Fiery Sweet Pea Soup will help you endure the remaining winter months with it’s warming and comforting tastiness. This recipe is adaptable, easy, and super quick to pull together any night of the week. And here’s the thing, I don’t like the taste of peas! The pea flavor is magically masked so even the pickiest eaters will devour this scrumptious, slurpable soup! (Yes, even you, Mom!)
Who’s cold and needs warming up? Winter is in full throttle which means we’re all freezing up in hurr. Fiery Sweet Pea Soup has the cure to what ails your freezing cockles! This guilt-free soup is healthy and comforting at the same time which makes devouring it that much more satisfying!
I adapted this recipe from Leanne @ Crumb Top Baking. Her food photography looked so appetizing, I knew I needed her soup in my life, the instant I saw her post. And holy curses was I right, her Spicy Sweet Pea Soup was excellent! After one spoonful, I raced to my computer and asked if I could feature her soup on Shock Munch, I was ecstatic when Leanne said yes!
The technique used to cook the two recipes is the biggest difference between them. Leanne used the coveted Instant Pot and I cooked mine on the stove. Unfortunately, I haven’t jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet. However, after reading she made her soup in roughly 5 minutes, mine took 30, I legit need to get with the program and purchase one of these puppies!
If you have an Instant Pot, go check out Leanne’s recipe, but for those of you who are pinching pennies and holding off on purchasing the magical pot like me, check out my video below:
Real talk – how’s the weather where you live? The weather in Portland has been weird this winter, to say the least. Last year we experienced record rainfall but this winter has been relatively warm and dry. The temperatures during January and February have been hovering around the mid 50’s, then suddenly we got hit with an epic snowstorm. Supposedly, it snows in Portland once every few years yet my backyard is covered with a thick blanket of snow for the second year in a row. We’re expecting another dump of snow in a couple days.
Trust me on this, I’m going to need a gallon of Fiery Sweet Pea Soup to keep me warm these next few days.
Living in the PNW has made me soft in terms of winter. See, I’m originally from Chicago where thundersnow is a thing. Chicago is freezing ass cold 4-6 months out of the year, so you get accustomed to it. I haven’t experienced subzero winters in years because Portland has a warmer climate. Kieran and I actually discarded our snow shovels after moving to the PNW because we figured we wouldn’t need them. Whoops! Last night I shoveled the snow with a grain scoop shovel designed to move fertilizer and seed. It was annoying AF!
I would look forward to the occasional snowstorm in Portland but the city doesn’t allocate funds for snow removal, understandably because snow is uncommon in this area. The city literally shuts down because they lack a snow fleet to properly clear the roads. The driving conditions quickly become hazardous because of the snow compacting into ice. As you can imagine, ice + an abundance of hills in this area = trouble.
One Portlander told me not to think of this weather as a snowstorm, but instead think of it as a snow festival. Whenever we experience a snow festival we have permission to take the day off (everything closes anyway) and enjoy it. Whelp, as you can imagine I fell in love with this idea pretty f’ing quick. Sing it with me now, Let it snow festival, let it snow festival, let is snnnnoooow festival!!!
I made an extra batch of Fiery Sweet Pea Soup, and it’s a good thing I did since I’m not going anywhere this week!
Speaking of Fiery Sweet Pea Soup, I used the word fiery in the recipe title because I used 2 jalapeno peppers. However, I don’t consider this soup spicy. It had a little kick but nothing overwhelming, at least not to me. If you dislike spicy food you can reduce the number of peppers or omit them altogether.
Vegetarians and vegans can easily adapt this recipe to their preference too. I tested several batches of this soup using both vegetable and chicken broth. I felt chicken broth rendered a richer flavor but the vegetable broth was delicious too. Vegans, you can swap the heavy cream for your favorite nut milk and omit the burrata cheese.
This recipe will obviously take longer on the stovetop than if you used an Instant Pot, but it’s still a quick recipe you can whip up any day of the week. Let’s face it, winter isn’t going anywhere so we might as well eat comforting food while we can. However, comforting food doesn’t always have to be laden with unhealthy fats. This recipe lets you get your comfort and health on too! To make this recipe extra healthy swap out the heavy cream for something healthy or omit it all together. That goes for the croutons too.
But holy swear word if you want some extra comfort you must, I repeat, you must make the burrata cheese croutons t0 accompany this soup. If you’re a long time reader of Shock Munch you know this soup isn’t my first brush with burrata cheese croutons. Check out my recipe Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup with Burrata Basil Croutons. Holy sweet, sweet moly, I’m putting burrata cheese croutons on everythang up in hurr!
