inexperienced gardener like me can’t stop being surprised while in a garden…
Thanks for stopping by, Julie!
I did not have lemon balm or fresh dill and basil. I just blended 1/3 a 1/2 lemon (rind, peel and all) with the raw peeled zucchini and added to the sauted onion. Then I used dried herbs I had on hand. It was easy, quick It turned out wonderful.
Your variation of this soup sounds very interesting, dear Ali. I’ll surely try it one day, when I spend lemon balm :)
What are the herbs you had on hand that you used?
Where can I find lemon balm?
Dear Patty, I don’t know in which part of the world you live, but the easiest way to find lemon balm is to buy the whole plant online. Just type buy lemon balm plant in google and for just a few bucks you will have nice potted herb – that’s what I did few years back, and now I have two large lemon balm bushes that smell and look wonderful.
This soup sounds absolutely delicious!
It surely is, dear Anne – especially during those super hot summer days :)
this sounds so beautiful and perfect!
Thank you, dear Chris. I think so too, but sadly we’ll have to wait for the summer to begin to make it and prove you’re right ;)
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mmmm looks delicious! I love this soup, just put mint leafs instead. I never follow a recipe, so I will save this one for next time to give a try ;) Thanks!
You can certainly try replacing lemon balm with fresh mint, I would suggest just adding a bit more lemon then… Play with the recipe and do let me know how it turned out :)
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Do you use dried or fresh lemon balm?
Dear Tiffany, sorry for the late reply. I use fresh lemon balm when in season, but I put dried lemon balm sometimes as well… The fresh lemon balm gives many times better taste to this soup
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I served this soup to my family this past week and it is now a favourite! I have also shared the recipe with extended family.
Dear Elb Bo, I’m so glad you’ve made this zucchini soup. It is one of my all time favorite soup too :)