I’ll cut to the chase: You’ve got to make this soup. I could wax poetic about it’s 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.)
This story originally appeared on Cup of Jo
