Hella Green Soup
I’ll cut to the chase: You’ve got to make this soup. I could wax poetic about its deep, multi-layered flavor, and rave about how satisfying it is — and add that if you have one of those big bag of greens in the fridge that absolutely must be cooked TODAY, then this is how to use it. But even that would undersell it, so please, just take my word on this and make Caroline Chambers’s Hella Green Soup.
The recipe came about after Caro’s Hella Green Pasta recipe blew up, back in 2023. “I’ve probably gotten a thousand messages, saying something along the lines of, ‘This sauce is so good we’re eating it like soup!’” she explains. “So…I made a hella green soup!” This dish, from her latest cookbook (out next week!), does the same magic trick as the sauce, condensing a whopping pile of vegetables into a harmonious spoonful of flavor. “Heavy cream brings richness into what could otherwise be labeled a blended salad,” she adds.
The first time I cooked it, my six-year-old came into the kitchen and said, “Whatever you’re making, I want to eat it right now.” She had three bowls. My point being: Make this, and make it a double.
Hella Green Soup with Garlic Toasts
From What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast, by Caroline Chambers
Serves 4
Soup
1 pound fresh spinach
1 pound lacinato kale
1 large white or yellow onion
2 celery stalks
2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 ounces)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 bunch mint
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
1/2-to-1 cup heavy cream*
*Note: For a vegan version, use coconut milk, or add 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews when you add the stock to the pot.
Garlic Toasts
1 small baguette, or 1/2 loaf crusty bread, sliced into 4 pieces
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Flaky sea salt
Position a rack in the center of the oven and turn the broiler to high. Trim the stems of the spinach and kale leaves. Rinse them, leaving some water clinging to the leaves. Place the spinach and kale in a large pot (if you’re using pre-washed spinach, sprinkle in 2-3 tablespoons of water). Cover and cook over medium-high heat to steam until all the leaves are wilted and the stems are softening (3-4 minutes). Use tongs to immediately transfer the spinach and kale to a high-powered blender (see tips below). Repeat with the remaining spinach and kale. Blend on high speed until completely smooth (3-4 minutes). Dump out the liquid from the pot.
Dice the onion, celery, and potatoes. Mince the garlic. Roughly chop the mint leaves (you should have about 1/2 cup). Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same pot over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion, celery, and one teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned (about 8 minutes). Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Stir in the coriander and cumin and cook until fragrant (30-60 seconds). Add the potatoes and stock. Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium, partially cover the pot, and simmer until the potatoes are very tender (15-20 minutes).
Meanwhile, make the toasts. Arrange the sliced bread on a rimmed baking sheet and coat both sides with olive oil. Broil until golden brown (1-2 minutes per side). While the toasts are still warm, peel and halve the garlic cloves and gently rub each piece over one side of each toast. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
Stir the pureed greens and chopped mint into the soup. Working in batches as needed, transfer to a blender and blend the soup on medium-high speed until very smooth (about 1 minute). Return the soup to the pot. Stir in 1/2 cup cream, or more if you like it richer. Taste and add more kosher salt if needed.
Ladle the warm soup into bowls. Serve with the toasts whole, or break them into crouton-size pieces and float them on top. Bonus step: For an extra-smooth, super-elegant soup, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer, using a wooden spoon to push it through. Garnish the top of the soup with little dots of leftover heavy cream. Fancy!
Tips: For the smoothest result here, you really want to use a high-powered blender; a food processor or an immersion blender — much as I love them — won’t be up to the task. When blending hot liquid, never fill the blender more than halfway. Before turning the blender on, remove the center cap from the lid and cover the lid with a folded kitchen towel. This lets the steam escape rather than building up pressure that can blow the lid off!
YUM! Thank you so much for sharing, Caro! Her new book, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast, comes out on August 11th. You can pre-order it here, if you’d like.
P.S. Three more blender meals, and dinners to make with fresh summer corn.
(Recipe reprinted with permission from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast, by Caroline Chambers © 2026. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Top photo by Erin Scott. Bottom photo by Breana Janay.)
