I'd like to introduce you to my favorite, flash-ready fresh green pea soup. It's great hot or cold, but right now I'm having it hot because I'm nursing a cruddy cold (maybe flu?) that I watched everyone else suffer through for the past three weeks, smugly thinking I was in the clear.
While I can easily sit and eat a plain bowl of hot peas with some lemon juice and grated Parmesan on top and be quite satisfied, it's nice to have a simple green soup up my sleeve. You just need two bags of frozen peas, or if you're lucky enough to have access to fresh peas, go for it. I like using leeks in this recipe, but if you don't have those, yellow or white onions will do the trick too. Green onions (sometimes referred to as scallions) are a great sub as well.
Occasionally I make this into a meal by adding some protein on top, like a chopped hard-boiled egg, poached salmon or diced roasted chicken. I imagine you can add other spicy and savory toppings as well so I'll leave the extras to you.
Fresh Sweet Pea Soup {quick & easy}
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or other oil
- 2 leeks trimmed and diced
- 4 cups vegetable stock or water
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to flavor
- 20 ounces frozen peas or fresh, hulled sweet peas
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Warm a large saucepan over medium heat. Once it's warm, add the olive oil.
- Add the leeks to the saucepan and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until they soften, stirring occasionally.
- Add the stock or water to the saucepan and bring the stock to a low boil, about 5 minutes or so.
- Add the peas to the saucepan and cook the peas for just a few minutes. Frozen peas won't take long to cook. If you're using fresh peas, give them a few more minutes to soften.
- Turn the heat off and add the lemon juice and salt to taste.
- Puree the soup in batches, adding about ¼ of the soup in a blender at a time. This helps you slowly puree the soup to the thickness that you like and allows you to add or remove liquid to adjust the consistency.
- Serve with croutons, lemon wedges, or your favorite toppings.
Lisa Block says
I LOVE peas so I can't wait to make this soup! I am wondering if you are able to let me know the calories, fat, carb, fiber, etc?
thanks so much
Kathleen Czinner says
Just found this recipe - I just have to make this!
Regina says
O. M. G.
This soup is WONDERFUL(and easy to boot)!
The only thing I added was a little summer savory....the lemon really makes this dish, I think. A keeper, for sure. Thanks so much!
>^..^<
So pretty, too!
Regina says
Hi!
About to make this lovely soup, but need to substitute normal onions....I am assuming two medium?
Erica says
yes, I'd say smallish to medium.
danette says
We love pea soup as an "anytime meal" for our family. We like to serve it with bacon for our protein and make it as comforting as possible with small grilled cheese too. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Erica says
thanks! yes, bacon is definitely a great addition to this soup 🙂
Liz @ Virtually Homemade says
Beautiful! Pinned:)
Erica says
Thanks, Liz!