Avocado Soup: 3 Tips for Making Sopa de Aguacate
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Apr 21, 2022 • 2 min read
Dress up an avocado soup with luxury ingredients, or keep it simple for an easygoing summertime appetizer.
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What Is Avocado Soup?
Avocado soup (sopa de aguacate) is a creamy Mexican and Latin American soup with a base of puréed avocados. To achieve a slurpable consistency (and for added flavor), blend the avocados with dairy products like milk, sour cream, or buttermilk; broth or stock; and various aromatics and spices, like onion, garlic, hot green peppers, and cumin or chili powder.
Like tomato or watermelon gazpacho or creamy potato-and-leek vichyssoise, avocado soup is an ideal warm-weather appetizer since you can serve it hot or cold.
3 Tips for Making Avocado Soup
Avocado soup is easy to prepare on a busy weeknight but nuanced enough to steal the show at a dinner party. Here’s what to know.
- 1. Use ripe avocados. Unripe avocados won’t break down properly when blended, remaining stringy, watery, and mildly bitter. A ripe avocado will still feel firm but give slightly when pressed with a finger. Here’s how to tell if an avocado is ripe.
- 2. Make it dairy-free. For a dairy-free avocado soup, simply omit the dairy products for a soup closer in texture to gazpacho, or use an equal amount of unsweetened plant-based milk to achieve a similarly creamy consistency.
- 3. Garnish with crunchy toppings, seafood, fresh vegetables, and more. Add your favorite toppings to put a unique twist on avocado soup. Its mild flavor works well with anything from homemade croutons to crushed homemade tortilla chips; a spoonful of Gabriela Cámara’s shrimp aguachile verde or lump crab meat; caviar; diced tomatoes and cucumbers; or a drizzle of hot sauce and crema.
Basic Avocado Soup Recipe
makes
prep time
5 mintotal time
30 mincook time
25 minIngredients
Note: The total time does not include up to 50 min of inactive time.
- 1
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering.
- 2
Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
- 3
Add the garlic and cumin and stir to combine.
- 4
Sauté until the garlic is aromatic, about 1 minute.
- 5
Add the chicken or vegetable broth and season with salt and pepper to taste if needed.
- 6
Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from the heat.
- 7
Allow the broth mixture to cool slightly, then add the buttermilk and stir to combine.
- 8
Scoop out the avocado flesh, and add it to the pot along with the lime juice, cilantro leaves, and pepper.
- 9
Using a handheld immersion blender, purée the soup until uniformly smooth. Alternatively, purée the avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and pepper in a food processor or blender, adding the broth in batches.
- 10
Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with more salt or lime juice as needed.
- 11
Cover the soup with a lid and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- 12
Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan over medium heat, toast the pumpkin seeds, shaking occasionally to prevent scorching.
- 13
Once the outsides are lightly toasted, remove the pan from the heat and add the ground coriander and salt.
- 14
Transfer the pumpkin seed mixture to a small bowl with the cilantro stems and lime zest and mix well.
- 15
Blend or whisk the soup before ladling it into serving bowls.
- 16
Top with the seasoned pumpkin seeds and serve immediately.
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