Lettuce & Pea Soup with New Potatoes
Spring has arrived with fresh green shoots and an abundance of flowers. Simple, seems suddenly very appealing. This spring lettuce & pea soup with new potatoes is super simple, both in the making and in the eating. The flavours taste fresh and clean. There are only six ingredients involved, seven if you make your own stock from the pea pods, eight if you add croutons. As a bonus, it’s also vegan and fat-free (excluding croutons).
After all that Easter chocolate I’m really craving something light and cleansing. Both CT and I were ill over Easter and we’re not better yet, so this lettuce & pea soup with new potatoes is just what we need.
Spring Lettuce & Pea Soup with New Potatoes
This lettuce & pea soup is similar to my summer green soup with parsley and almond pesto and it’s not blended. One less thing to do before you get dinner on the table. You’ll have a clear broth with lots of fresh and tasty vegetables to savour along with a drop of spring sunshine in every mouthful.
It’s great for the 5:2 diet as it only contains 140 calories per main meal serving. In fact, it’s completely fat free, unless you go for the optional croutons. But don’t worry, you won’t go away feeling hungry, this delicious spring soup is surprisingly filling. It feeds four as a main meal or six as a lighter lunch.
Lettuce & Pea Soup Ingredients
The soup is ideal for a late spring lunch or supper if you grow your own. It’s pretty good in early spring too if you get a veg box full of lettuce, peas in their pods and new potatoes, as I did recently.
You don’t need many ingredients to make it, but the fresher they are the better the soup will be. Lettuce, peas, spring onions, new potatoes and mint make up the bulk, but a spoonful or two of white miso works wonders to bring out all the flavours.
Swap the spring onions (scallions) for finely sliced shallots if you prefer.
And for a touch of decadence, finish the soup with a few croutons. You can even bake the croutons rather than fry them if you want to keep this recipe fat-free.
Pea Pod Stock
Pea pods are fantastic for making an easy and tasty soup stock. Please don’t throw them away. All you need to do is simmer them in some water with a bay leaf and some salt.
Cook for about half an hour with the lid on, then pour into a colander with a good sized jug beneath to catch the stock.
If you can’t get hold of peas in their pods, use a light vegetable stock for this recipe instead.
Other Pea Recipes You Might Like
- Asparagus frittata with peas and mint
- Cornish asparagus risotto with peas and wild garlic pesto
- Creamy pea dip
- Green vegetable galette with flaky pastry
- Pea & leek soup
- Spring vegetable medley
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Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this spring recipe for lettuce & pea soup, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or via social media. Do share photos on your preferred social media site and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Lettuce & Pea Soup. PIN IT.
Lettuce & Pea Soup with New Potatoes
Ingredients
- 400 g peas in their pods (or 100g shelled peas)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 500 g new potatoes scrubbed & cut into bite size chunks
- 1 romaine type lettuce roughly shredded
- 4 spring onions (scallions) sliced
- 4 sprig mint stalks removed & leaves shredded + another sprig for garnish
- 2 tsp white miso paste
Croutons – optional
- 4 slices wholemeal sourdough bread
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Pea Stock
- If you don’t have peas in their pods, skip this step and replace with 1 ½ litres of light vegetable stock.
- Wash the pods and shell the peas.400 g peas in their pods
- Put the peas aside and place the pods into a large lidded pan along with the bay leaf, salt and 1 ½ litres of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.1 bay leaf, 1 tsp sea salt
- Drain the liquid through a seive into a large container, then ditch the pods.
Lettuce & Pea Soup
- Put the stock back into the large pan along with the potatoes and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.500 g new potatoes
- Add the lettuce, spring onions and mint and simmer for a further 10 minutes.1 romaine type lettuce, 4 spring onions (scallions), 4 sprig mint
- Add the peas and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes by which time the potatoes should be tender. Turn the heat off.
- Mix some of the stock from the soup with the the miso paste to loosen it and return to the pan. Stir well.2 tsp white miso paste
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped mint and croutons if desired.
Croutons (Optional)
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cut the bread into small cubes and place in the pan.4 slices wholemeal sourdough bread, 2 tbsp olive oil
- Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time so that each side of the cubes are cooked.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m sharing this recipe for my healthy spring soup with Flipped-Out Food for #CookBlogShare.
This looks lovely and perfect for the time of year. I’ve never put lettuce in a soup before so will have to give it a try!
It’s not the most obvious thing to do with lettuce, but surprisingly, it works.
What a lovely light, fresh soup recipe. I do too much blending and really should try some chunky soup with a good broth.
Ah, but you have your famous Scotch broth Janice.
Gosh this looks and sounds wonderful! I can just taste your fresh peas! I had something similar once and it was off the scale delish so I can just imagine how good this is.
Sometimes simple is the way to go. It’s doing it for me at the moment anyway.
I love this flavour of soup, perfect for spring!
I can’t get enough of it at the moment. I think I might have eaten too much chocolate.
This soup looks perfect – I love a light soup, as long as it’s well seasoned. I’ve never tried lettuce in soup but feel inspired – thank you.
Thanks Anna. Lettuce isn’t the most obvious choice for a soup, but it works really well. It’s also good for using up any limp looking lettuce that’s been lurking in the fridge a bit too long.
I’m with you on the craving lighter, healthier food now Easter is over! I must confess, I have always been super sceptical about lettuce in soups and cooked lettuce in general – I really must try it in case I am actually missing out on something wonderful! Eb x
Hahaha, you are missing out Eb. Do try it 😀
I hope that you’re feeling better! This soup looks so healthy and comforting. I love topping just about any soup with croutons, so I’m definitely a “yes” in that department! Thanks for bringing your lettuce & pea soup to #CookBlogShare!
Thanks Michelle. To be honest I can’t say I’d ever say no to croutons if offered, but I have been known to eat my own soups without them 😀
Love a good soup and this looks delicious.pea and lettuce is a lovely combination on its own but I do like the idea of adding new potatoes
The potatoes make it quite a substantial soup, but somehow still keeps things fresh and spring like.
I love this sort of soup – in the past I have made pea and lettuce soup and blended it which I love too. But I like the addition of white miso. And must try that pea pod stock – when spring rolls around.
Now you’ve mentioned a blended pea and lettuce soup, I feel I need to try it. I’ve made loads of blended pea soups in the past, but not this particular combination. I guess you’re in the throws of disappearing into winter now. Roll on spring.
Light yet full of spring flavours!
Thanks Angie. It manages to be quite substantial whilst remaining light – very clever of it 😀
Why do I never think to use peas and lettuce like this in a soup? Especially since I already know and like braised lettuce and peas. This looks really lovely, definitely a soup I’d enjoy!
Thanks Kavey. Yes, yes and yes, you must try it.