Comments
64 commentsI haven’t tried this soup yet, but our go-to green soup is a winner with my family and is actually easy. Here it is: Ingredients: 1 Tbl olive oil 1/4 cup onion, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup peas or 1 small carrot, scrubbed and coarsely chopped (no need to peel) 1 Yukon or baking potato, scrubbed and coarsely chopped (no need to peel) 10 oz (frozen) broccoli 3 cups vegetable broth Directions: On the stovetop, heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrots (if using) and cook for 5 minutes. Add potato, broccoli, and peas (if using), stir well, then add broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Puree in a blender until smooth. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese or chipotle pepper flakes.
How is this FAST? Adding up all the time, it looks like it’s at least an hour. This is a hard pass for a weeknight.
Nowhere in the recipe or article she said its fast
@Wulan – the soup recipe from Caroline’s new cookbook titled “Make It Fast”, so there’s some reason to assume that the recipes featured wouldn’t require much of a time commitment.
Just made this soup and it’s delicious! I’ve made different variations of “green soup” and this is definitely up there as one of my favorites. I took some variations: added coconut milk instead of cream, added turmeric (because I like the earthiness it adds) and cannelini beans for more fiber. I did not blend the kale & spinach beforehand, just threw everything in a pot, so my soup came out a bit more olive green than bright, but it doesn’t throw me off. The mint is the secret ingredient – do not skimp on that!! I’m also a big fan of my immersion blender so I just used that and I’m happy with it.
What is the point of separately blanching and pureeing the spinach and kale? Why not throw it into the pot at the very end and blend it all together with an immersion blender? Seems like a lot of extra work that could be saved.
Blanching keeps the greens nice and bright so that the soup is hella green. If you skip the step it will still work but your soup will have some swamp water vibes. Still delicious but potentially less appetizing.
I’m confused by this recipe. What liquid is there to blend the greens in, if we’re only adding the moisture on the leaves in the first place and then lifting them out with tongs? My Vitamix requires liquid to blend. Also, doesn’t spinach cook a lot faster than dino kale? Someone clue me in! It looks delicious!
4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock 1/2-to-1 cup heavy cream*
I agree. The recipe says to immediately transfer and blend the wilted kale and spinach, but you need liquid to blend, and the recipe doesn’t mention liquid until later. This is confusing and hard to follow as written!
Really expected this to be a post about Anna Thomas’ green soup, which predates this recipe by 12 years and is hella similar. For folks who don’t want to think about dairy/dairy substitutes and might be interested in other herb options, suggest checking it out: https://food52.com/recipes/31438-anna-thomas-green-soup
it’s ok for people to have had similar ideas
I love Anna Thomas!
Unrelated but a green veggie conundrum: any suggestion for using a million cucumbers? My veggie box has…a TON…and I dont want to throw them out, but there’s only so many cucumber-tomato salads one can eat!
If you’re into pickles, any cucumber can be made into a quick pickle, which stores for about a week and is good on anything savoury/salty!
Cucumber and avocado… Making tzatziki from scratch is delicious too (but won’t dent a vast amount ) And pickling…..
Cucumber gazpacho is delicious! Think there is a good bon appetit recipe, or make smitten kitchen fridge pickles! So good.
I love cucumber chow, a Trinidadian recipe. It uses cucumbers, garlic, hot pepper sauce, lime juice and West Indian cilantro (aka chadon beni). I could inhale an entire bowl it’s so good.
if you’re into spice, this is delightful: https://rainbowplantlife.com/spicy-cucumber-salad/
Whenever my kids have friends over and want a snack I slice a bunch of cucumbers into rounds, put them on some plates, sprinkle them with sea salt, and nonchalantly set them out near the kids and watch them devour them all.
cucumbers work well in smoothies
@Sarah Levy: this chow dish sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to try it.
GAZPACHO MOTHERFUCKERS ALSO SMASHED CUCUMBER SESAME SALAD (soy or mirin plus sesame sauce and seeds and maybe some type of chili)
1) Pickled or quick pickled is always great 2) grated into plain yogurt with salt, mint or cilantro, cumin, maybe some garlic or lemon juice is a quick raita to have with indian food. I use two cucumbers for enough raita for my family. 3) Din Tai Fung cucumber salad iykyk 4) cucumber lime margaritas, cucumber watermelon agua fresca 5) Give to any friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, acquaintance, barista, shop owner that you’re friendly with that has young kids. My kids gobble down cucumbers. 6) cucumber sandwiches are my favorite thing in the world- you could do cucumber shredded into cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise with herbs and shallots, or cucumber sliced with mint chutney from the south asian grocery store, pepperjack cheese, tomatoes, and any other vegetable you like 7) Cucumber ranch- just google it! My favorite nostalgic dressing- my mom always bought this in the 80s and 90s.
