Incredibly Simple Yet Amazingly Tasty
We enjoyed a great meal at the home of one of our oldest daughter’s friends recently. To start the meal Cathy served this lettuce soup recipe from her Grandma Marilyn.
When I first heard we were having “lettuce” soup I thought to myself this isn’t going to taste like much because when you think of it, how much flavor does iceberg lettuce have?
After that first spoonful, I realized how wrong I was. Cathy’s grandmothers lettuce soup is delicious and full of flavor and I highly encourage you to give it a try.
Easy to prepare and a great way to use up that head of lettuce hanging out in the refrigerator waiting for some Thousand Island dressing.
This lettuce soup doesn’t take long to prep but you’ll cook it for 20 to 30 minutes. We used a hand blender to puree it but a blender or food processor works just as well. And like many soups, it’s even better the next day.
Lettuce Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 small head iceberg lettuce
- ½ stick butter unsalted
- 1 cucumber seeds removed, chopped
- 6 scallions chopped
- 2 potatoes peeled and sliced
- 1 quart chicken broth
- salt & pepper to taste
- Chives for garnish
Instructions
- Prep all the ingredients including removing the core of the head of lettuce and pulling off the leaves.
- Heat a soup pot with cover over medium heat and melt butter. Add the lettuce, stir, cover and cook until wilted. This should take about 15 minutes but give it a stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. If you find the heat to high on your stove, turn it down a bit.
- Add the cucumbers, scallions and potatoes. Stir to combine and reduce heat to low.
- Add chicken broth to the pot to cover the vegetables. You want to add enough broth so the "veggies can float around, but don't drown".
- Cover and cook for 20 - 30 minutes. If you are cooking on low and the pot is covered, there's very little chance you'll overcook this soup.
- We used a hand blender to puree the soup but you can use a blender or food processor. When pureeing, if the soup looks to thick, add a little more chicken stock and cook a little longer on medium heat. If it looks too thin, continue cooking it down until it reaches the right consistency.
- Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. I found it needed salt so I added a little and was sure to have salt and pepper shakers on the table.
Notes
Hi, could I use something other than butter? I dont use margarine either. Thank you, Donna
Interesting question Donna. I suppose you could try using oil but I think the butter gives this soup a lot of flavor. Anyone else have some substitution ideas?
Coconut oil?
I wouldn’t think of using coconut oil for this recipe but what the heck, give it a try and let me know how it turns out.
Coconut milk – southern Asian vibe, with a couple of green Thai chillies to enhance the taste.
I have been making lettuce soup for over 30 years and am astonished that more cooks don’t make it.
I always think it tastes like a very good asparagus soup and I have occasionally put some as a garnish.
A lovely summer starter.
Can you freeze lettuce soup?
John, I don’t see why not. It never lasts that long in our house and I’ve never tried but it seems like it would be OK. I sometimes get nervous about freezing soups with cream or milk but this doesn’t have any. You should probably ask a food nutritionist if you are concerned. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
cleared out cupboard and found can of peas used it instead of cucumber
added a bit of fresh mint. Brown nutty bread home made
Delicious
Can you substitute a good vegetable stock for the chicken stock & still have as much flavour? It seems strange having a lettuce soup that you can’t serve to vegetarians.
Hi Kathy, of course you can substitute veggie stock for chicken stock for vegetarians. Will it have as much flavor? I don’t think so but that doesn’t mean it still won’t be delicious. In my opinion, chicken stock has more flavor than vegetarian stock but that doesn’t mean you can’t add additional spices and herbs to give it some extra flavor. Good vegetarian stock can have tons of flavor but good roasted chicken stock will have more depth of flavor, again in my opinion.
Finally a way to eat lettuce
I’ve just made this soup, absolutely delicious. I make a batch of different soup every other day or so and this is by far one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing 🙂
How interesting I can have lettuce in my soup, in my salad and on my sandwich all in one meal. I’ve got to try this -but is it possible to use different lettuces mixed together ( butter lettuce with romaine) or the spring mix salad that has the darker little reds and green leaves? Curious before I jump right in-
Sounds good to me. Give it a try and please let me know which combinations you like best Megan.