Fennel and Pea Soup: An Easy Soup Recipe

Whenever I am watching a television programme, an ingredient I repeatedly see being used is fennel. Celebrity chefs rave about this ingredient due to its fantastic flavour and versatility, as it is an ingredient that you can use either hot or cold and cook in a variety of ways. Therefore, I started experimenting with new soup recipes using fennel as an ingredient, starting with this fennel and pea soup recipe, but with many more to follow.

Fennel and peas complement each other well, and the combined effect of the two ingredients creates a visually appealing green. This soup is light enough for warmer months but hearty and flavoursome enough for the cold weather. It is also possible to serve pea and fennel soup hot or cold.

Here is an easy soup recipe for a fennel and pea soup.

Preparation time	5 minutes
Cooking time	25 minutes
Servings	6
Vegetarian/ vegan	Vegetarian- YES Vegan- NO (see additional tips)
Dairy-free	NO- see notes
Gluten-free	YES

Ingredients for Fennel and Pea Soup

• 1 lb 5 oz/ 600 g chopped fennel
• 1 lb 2 oz/ 500g frozen peas (plus a handful for garnish)
• 800 ml/ 27 fl. oz/ 1.4 pints of vegetable stock
• 100 ml double cream (plus a little extra for garnish)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Chopped mint for garnish

How to Make Fennel and Pea Soup

1. Add the fennel, vegetable stock, and the frozen peas in a large saucepan, then put it over high heat on the hob and bring to the boil.
2. Once the liquid is boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, add a handful of frozen peas to a small saucepan and cover with water.
4. Put the peas over medium heat on the hob and simmer.
5. When ingredients in the larger of the two pans are softened, blitz the mixture with a hand blender. Alternatively, transfer the mixture to a food processor and blitz before returning to the pan.
6. Add the double cream and stir through, then season the soup with salt and black pepper.
7. Cook for a further two minutes before serving the fennel and pea soup into bowls.
8. Drain the peas from the smaller pan into a sieve, then sprinkle the peas over the top of the soup.
9. Add a swirl of cream and a sprinkle of chopped mint or mint sprigs to the top of the soup as a garnish (both optional).

Additional Tips

• Vegan/ dairy-free: If you are vegan or on a dairy-free diet, then you can replace the double cream with an extra 100 ml of vegetable stock.
• Soup maker: It is easy to make this soup in a soup maker (see our soup maker reviews), and there is no need to saute the ingredients first.
• Catering: To make this soup in bulk for catering purposes to serve from a catering soup kettle, simply multiply the ingredients. For example, if you want to make 30 servings of the soup, multiply the quantities by 5.
• Chilled soup: If you are serving this soup chilled, then leave it to cool before storing it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
• Other soups to try: If you enjoy our fennel and pea soup, you may also like our quick pea and ham soup or our pea and mint soup recipe.