With consumers being so bombarded with marketing for ready-meals, fast-food, and other chemical ridden rubbish often I find people forget about some of natures ingredients that are normally right on their doorstep!

This recipie will go through how to make a nettle soup, which not only is a cheap and easy to make meal but also extremely good for you. Nettles (which are rich in iron and contain lots of great vitamins) have been said by many to have anti-anemic, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. Its also a diuretic so is great for detoxing and helps remove toxins from the blood. On top of all that it also is a great remedy against arthritus, rheumatic conditions, allergies, kidney disease.... (and the list goes on!)

All of that from a pesky weed that most of us avoid and ignore!

Preparation:

First things first, pick a good spot. I would try avoid any spots that are nearby to roads as you'll likely get a mouthful of pollution, and try to look out for the smaller sized nettles as they are more nutritious and tasty for your soup. The spot I found today was in "Ulva Kvarn" in Uppsala, Sweden, but the same principles can be applied to most of the world!

picking nettles

Now you have found your spot, onto some practicalities of nettle picking, wear a good pair of gloves, or if like me you forgot to bring a pair then cover your hands up well. If you do get stung, take a look around for any doc leaves (big vainy leaves normally found nearby to nettles) as rubbing these on a new sting will relieve the pain.

how to make nettle soup

Typically to make a batch of soup for four people you will want to get about half a bag of nettles.

bag of nettles

At this point if you want to pick more nettles you might want to consider filing up your bags and then:

  • Preparing and freezing any left over nettles for another day (just wash/cut/dry them and they will freeze well)
  • Making nettle tea by cutting off the tips (they taste less bitter in tea) and putting in a cafetiere. You can also dry the nettles for tea by either hanging them up in a warm place (the airing cupboard if you want them to dry quickly) or I've heard you can even dry them in the oven (probably on a low heat).
  • Look up some of the other handy uses for nettles (you'll probably be suprised how versatile they are!)

Ingredients:

1 large onion
2 or 3 garlic gloves (or more or less to your taste)
2 or 3 potatoes
Splash of olive oil
Knob of butter
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Chicken Stock (this is very easy to make from leftover chicken)
Cream (optional, to taste)
Cayene Pepper or Chilli Flakes (optional ,if you like your soups to pack a kick!)

Making the Soup:

Step 1) Prepare the nettles (again at this point you may want to wear some gloves to avoid getting stung). Wash and drain the nettles. You only want to use the fresh smaller young looking leaves so pick these off the stalk and disgard the rest (or better still stick them on your compost pile!). I find using a pair of scissors is a fast way of doing this.

cutting nettles

Step 2) Peel and chop your potatoes, garlic, and onion and fry them on a high high heat in a saucepan with a bit of oilive oil and some butter until the onion is soft and the potatoes have started to go brown. If you want a spicy "sting!" to your soup then also add in either some cayenne pepper or some chilli flakes to taste.

cooking nettle soup

Step 3) Add the nettles into the pan and mix around with a wooden spoon and after 30 seconds or so add a litre of boiled water and your chicken stock. (If you have made the stock fresh you may need a few extra cubes to get in more flavour)

cooking nettles

Step 4) Boil the soup on a medium heat until the potatoe is soft (normally takes between 12-15 minutes).

Step 5) Take the soup off the heat (and ideally let it cool for a bit) then blend the whole thing till you have a smooth consisitency. You can return the soup to the pan on a high heat after this briefly to warm it up ready for serving adding in any salt and pepper to taste.

blending nettle soup

Step 6) Serve the soup with some nice organic bread and if you like you can add some cream by swirling around in the bowl with a small spoon for a mindblowing and decorative finish!

nettle soup

Step 7) Hope you enjoy the soup, and by the way if you are wondering where I got the cool bamboo frame sunglasses it was right on here on Ethical Community (of course!).

eating nettle soup

Step 8) If anyone has any other variations or tips please feel free to comment below with your ideas as would love to hear from you.