Last Updated on January 16, 2021
In summer I manage to grow most of my own salad leaves. I pick what I need and never have leftovers (or if I do, the snails are just very grateful). But, with no greenhouse, once autumn kicks in, I’m forced into buying salads from the supermarket – bags of rocket and mixed salad, little gem, iceberg and romaine. Once I’ve garnished a dish or made a side salad, there are inevitably leftovers. Festering in the fridge they quickly start to lose the will to live – or at least the ability to add anything positive to a plate of fresh food. Perfectly edible and even within their best before date, they just need treating differently. That’s where salad soup comes in – the perfect way to save those wilting lettuce leaves and bring them back to life!
At this time of year, in any case, I’m looking for warming comfort food rather than meagre salads. Soup is my staple lunch with a base of homemade chicken stock and a whole range of different pulses, vegetables and (occasionally) bits of meat and fish. This salad soup is the perfect way to make the most of those leftover bits of salad in your chiller and still have a hearty and satisfying lunch. In addition to some kind of stock, you’ll need one potato and a medium-sized brown onion. And then whatever you can raid from your salad chiller. I’d recommend some rocket – it adds a light but peppery note. ‘Soft’ leaves – spinach, little gem and more – will work fine as will romaine and iceberg. The point is variety. I also add in any leftover vegetable stalks and shavings.
Here’s the basic recipe – but do feel free to adapt it to whatever combination of leafy greens you have. One piece of advice is not to add carrots, tomatoes or anything red unless you want to end up with a pink soup. You can easily make this vegetarian by using vegetable stock and for a vegan version, of course, you need to omit the creme fraiche. You can also mix it up by adding small pieces of chicken or ham after blending and just warming the dish through.
Salad Soup
Equipment
- I use a pressure cooker for this. Not essential
- Stick/wand blender or liquidiser
Ingredients
- 1 ltr stock I use home made chicken stock or vegetable stock made with marigold bouillon
- 1 medium potato
- 1 medium brown onion
- 250-350 g salad leaves or greens Try to include some rocket or mustard greens for the peppery notes. Baby spinach and all kinds of lettuce work well. I also add the stalks from kale, broccoli etc.
- salt and pepper to taste
- creme fraiche optional
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onion and potato
- Add to the pressure cooker or saucepan with about a tablespoon of olive oil
- Saute on low to medium for 8-10 minutes until the potato starts to soften and the onion is transparent
- Chop or tear all the vegetables roughly
- Add them to the pan and wilt down for 30 seconds
- Season with salt and pepper
- Pour over the stock and either pressure cook on high for 15 minutes or bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes until the potato is completely soft
- Use what ever method of liquidising you have chosen to blend everything together
- Taste and adjust the seasoning as required
- I serve this with a dollop of creme fraiche in each bowl. You could use the garnish of your choice - croutons or a sprinkling of grated cheese for example
Nutrition
The nice thing about this soup is that even with the creme fraiche it’s very low in calories but doesn’t feel that way. Low enough to enjoy a hearty chunk of my easy homemade focaccia with it in fact! It will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days and freeze for a month or so. If you want a thicker soup, just add more potato. You can even use left over mash if you want!
This sounds fantastic. Tasty and so easy to make and a great way to use up all those salad leaves that so often go to waste.
Delicious way to use up left over salad leaves
Delicious! And so easy to make!
This is a very creative idea. What a great way to use the salad that isn’t quite so fresh.
My mind is blown — I had no idea salad could be used in this way… soup no less!
Same it’s sounded so wrong but tasted so nice, I chucked a few chilli’s in for a kick 🙂
This looks amazing. I always have salad leaves left over. I think I will freeze any leaves leftover and when I have enough I will make this soup. Thanks so much for the great idea 🙂
Hi Fiona! Thank you for this fabulous idea! I hate wasting food and you are right, sometimes I can’t eat my leafy greens fast enough before they go bad! Question for you though, have you ever served this cold like a green veggie gazpacho? I can imagine it would be lovely especially in the summer on a hot day! Just a thought!
I haven’t served it cold myself, but I did taste it cold and you are right, it was really nice…
Yum! The soup looks delicious and perfect for using leftover greens.
So good!! I love this idea. I added a sweet potato instead, and used bone broth to add some protein and it was delicious.
Like many I hate wasting food but have never known what to do with leftover salad leaves which like myself have seen better days. Came across this recipe and decided to give it a try with what was lurking in the bottom of the vegetable drawer which was a bag of rocket leaves and a bag of mixed leaves. I added the ends of some tender stem broccoli and a small piece of leek along with the onion, potato and stock. It has turned out amazing well and I even had a little crème fraiche to top it off with. I’m now feeling very virtuous as it hasn’t cost me anything and it might have all ended up in the bin.
Thanks for the recipe.
It’s amazing what we can do with things left in the bottom of the fridge isn’t it! I agree about the virtuous sentiment!
Many thanks for this delicious and easy recipe. Had a massive amount of leftovers of green leaves, after preparing a salad for the herd lol. Came across this fab recipe and gave it a try. It really went down a treat. So much so that my husband asked me to make some more. Thanks again
Thanks for feeding back! I love this as a way of using up leftover leaves or salad that has bolted in the garden. It’s much tastier than you’d imagine isn’t it!
I have used leftover salad in different ways in the past. and this time used a conglomeration of.veggies. Because it was orange/brown in color, churning it in the blender to liquify, I added curry with a dash of cayenne. Very delicious!
Yes I tend to stick to green leaves to avoid the ‘brown food’ trap (everything delicious but not so pretty!) a curry note would be great – especially if you have peppery rocket and mustard leaves in there!