Smitten Kitchen’s cucumber and avocado salad yummmm
Omg I have this weird thing about green coloured soup. I haven’t had one in a decade. But if it tastes so good, maybe I can add something to change the colour?
This hydration pack for your fridge crisper drawer keeps produce fresh for SO much longer! https://a.co/d/0aX8Zkot Also love Caro – she has the best substitutions around!
Thank you for making a vegan-friendly note! <3
If you added grilled paneer and cayenne to it, it’d basically be your weeknight Palak Paneer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yum!
If anyone has proven tips to get cashews to blend SMOOTHLY without a high powered blender, please share. Even with soaking, etc., I still feel the “grit” and for some reason that turns me off. My Trader Joe’s no longer sells the vegan cream for cooking so that option is out. I end up using white beans or potatoes and blending for thickness in soups.
Have you tried boiling the cashews? If I want them extra creamy, I’ll bring them to a boil, then take them off the heat and let them soak in that extra hot water (ideally for an hour or more) and then I blend ’em for a long time—like a couple of minutes instead of 30 seconds.
I second the boiling comment! There’s a vegan mac-and-cheese recipe I adore, which calls for a ton of blended cashews. In my experience, the key things are boiling and patience (i.e. blending for way longer than you think you need to), regardless of the blending device you’re using. The freshness of the cashews also makes a difference, but that’s a harder factor to control for!
Try boiling them for about five minutes and then let them soak in the water for another hour
Thank you! I’m will definitely try the boiling – not just soaking – route for the cashews. I have high hopes!!
I use regular cream cheese blended into loads of soups. Is there vegan cream cheese, in blocks, that you could use instead of cashews.?
You can substitute raw cashew butter for raw cashews (by weight measurement).
This recipe has me thinking…. I just moved from a 2-bed house (the storage!) to a 600 square foot apartment. I’m still in the process of major downsizing, and I’m wondering: what are everyone’s small kitchen WORKHORSE tools and appliances? Anyone have small kitchen secrets or tips?
Love my immersion blender!
Immersion blender.
Jenny once wrote a post about it on here.
Zojirushi rice cooker.
Toaster oven! We splurged on the big Breville model and haven’t regretted it – perfect for one or two people and we love that it uses electricity instead of gas. Our standard oven is being used as a very expensive cupboard for pots and pans now.
Definitely an immersion blender! I live my Bamix blender, it has a mini grinder and a mini food processir attachement that I used a ton when I had a tiny kitchen. Super easy to clean.
Immersion blender, salad spinner, kitchen scale, a small1 quart pot with a lid, an electric tea kettle, good spatulas. My small kitchen tip is never purchase anything – dishes, appliances, linens, cookbooks – without first planning exactly where you will store it.
Yes! Agree with everyone’s comments below especially the Zojirushi rice cooker. That plus the salad spinner, electric kettle and toaster oven are our most used kitchen items.
Hi, this is Emily again — thank you all so much for your tips! Looks like an immersion blender is DEFINITELY in my future. :-) Excited to join the small space club.
I’ve been making lots of vegetable soups over the last month because I’m worried about getting cyclospora, so I’m excited to try this! Boiling is the only way to kill the parasite. Thanks for a recipe that includes lots of greens !
Hahaha, I had the same thought! I was really missing spinach!
Wow! Will be trying this ASAP with the coconut milk–my mouth is watering just looking at that gorgeous color!