Alright, readers, that’s a wrap for this weeks post! Let me know if you make and enjoy the Fiery Sweet Pea Soup! Stay tuned next week as Kieran and I tackle the most difficult hike we’ve encountered, Dog Mountain. This hike is approx 7 miles long with a butt burning elevation gain of 3k feet. I couldn’t walk for 2 days after this hike, you’re gonna wanna see this!
Thanks for stopping by,
Christina
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| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 large leek thoroughly washed and chopped
- 1/2 small white onion chopped
- 2 in jalapeno peppers deseeded and chopped leave seedsfor extra heat
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Seasonings see notes
- 6 cloves garlicchopped
- 1 10 oz bag of frozen sweet peas
- 4 cups chicken broth you can sub for vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- A sprig of fresh thyme
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream you can sub for almond milk
Ingredients
The Soup
The Croutons
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- Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the chopped leek, onion, jalapeno, a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, and sautee those vegetables until they are soft, roughly 7 minutes.
- Stir in the seasonings (see notes)
- Now add the garlic and peas and cook the vegetables for another minute.
- Pour in the chicken broth and water then throw in the fresh thyme.
- Turn the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Then turn down the heat to low, and simmer the soup for 20-30 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering you can start the croutons. If you have a toaster, you can simply toast then butter the sliced bread. My toaster is in storage so I buttered my sliced bread then toasted them, on a cookie sheet, under the oven's broiler for roughly 3 minutes per side. Once the bread is toasted, set it aside, you'll add the burrata cheese later.
- After 20-30 minutes you can add the fresh parsley and spinach to the soup. Stir the greens in the soup until they wilt. Once the greens are wilted you can use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it reaches the thickness you desire. You can also ladle the soup, in batches, into a blender if you don't own an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, you can add additional water or broth to thin.
- Once the soup is blended to your preference, turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Let the soup sit while you finish up the croutons.
- Turn on the broiler. Smear burrata cheese over your toasted bread then transfer the bread to the oven for a couple of minutes or until the cheese is melty and bubbly.
- Transfer the bread to a cutting board and cut the sliced bread into cubes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the croutons. You can also add additional toppings such as peas, fresh herbs, or parmesan cheese.
You can get experimental and add seasonings to the soup that you enjoy. I added approx 1 teaspoon of the following seasonings: turmeric, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, celery salt, and smoked paprika.
Remember if you make the burrata cheese croutons they will add additional salt to the recipe. Taste the soup WITH the croutons before adding additional salt at the end of the recipe.
You can omit the jalapeno peppers if you're not into spicy food. However, even with two jalapeno peppers, I didn't consider this soup to be hot, at all.
Recipe adapted from Crumb Top Baking.
I haven’t jumped in the instant pot craze either! I enjoy the soothing smell and time put into a stove top soup to be honest! This sounds amazing and your pictures are always killer!
Awww, thank you so much, Patrick!!
Hi Christina! I love your version of sweet pea soup! Beautiful color! And I’m so flattered that you were inspired by my recipe! I may have used an Instant Pot, but by the time it builds and releases pressure, it’s pretty close to 30 minutes. So your stove top version is great in terms of timing! I also loved your video. So quirky and fun! Have a great weekend!
Thank you! Your recipe was amazeballs, thanks for letting me feature it! Oh cool! I thought you blinked and your soup was done. Good to know it’s not “that instant” :). Have a great weekend too!
I happen to love peas and this gorgeous color is irresistible! Pinned. I mean every single ingredient in your soup is a fave and I am happy you didn’t use an Instant Pot. I will probably become the only person who never bought one of these. You have to press buttons and stuff and pretend like you are cooking, lol. Also, how am I supposed to enjoy a beer if something only takes 5 minutes to cook? I kind of like it to lay out all my ingredients, open a beer, start cooking while sipping on it, have a conversation with whoever happens to be perched on the bar stool near me. Not giving it all up for an appliance:). Well, I am glad that you already completed the hike you speak of, 3 thousand feet elevation gain is not for me, lol. Only if I am sitting in the gondola or a on chair lift. Then it’s OK.
I like the way you think!! Seriously, watching over a simmering (anything) is therapeutic. Nothing beats sipping on your favorite beverage while cooking up a wholesome meal. Kieran’s rarely home when I cook so my conversation companion happens to be my cat, dog, or even myself. But yeah, who’s judging? 🙂
Yeah, that hike was a BEAST but I’m proud we accomplished it. But holy freaking moly did it hurt!
