This Green Pea Soup is perfectly sweet and creamy. I like to top it with tangy creme fraiche, crispy pancetta, croutons, and fresh peas.
How to Make Pureed Green Pea Soup
This green pea soup comes together easily with very few ingredients aside from the toppings.
The first and most important step is cooking the onions low and slow. I learned this recipe from a chef I used to work with, and I realize the typical home chef might not want to spend 45 minutes cooking onions for soup.
To get this restaurant quality result, it’s so important to cook onions slowly until they’re sweet and lightly caramelized. However, if you don’t have the time, cook the onions for 5-10 minutes until they sweat and slightly sweeten up. It’s fine.
The good news is, the rest of the soup comes together pretty quickly. Add the peas (fresh or frozen), and saute them for a minute. Then pour in some water, bring it to a boil, and it’s time to puree.
Add everything to a blender, and puree away. Add whichever toppings you like, and enjoy! I think you’ll be surprised at how creamy and flavorful this soup is without stock or cream or butter!
One more point to note is that this soup could be served warm or chilled. I don’t know why I doubted my chef boss, but this soup is actually amazing chilled. I prefer it that way, especially on a warm late spring day.
Is this Soup Vegan or Gluten Free?
Yes! The soup is naturally gluten free and vegan. The toppings are all completely optional.
You can easily substitute vegan bacon, vegan yogurt and gluten free croutons for the toppings. Or just stick with the fresh peas, olive oil and pepper.
Do You Need Fresh Peas for This Recipe?
Nope! I typically use frozen peas for the main part of the soup, simply because it takes a lot of time to shuck 4 cups of fresh peas!
If yu can find good quality, sweet, fresh English peas, I do suggest you at least use them for the topping.
It might sound strange to eat fresh, raw peas, but I’ve come to really enjoy it. Raw peas provide slight sweetness and a nice bite. All you need is olive oil and salt to spruce them up.
More Soup Recipes
- Gazpacho with Shrimp
- White Gazpacho
- Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
- Chicken and Dumpling Soup
- Italian Lentil Soup
- Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup
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Green Pea Soup
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This green pea soup is so simple and clean in flavor. Pancetta, croutons, raw peas and creme fraiche are the perfect toppings to compliment this soup.
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 large onion
- ¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups fresh shucked peas, or frozen peas, defrosted* (I usually use frozen peas for soup base)
- 2 ½ cups water
- Kosher salt, to taste
Toppings:
- 6 oz pancetta, cut into ½ inch cubes (can substitute bacon, prosciutto or vegan bacon)
- 4 oz white bread, such as a Pullman or Italian loaf, crust removed, cut into ½ inch cubes*
- 1 cup shucked fresh peas
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, as needed
- Crème fraiche, sour cream, yogurt or vegan yogurt, for topping
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Cook onions: Warm a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add ¼ cup of oil and onions to the pot. When onions start to sizzle, reduce heat to low. Season with salt. Gently sauté onions for about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized, with little color. As the onions cook, add an additional tablespoon or two of oil, as needed, to allow them to gently stew in the oil without browning.*
- Add peas: Once the onions are sweet and caramelized, add the peas. Season with salt and sauté for about 1 minute. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Blend: Transfer to a blender or Vitamix, and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed. If you do not have a Vitamix, strain the soup through a fine sieve after blending. Serve warm, if desired. To serve chilled, cool the soup to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 2-3 couple hours. You may prepare and chill the soup several days in advance.
- Cook pancetta: Add pancetta to a cold, nonstick pan. Turn heat to medium and reduce to low to medium-low after pancetta starts to sizzle. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy on the outside and slightly chewy in the center, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
- Make croutons: While the pancetta cooks, warm a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and bread cubes to pan. Season with salt and toss to combine. Once bread starts to sizzle, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, tossing occasionally, until browned and crispy throughout, about 15-25 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Season peas: Right before serving, season the fresh peas with salt and toss in just enough oil to coat.
- Serve: Serve warm from pot or chilled. Allow the chilled soup to sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before serving, so it’s not too cold. To plate, distribute soup among bowls and scoop in a dollop of crème fraiche. Top with a large spoonful or two each of peas, pancetta and croutons, drizzle over oil, and season with pepper. Add more toppings than I did in the photos! Enjoy.
Notes
- If you’re using fresh peas for both the soup and the topping, you need about 3lbs of peas in the pod. For just the topping, you’ll need about 12oz.
- Substitute gluten free bread, if desired.
- You may also substitute 1 cup of frozen peas for the topping. If using frozen peas, defrost them and sauté in olive oil for about 1 or 2 minutes, or until just warmed through. Season with salt.
- If you don’t have time to cook the onions for 30 minutes, you can cook them less, but the flavor won’t be exactly the same.
- Store the soup in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of soup + toppings
- Calories: 520
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 274g
- Fat: 31g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 24g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 47g
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 15g
Keywords: pea soup, green pea soup, pureed pea soup, creamy pea soup, spring pea soup
Such a palatable soup recipe, Sabrina! Perfect soup for hot days!
Thanks, Agness!
What a great healthy soup! Love the toppings! My husband loves pea soup but I usually make it with cream or creme fraiche. This is a great alternative. And I’m not of fan either of shucking peas, so frozen will have to do. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you, Rosa! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
This pea soup looks incredible and sounds so delicious, love your idea of eating it cold in warmer weather.
Thank you, Fida 🙂
Yum! That looks delish. I haven’t shucked peas since I was 12 y/o and that is a long time ago. Frozen peas works for me 🙂 Perfect for these nice warm days. Thanks for sharing <3
Haha, yeah frozen peas always work. Thank you 🙂
This looks so fresh and springy! We’re going to get rain this weekend and this will be perfect for warming up
Thanks, Caitlin! Yes, it’s perfect for this weekend’s weather 🙂
Glad I read that you pile the toppings on to your soup, I was thinking that’d be the first thing I did. Lol! Looks delicious, love the beautiful colours too.
Lol. Yeah, definitely have to do lots of toppings. Thanks, Anna!
Looks very creamy and tasty, Brina.
Thank you, Angie!
I am definitely going to make this! It looks so clean & fresh. As soon as I read frozen peas could be used – you had me!
Thanks, Julie! I hope you enjoy it 🙂