OK, I love Caro, and I don’t mean to be a negative Nancy, but this soup doesn’t sound…fast? Or maybe it’s fast, but it sounds like it makes a MESS. all that transferring to and from the blender, and most likely you need to work in batches so does that mean you need an extra pot to put the pureed stuff into, since the full pot isn’t blended yet? And then you have to do the whole process over again when you blend a second time? Caro is usually really good about being SUPER specific with the process, so I’m a bit disappointed that there isn’t mention of a second pot, or maybe I am missing something about how all this blending actually happens? Or maybe I’m just more of a chunky “stoup” (shout out to Rachael Ray) girl….
So, I had the same thought about the timing (I also tend to think that anything with potatoes can’t be that fast), but I was pleasantly surprised. I did use my mini food processor dicing the onion, potato, etc., but I realized that next time I could probably just do a quick rough chop. You don’t really need everything equally sized or finely diced in the pot. As for the blending, I did do the greens in batches, but I didn’t pour out any of the purée in between — I just added more greens to the blender as I went, and eyeballed it until everything looked smooth. For the second round, with the soup, I erred on the side of caution and poured out the first blended batch into a bowl (which I then used for serving, so I wouldn’t have another thing to wash). I agree with you, it’s not a one-pan wonder, but in practice, it’s a lot less fuss than you’d think.
This is the sort of thing I use an immersion blender for. I stick the immersion blender into the pot, no transferring required. (We have one with a metal blade, so that we’re not putting plastic into a hot soup.) And the blade/stick part of the immersion blender (the only part that needs washing) barely takes any space in the dishwasher.
I definitely think Caro’s experience of “Not feeling like cooking” is different than mine, lol! :D That said, I’m 100% going to try this recipe when I do feel like cooking. Despite the warning, I’m going to try the immersion blender first anyway. I’m fine with a less than perfect puree and ours does fine for other similar soups. I’ve tried transfering to the vitamix but it’s a messy and hot process that I do not enjoy. I’m also considering skipping the greens saute and instead adding them late into the simmer, so I can do one blend, although I could do as written and just hold them over until blending time. Thanks for the dairy-free call-out! Might also try a white bean puree, which we’ve been liking lately.
Same! I love Caro and find her recipes inspiring but a recipe that makes me trim the stems from 2 pounds of greens is NOT a fast recipe!! I get that we all have our own notion of fast, but as a mom of 3 little kids working full time and coming home after 6pm this is not the kind of “fast” recipe that I need haha. I do have a super Quick recipe for a chilled pea and mint soup that I love and that is more adapted to this hellish summer where we’re in the 4th heat wave.
Frédérique, please share with this working mom of 2!
I don’t know if this helps, since it is a different recipe, but this was always a fun option regarding pea soup. Plus, it’s vintage Nigella! https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31tj1u
I love her recipes and the first cookbook is a favorite that I have even given as a gift… but I always tell people to ignore the title because you absolutely do need to feel like cooking and ideally from a well-stocked pantry! The title has always been a head-scratcher for me, as much as I love what’s inside.
Definitely want to try this, but gonna be using an immersion blender, sorry. I get frustrated when recipes seem to require highly specific, often expensive equipment.
You know, not to argue with Caro, but I think that’s fine? I did use a countertop blender, but I’m thinking I’ll probably try an immersion blender myself next time, if only for comparison. My guess is it won’t be quite as smooth and uniform (kale is tough like that), but I don’t think that will bother me much, personally.
I am an immersion blender evangelist and in my experience it can get any soup to a pretty perfectly pureed place, you just need to do if for longer than you think. Just keep blending until it’s smooth! Even if it takes a little more time I would so much rather do this than transfer hot liquid to a high power blender in batches.
I have a fancy Vitamix and I would literally never use it to blend soup over using my immersion blender. I can never be convinced that smoothness is worth the effort. Sometimes I fake it by thinning the soup a little more (or using less of the ingredient that giving the soup bulk – potato, rice, roux…) to keep the soup on the thinner side. Plus, all of the blending and filtering is just stripping out the fiber, so why do that? Middle aged me needs the fiber!
As long as readers are singing the praises of immersion blenders, I’d love a few make/model recommendations….
I have the Braun immersion blender / chopper/ wisk and I use some part of it almost every day. It is definitely my workhorse kitchen appliance. I don’t own another blender or smoothie maker, etc. This one does it all https://www.braunhousehold.com/en-ca/c/food-preparation/hand-blenders/multiquick-5-vario