This delicious pea and courgette soup tastes of summer. It's quick and easy to make, and perfect for using up courgettes. Flavoured with basil, this vibrant green soup can be enjoyed hot or cold.
What you'll love about the recipe
- An easy summer soup, made on the stovetop in 30 minutes. Can be served hot or chilled.
- Perfect for a glut of courgettes. You can even freeze excess courgettes and make the soup later. And of course you can freeze this pea and courgette soup too.
- Rich and delicious flavours. The peas add sweetness and go perfectly with the courgette and basil. Even if your family aren't wild about courgettes, they'll love this soup.
- Nutritious. Courgettes are high in vitamins and minerals and peas add extra fibre, and protein. Adding peas also makes the soup more filling.
You might also like this broccoli and almond soup which has almonds for extra protein and creaminess.
Ingredients
Onion. Many soup recipes have onion as it adds a good savoury flavour. I used a white onion. You could use red onion, but your pea and courgette soup won't be such a vibrant colour. Leeks also make a good substitute if you don't have an onion.
Garlic adds an extra dimension to the flavour, but omit it if you don't like garlic. You could also use roasted garlic which will enhance the flavour and sweetness further.
You'll also need a splash of olive oil so that you can brown the veggies. You could use another healthy oil or a knob of butter if you prefer.
Courgettes (zucchini). You'll need about 3 medium courgettes for this recipe. It doesn't matter if they are a bit overgrown;)
Peas. I used frozen peas in the recipe as I always have them available. You could use fresh peas too (although if I was lucky enough to have some fresh peas I'd probably just eat them directly from the pods!!)
If you love peas, you might also like this pea and mint dip.
Basil. A large handful of basil adds fantastic flavour to this pea and courgette soup. If you're not a fan of basil, try mint instead. It's best to tear up leafy herbs such as basil and mint, as they'll go black if you cut them with a knife.
Stock. I used a vegetable stock cube with water, but you could also use chicken stock if you prefer. There's plenty of flavour in the soup, so the flavour of the stock isn't critical. If you're using a shop bought stock you probably won't need extra seasoning, but you can taste the soup and decide when it's cooked.
How to make pea and courgette soup
I like to make this soup in a large pan so there's plenty of room to blitz it in the pan rather than having to transfer it to another bowl and create more washing up.
Heat the pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the onion to start to brown slightly as it will add more flavour.
Add the garlic and courgette, and stir to mix. Add the stock to the pan and bring to a simmer.
Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. After this time the courgette will be cooked.
Add the peas and basil. Bring back up to a simmer, then remove from the heat.
Blitz the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can transfer it to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Serving and storage
Pea and courgette soup is delicious served hot with flatbreads, seed bread or cheese scones. You could top with a little grated parmesan, or crispy croutons. Or just add an extra sprig of basil. On a hot day I also like to serve the soup chilled.
You can store pea and courgette soup in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Or place it in a freezer proof container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Frequently asked questions
I love cooking with courgettes as they are so quick and easy to prepare. Just cut the courgette into dice about 1.5 cm square. In order to make the process even quicker, you can make a stack of 1.5 cm slices and cut them through together. Because courgettes are quite soft, the knife will go through a pile of slices easily:)
No, there's no need to peel the courgettes. The peel will soften down when cooking and you won't know it is there. It's better not to peel veggies unless you really need to as a lot of the vitamins and minerals are just under the skin.
Yes! Courgettes or zucchini are a good source of a wide range of minerals including potassium, magnesium and manganese. They also contain vitamins A and C and are a source of folate. Courgettes are rich in antioxidants and contain soluble and insoluble fibre.
What to do with too many courgettes?
If you've got a glut of courgettes in the garden, there's a variety of recipes that you can use them in. You can bake them into muffins, turn them into pancakes, serve them as a veggie side dish, or serve raw courgette salad.
You might also like this watercress and leek soup, or browse other healthy soup recipes.
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Recipe
Pea and Courgette Soup
Equipment
- large saucepan
- immersion blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 600 g courgettes diced, approx 1.5 cm cubes
- 600 ml vegetable stock or chicken if preferred
- 200 g frozen peas
- handful of basil torn into pieces
- salt and pepper if required
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil and onion. Fry for 5 minutes until starting to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and courgettes and stir to mix. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Add the peas and basil. Simmer for a couple more minutes, then remove from the heat.
- Blitz with a hand blender until smooth. You can also transfer the soup to a food processor for blending if you prefer.
- Check for seasoning, and adjust if necessary.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is for guidance only
. says
Very good soup. Like most soups it's very easy to make.
Wendy Faulkner says
Hi, sorry you thought there were too many peas for you. Of course, you can adjust it to suit as per your suggestion, I hope you enjoy it more next time.
KCG says
200g peas too much. Tasted more like a pea soup, I will use 100g next time.