Whilst we were out walking this Easter weekend we came across a patch of lovely young stinging nettles…
…ideal for making our first nettle soup of the year. Fortunately, we had the forethought to take some gardening gloves and a carrier bag with us.
It was delicious with a couple of slices of home-made crusty bread! Not only is it tasty, nettles are really good for you.
Here’s our simple recipe if you’d like to try it out for yourself:
Nettle soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 2 sticks celery
- 1 small leek
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large knob butter
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 4 pts water
- 4 medium potatoes peeled & chopped
- large bowl/standard-sized plastic carrier bag-full of nettle leaves only use tips & young leaves
Instructions
- Roughly chop onion, celery & leek
- Put in large, thick-bottomed saucepan
- Sweat over gentle heat in vegetable oil & butter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Add water & potatoes to the saucepan
- Crumble stock cube into saucepan
- Bring to the boil & simmer for ½ hour
- Add nettle leaves & simmer for a further 20 minutes
- Blend & pass through a sieve
- Season with salt & black pepper to taste
- Add a splash of cream to finish (optional)
5 replies on “Nettle soup”
does that really work? I can never bring myself to try it. I take it once it's cooked its no longer stingy? what sort of flavour does it have?
Really works – just make sure you pick them with gloves on! Absolutely delicious – subtle but distinctive, like spinach but more flavoursome. Consistency is like a watercress soup… and it's REALLY good for you – full of antioxidants and iron!
Hmm, I just may try making it~
I never knew you could make soup with it! And we have it growing all over the place! Great, thanks!
I laugh when I think of the times I cussed stinging nettles, when as a kid back in England, I fell into them – they were everywhere! I'm surprised my Mum didn't know about Nettle soup, as a country lady and due to the wartime years she made a lot of stuff from the hedgerows etc. Antidote for stinging nettles – crushed dock leaves rubbed on the afflicted area. Strangely they seem to grow in proximity to nettles. Ain't Nature wild?