This post may include affiliate links; see our disclosure policy.
This vibrant spring green pea soup is creamy and light; it’s topped with crunchy rye croutons and chive flowers for a beautiful garnish.
It’s finally starting to feel like the spring here in Indianapolis, with flowering trees and tulips, asparagus and spring peas, and that pungent smell of chives after a freshly cut lawn (chives are rampant weeds in our neighborhood!). We’re so pleased to bring you this recipe to celebrate spring from our friend Sarah Copeland, whose new vegetarian cookbook Feast caught our eye. Keep reading for this green pea soup recipe.
Related: 10 Green Food Recipes
About the book: Feast
Not only is Sarah the most kind and genuine soul, her Feast cookbook is brilliant, creative, and was nominated for a James Beard award. The book is packed full of luscious and beautifully-styled vegetarian meals, which are organized both seasonally and functionally (such as, meals for a crowd versus small meals, which we love). We picked this green pea soup to highlight for you, which we knew would be fun to photograph with the chive flower garnish.
Are chive flowers edible?
Perhaps you’re wondering: are chive flowers edible? Indeed they are! We love growing them in our garden or in pots on our front steps. How to find chive blossoms if you’re not growing them yourself? I ran to our local farmer’s market and was lucky to find two bunches of chives with flowers.
We would recommend growing your own chives at home in a pot or in a garden, but it’s possible your nearest farmer’s market might have a bundle. Either way, this is an incredibly fun way to use the chive flowers – and they end up being quite tasty! And while the soup looks a little fancy, it’s actually quite simple to put together.
Want more with chives? Try Eggs with Chives or more of our Best Chives Recipes!
Croutons for soup
This pea soup comes out deliciously creamy, made simply with green peas, vegetable broth, and wasabi for a little kick! It’s one of our favorite pea recipes to date. This recipe also features rye croutons for soup, which add a fantastic crunch! We’ve made croutons for soup using standard bread like in our tomato artichoke soup. But we’d never tried rye croutons! They bring just the right savoriness and crunch to the vibrant spring pea soup.
This green pea soup recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free, omit the croutons.
Green Pea Soup with Chive Flowers
This vibrant spring green pea soup is creamy and light; it’s topped with crunchy rye croutons and chive flowers for a beautiful garnish.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 thick slices whole-grain rye bread, cut into small cubes
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- Fresh chives with blossoms for garnish
- 2 ¾ cups vegetable stock
- 10 ounces fresh or frozen peas
- ¼ teaspoon wasabi powder or paste (optional)
- ¾ cup full-fat plain yogurt
- Finishing oil for drizzling (we used olive oil)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Toss the bread cubes in the oil, turning with tongs or a heat-proof spatula to toast on all sides, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate to cool. (You can make these up to one day in advance; just be sure to cool completely and store in an airtight container.)
- Pull the chive blossoms from the chives and chop the green shoots.
- Heat the stock in a large soup pot over high heat until simmering. Add the peas and cook until bright green and just cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender or transfer the soup to a blender in batches to process until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the wasabi (if using) and season with salt and pepper. Add the yogurt and process until smooth and slightly creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Return to the pot and keep warm over a low flame until you are ready to serve.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with croutons, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with pepper and scatter the chopped chives and their blossoms generously over the top. Serve warm.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from Sarah Copeland and Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite
Looking for more soup recipes?
Outside of this green pea soup recipe, here are some more soups we love:
- Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup Recipe
- Golden Vegetable Soup Recipe
- Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
- Cozy Farro & Brussels Sprouts Soup
- Cauliflower Soup with Cozy Moroccan Spices
- Tuscan Soup with White Beans
- Hearty Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
- Creamy Coconut Curry Soup
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup Recipe
- Vibrant Spring Green Soup
- Vegan Split Pea Soup
- Italian Vegetable Gnocchi Soup
- Watermelon Gazpacho
YUM!!!! Fabulous pictures! oh and did i say YUM!!!!
SSSx
http://www.stylestreetstalker.com
Mercy! What an absolutely gorgeous dish and beautiful blog! I had no idea chives made such a pretty blossom! I can’t wait for mine to bloom now!
Gorgeous photos! I know I’ve seen those blossoms around somewhere, but I can’t think where. The whole dish just sounds so innovative and fresh. Nicely done!
Picking the flowers from my mom’s sea of chives was always my job growing up. So great to have a recipe where I can use them! Thanks!
I always love a new cookbook! Working on upping my vegetarian repertoire as well!
I’ve never thought about keeping the flowers on my chives as a garnish! Brilliant!
You certainly do not need ham or bacon in a good pea soup, as your recipe proves. Lovely combination of seasonings! I think the rye croutons are a nice touch too! Thanks for the great recipe!
Yum. This looks delicious. I love Sarah Copeland’s recipes. Can’t wait to try this one!
Just stunning!!! Too pretty to eat :) Love the addition of wasabi powder. What a neat idea. Sounds wonderful.
Thanks Courtney! Pretty, but not too pretty to eat ;)
How striking, beautiful contrast! I imagine it tastes sublime too. Can’t wait to try this.
Your soup photos are so pretty! The pea soup looks so light and creamy and the chive flower is the perfect contrast! And I love the little oil drops – they add the perfect touch :-)
The drops were Sonja’s styling genius. Aren’t they lovely? :)
These photographs were absolutely a joy to look at. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you!
Those chive flowers are incredible! Such an unexpected pop of colour – I didn’t know they were purple! They provide a really lovely contrast to the colour of the soup, which looks delicious :) x
Wow – between the color of the soup and the chives, these photos can’t be beat! Beautiful!
Thank goodness for the sunny weather this weekend right? We finally got out in the backyard to get some stuff done. And Columbus’s first Spring Farmer’s Market was this Saturday–too bad I missed it. But sleeping in was nice :)
This soup looks really good; it will have to be lunch this week! And I’m totally dreaming about what kind of rye bread grilled cheese I can make to go with. I can’t have soup without grilled cheese!
Abby
This would be great with a rye grilled cheese! We spent the weekend working in the yard as well, including planting a new tree out front! Spring has finally arrived for good :)
i havent seen peas in my market yet but its so refreshing…
What a lovely soup and gorgeous garnish!
Wow! Such gorgeous pictures to celebrate a beautiful book!
Thanks Grace!
The flavors in this soup sound so bright and fresh, and your pictures are gorgeous. Looks like a great cookbook too, and what a great idea to functionally organize the recipes that way.
These are the most beautiful photos ever!!! I love them. This looks so, so good.
Thanks Annie! I want to grow all sorts of edible flowers now. We’ve done nasturtium in the past, but these were too fun to play with.
CHIVES BLOSSOM?! mind = blown.
i am pretty sure we just discovered some chives growing in our front yard, but i’m not certain, and i’m afraid to try… i’ll have to call over the town botanist or whatever. maybe once they blossom i’ll compare them to your photos and give it a go.
also, yeahhhhhh rye croutons!!!!!
Rye croutons!!!!!
There are a lot of wild chive varieties out there. I’m sure a local master gardener will be glad to help.
I must try to find these flowers; they are too pretty and add such sophistication to this soup.
Hope you can find some! Chives are easy enough to grow too — and you can get a flowery treat every year.