Perfect Pea Soup, Perfect for Fall

This amazingly easy pea soup is a crowd pleaser every time. Make sure you get it in your dinner rotation so you can enjoy it all season long! 

I’m not big on cooking rules, so I’m just going to give it to you like I would if you asked me how to make it. You know your people and what they like best, so feel free to modify anything that isn’t your jam. 

Start with onions and garlic, as you do. I like about half a yellow onion, chopped small, and about five or six (or eight or nine) cloves of garlic, minced. Sautee over low-medium heat in 2 tablespoons oil for a while. Longer than you think you need to. Maybe about 15 minutes or so. Just get ’em going, lower the heat and let them do their thing while you chop your veggies.

Carrots and potatos are next. How many, you ask? It doesn’t really matter. This is cooking, not baking. How many do you have on hand? How long do you want to stand there chopping? How many children are demanding your attention in the moment? Do what works for you. Add chopped veggies to the onion and garlic.

Rinse one pound of dried peas, and dump them in, too.

Add two or three boxes of whatever kind of broth you like. You’ll likely need 64 ounces or more, depending on the answers to your veggie chopping situation above. 

Cover and turn up the heat. Let it come to a rolling boil, and then back the heat down a little. If you want a thicker soup, keep it high enough to let the veggies keep tumbling. This will sort of knock off the edges of the potatoes giving you a cozier thicker consistency. 

Important: The peas are heavy and small and will make their way to the bottom of the pot and sit there and become cement, and then you will have to throw away your stock pot because there is no chance of it ever coming unstuck and your husband will tease you because you’ve made it 284 times and how did you let this happen?  And you will tell him “it’s fine, everything’s fine” because they didn’t actually burn, so the soup still tastes amazing.

So give it a stir every once in a while. 

So far, if you’ve used veggie broth, this is a vegan soup. So if that is your goal, stop right here. We love it because with the right broth, it is also gluten free. I personally think this soup is not complete without some diced ham. Throw some in towards the end. It needs just enough time to heat through. 

Your perfect pea soup is done when the potatoes and carrots are fork tender, or as done as you like them. We love ours with some warm cornbread on the side. 

As my daughter would say, “easy peasy, ham and cheesy.” But that’s a recipe for another post.