Pea soup is my jam. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy especially during the winter. Your video rocks! Especially the intro. Soup was made for the winter. Leeks are so much fun to cook with.
Yay! Mary’s back! Thank you SO much for the comment 🙂
I’m giggling thinking about when snow happens in western Oregon. The entire freaking state shuts down! It’s been cold here in Phoenix this past week but I know not nearly as cold as up where you are :). I need a big bowl of this soup to warm up after my evening dog walk! It looks delicious!
You’re not kidding! At the sight of one snowflake, people abandon their cars and head for the hills. It’s crazy!
I love that you used jalepenos in this! I love split pea soup and would never have thought of adding jalepenos! YUM! And your pictures are gorgeous btw 🙂
I feel like jalapenos and I are becoming best friends. I tend to use them in just about everything these days! And holy crap thank you SO much for the compliment, it made my day!
I saw Leanne’s soup — it looked so good! I love this “fired-up” version Christina! That pretty green color has me dreaming of spring even though it’s freezing outside!
YASSS to SPRING! I’m overjoyed it’s becoming lighter and lighter outside by the day. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
This looks pretty warm and tasty! I’ve never actually had pea soup, my dad is not a fan of peas and thus our house was far from stocked with them. Might need to try some pea recipes I missed out on nowadays then! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Also, good luck weathering the snow! If you can survive the midwest thundersnows you’ll survive this no problem, hah!
Hahahaha, I love it, thanks!
We are in the middle of a heat wave but even so, this soup could go down a treat right now 🙂
Right? Soup’s so tasty no matter what the season!
Oh, I am all about some delicious soup! I don’t think I’ve ever made pea soup though…so I need to get up on that horse right away. Overall, we’ve had a relatively mild winter here so far, but of course mild means not buried under a foot of snow. Weather is relative. In the south, I’d have been bundled up with 6 sweatshirts at these temps. Up here, I go out in a long-sleeved t-shirt. Funny how that works. Also, I haven’t gotten on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet either…you’re not the only one. I just can’t justify more stuff in my kitchen! So I’ll be pulling out a pot and making this soup the old school way. With 2 jalapenos.
Heck yeah, you gotta get up on that pea horse! Thankfully I’m not the only person without an Instant Pot, I was feeling kinda lonely there for a moment! :). Hope you love the soup!
This soup is bea-u-ti-ful! I will need to make it. I like your spice addition idea, too! I’ve been known to be pretty generous with the cumin and smoked paprika myself! I might just try this in the IP. Thanks for the recipe, will Pin!
Awwww, thanks!
Ha ha Christina, I’m definitely with you there, pinching pennies and holding off on purchasing the magical pot too! So this recipe would be done on the stove top for me too. I love the colours and I love the thought of the spicy flavours that your amazing pictures are conjuring up in my head. Thanks! Weather wise, well here in Scotland we have all sorts of extremes. It’s snowing at the moment and we’re apparently in the grips of our coldest weather since 1963! Tomorrow it’ll probably be all change. I’d love the fact if we could take the day off if we had too much snow here. Unfortunately living in a country with so many different weather extremes we’re ready for whatever weather is thrown at us. As soon as a snowflake falls the road gritters are right out!
Yay! I love not being the only penny pincher in the bunch!
And thanks for calling my pics amazing, that means a LOT!
Luckily both me and hubbers can work from home so we don’t have to miss work when the snowflakes fall. In fact, I saw 2 snowflakes fall earlier this morning, I’m surprised Portland can function right now 😉
southern california had been pretty mild from nov-mid feb, and then BOOOM, it’s cold and i can’t deal. sigh. this sounds so perfect for my soup-y mood though, especially with those buttery croutons!!!
The forecast is predicting Portland will see temps in the high 50’s early this coming week. I can’t wait for warmer weather!
You guys are hilarious! This soup looks amazing and I’m TOTALLY freezing right now! This would hit the spot!
YAY! So happy we made you laugh 🙂
Thank you SO much Mary Ann!
Wow, never thought to pair jalapenos in soup! Sounds yummy, since I love all things spicy! And you gotta get one of those Instant Pots, girl! 😀
Hahaha, thanks! Yeah, I’ll probably end up buying an IP the moment it’s out of style. I have a knack for that 😀
I haven’t jumped on the Instant Pot band wagon yet either! But I would totally jump on this soup! Love the name too and the combo with leeks is right up my alley…not to mention heavy cream cause that stuff makes everything better, lol. Perfect on a cold day with some crusty bread. Annnnnd, now I’m hungry 😉
Wow! After reading your awesomely descriptive comment I’M hungry now 😀 Better go make some more soup!