This vibrant peapod soup has an intense pea flavour and a creamy texture with potato, parsley and mint! Perfect for using home-grown peas.
A while ago I ordered pea soup in a restaurant. It was such a vibrant green colour and tasted so intensely of peas, I just had to try making something similar myself. I found out that it had been made from both the peas and their pods - what a great idea. So I did a bit of experimenting and here's the result.
Out of season, I've also tried using mange tout peas here instead of pea pods, (and frozen peas instead of freshly-picked!), and the result was really good, so you can try this out immediately with supermarket produce if you just can't wait or don't have access to fresh peapods.
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📝 What you need
Ingredients
- Leek
- Onion
- Large potato
- Vegetable stock
- Fresh peas in their pods
- OR mange tout peas plus frozen peas
- Spring onions
- Fresh parsley and mint
- Rapeseed or groundnut oil
Equipment
I mentioned above that pea pods are fairly fibrous so you do need to either a high-speed blender or to sieve it before serving, (which takes just a few minutes).
If you're going to pass it through a sieve, you can use a stick blender to blitz it which is so quick and easy. They are reasonably priced, you can pick up a basic model like this one* for just over £10 these days, and if you make a lot of homemade soup you won't regret it.
Mine is this Dualit model* which also has a chopping bowl and whisk, both of which I use a lot.
Alternatively, if you're in the market for a really good high speed blender, something like a Vitamix will be strong enough to break through those stringy fibres, (though is quite an investment).
🌱 Why keep your pea pods?
Shelling peas then throwing away the pods is missing a trick - those pods are packed with flavour and nutrients, far too precious to chuck in the compost!
They can add such a sweet, vibrant flavour to homemade vegetable stock, soups and stews, and if steamed or boiled then puréed they make a glorious 'mushy pea' spread which is delicious on toast, as a side dish or dip.
Pea pods are quite fibrous, so they do need a little extra work to get super-smooth - their tiny strings throughout the soup aren't so appetising. If you have a super-duper high speed blender it should be able to make light work of those strings if you leave it running long enough. But otherwise, sieving your soup takes about 2 minutes, not too much of a chore, and the result is totally worth it.
The peas add a 'creaminess' all of their own, so this tastes like it has a tub of double cream in in it, when in fact it is dairy-free and super-healthy.
❄️ Freezing
This soup freezes perfectly (and keeps its vibrant green colour too!), so you can make the most of a big glut of peas and pods by batch-cooking.
I save empty margarine tubs for a perfect-sized portion of soup which are also easily stacked in the freezer. Just remember to label and date them carefully, or you will never remember what's in them. (Trust the voice of experience here!).
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📖 Recipe
Peapod Soup with potato and mint
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rapeseed or groundnut oil
- 1 leek
- 1 onion
- 1 large potato
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 450 g fresh peas in their pods (or 300g mange tout peas and 150g frozen peas)
- 2 spring onions
- handful fresh parsley including stalks
- 3 fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Gently heat the oil In a large saucepan or casserole dish.
- Trim, peel and slice the onion and leek and add to the pan. Cook gently for 3-4 minutes until soft.
- Peel and cut the potato into cubes, then add it to the pan with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 8 minutes.
- Whilst the soup is simmering, trim the ends off each pea pod and split open the shell, (there's no need to remove the peas, they can stay inside!).
- Add the pea pods and spring onions to the soup and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Pour the soup into a high speed blender, (or blitz with whatever blender you have available). Add the parsley and mint, then blitz again. If small fibres still remain, pass through a sieve.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
Video
Nutrition
I'm linking this recipe up with a few blogging challenges:
- Credit Crunch Munch hosted this month by From Plate to Pen and co-hosted by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All
- Eat Your Greens hosted by The Veg Hog
- Extra Veg hosted by Utterly Scrummy Food for Families and also to Fuss Free Flavours
- No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
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Hello, I followed a saved link to a peapod and little Gem soup recipe and ended up here. It was easily the best soup I’ve ever made. Do you have a link to it, please, or could you advise on the changes required to this similar but not quite the same recipe. Kicking myself for not jotting it down as it was an absolute delight. The whole family loved it, it’s so refreshing, even when served hot on a hot day. Thankyou.
Hi Al, Sorry - I recently updated this recipe and took the little gem out as it wasn't very popular, sorry to hear it was such a firm favourite! The remainder of the recipe is the same so if you just add a whole little gem lettuce to the soup just as you blitz it that should taste as you remember. Thanks for the feedback and hope you can recreate it! Kate x
Thank you so much, a glut of mange tout used up and a very happy family.
I love green soups and I had never tried a pea pod soup before. I was really impressed on how delicious it turned out! ill be making this again!
I was sceptical about adding the pods but it was so good and I love that I'm not "wasting" the pods now!
This looks more like bowls of art than soup. Excited to try the recipe. Thanks!
This soup is absolutely gorgeous. The hint of mint is so refreshing!
Such a flavorful soup! And the color is so gorgeous. Great soup for spring weather!
Oh my goodness this is just about the most beautiful soup EVER! Thank you for linking up with the no waste food challenge!
I just love the vibrant green of this soup - it really jumps out of the page! I do like pea soup but have never added lettuce so would like to give that a go one day.
What a gloriously healthy and vibrant looking soup, I just want to dive in a take a spoonful! Love that I'm not the only one with me reflected in my shiny spoons:-) Thanks for a great #CreditCrunchMunch entry:-)
Thanks Camilla! Yes I like to think of it as an Alfred Hitchcock-style cameo appearance.....!
That colour! So gorgeous!
That sure is a very vibrant green. It looks splendid and I'm very partial to a bowl of pea soup. When I use homegrown peas, I always make stock out of them, but I love the idea of blitzing them in the Froothie.
Lovely colors on this one! Looks delicious!
I love lettuce in soups and this sounds delicious as well as being such a pretty green. I bet it would also be delicious with a sprig of mint in it too.
Thanks for sharing with both #extraveg & #creditcrunchmunch
I've always liked the flavour of peas but not the texture, so pea soup is perfect for me. Love the idea of adding the lettuce as well, great way to use up the stuff at the back of the fridge!
What a vibrant green soup! You have very good ideas with this. Thank you very much for sharing with Eat Your Greens!
Wow Kate that soup is so vibrant and beautiful! I love the pan too, where did you get it from? Looks gorgeous on the pics 🙂
Thanks Nicky, its a vintage Le Creuset pan my sister-in-law found for me on EBay - such a fab shape!
I love the additional of the lettuce, that's something I have not tried and I'm a big fan of pea soup! Thanks for linking up with #CreditCrunchMunch.