This super simple and cozy pea soup with seasoned flatbread is a simple meal that you can make with minimal ingredients when your budget is tight. We used canned peas to keep the recipe quick and an all-purpose steak seasoning blend to add lots of flavor without needing to buy several herbs and spices. And, as always, I’ve got some variations and ideas for extra add-ins below if you have more ingredients and want to take it to the next level!
Dollar Store Dinners
Welcome to the new Dollar Store Dinners series on Budget Bytes. We’re making quick and simple meals using only ingredients found at the dollar store. While the availability of ingredients will vary from store to store, hopefully, these easy recipes will give you some inspiration for when money is tight and access to groceries is limited!
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What’s In This Meal?
I based this pea soup on our favorite Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup which is made by combining blended canned beans with broth and herbs to make an incredibly simple yet delicious soup. This time around, we started off by browning some bacon for extra flavor, then puréed peas and chicken broth, and seasoned it up with a bold steak seasoning (garlic, onion, pepper, parika, and other spices).
We then used the extra bacon fat to brush our flatbread (aka pizza crust), then topped it with a little more steak seasoning and baked it until crispy. The delicious “flatbread” was perfect for dipping into the cozy soup!
Here’s what we bought:
- 3 cans of peas ($1.25 each) $3.75
- 1 quart chicken broth $1.25
- 3 oz. bacon $1.25
- 1 ultra-thin pizza crust $1.25
- 1 container steakhouse seasoning $1.25
Total: $8.75
Can I use Frozen Peas?
If you have access to frozen peas, definitely use those in place of canned peas. You’ll need about 4-5 cups of thawed peas to replace the three cans. Frozen peas will have a fresher, sweeter flavor and a brighter color than canned peas.
No Dollar Store, No problem
If you don’t have a dollar store in your area, don’t fret. This will still be an incredibly budget-friendly recipe, even when the ingredients are purchased at a traditional grocery store. In fact, in some cases, the prices will be even better at a traditional grocery store than at a dollar store. Canned peas, for instance, are usually around $0.80-$0.90 at our local grocery, but are $1.25 at the dollar store. Why is this? Dollar stores do not specialize in food, so their prices can sometimes be a bit higher.
What Else Can I Add?
If you have access to more ingredients, here are a few things that can take this pea soup to the next level:
- Onion, garlic, carrot, and celery: dice each and sauté in the bacon fat after removing the cooked bacon from the pot.
- Ham: make it extra hearty by adding some diced ham to your soup.
- Extra herbs: if you have a stocked spice cabinet, try adding some oregano and thyme to your soup, or extra black pepper.
- Potato: add a diced potato and simmer until the potatoes are soft to make this soup extra filling.
- Add shredded cheese to your flatbread before baking for an extra delicious cheesy flatbread.
Pea Soup with Seasoned Flatbread
Servings 4 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 3 15oz. cans peas ($3.75)
- 3 cups chicken broth ($1.25)
- 3 oz. bacon ($1.25)
- 1 thin pizza crust ($1.25)
- 1.75 tsp steak seasoning, divided ($1.25)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF Drain the canned peas and add them to a blender with 2 cups of chicken broth. Purée until smooth. Add more chicken broth until the peas reach a thick soup consistency, or your desired consistency. We used 3 cups of broth total.
- Cut the bacon into smaller pieces, then add them to a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot.
- Brush some of the bacon fat from the pot over the surface of the pizza crust. Season the pizza crust with an additional ¼ tsp steak seasoning.
- Pour the puréed peas into the soup pot. Heat and stir over medium, using a wooden spoon or whisk to help dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Season the soup with steak seasoning, starting with 1 tsp and adding more to your liking. Make sure to taste as you go because steak seasoning often contains salt and you want to avoid over-salting the soup.
- While the soup is heating, bake the pizza crust for about 5 minutes or until browned and crispy. Tear or cut the bread into pieces for serving.
- Serve the soup in a bowl, topped with the browned bacon, and a couple pieces of the flatbread for dipping.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Pea Soup – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Drain three 15oz. cans of peas, then add them to a blender along with 2 cups of chicken broth. Purée until smooth. Add more broth until the peas reach a thick soup consistency. We used 3 cups of chicken broth in total.
Cut 3 oz. bacon into smaller pieces, then add to a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot.
Brush the extra bacon fat from the pot over the surface of one thin pizza crust. Sprinkle about ¼ tsp steak seasoning over the flatbread.
Pour the puréed peas and chicken broth into the pot. Stir and heat over medium, using a wooden spoon or whisk to help dissolve the browned bits of bacon off the bottom of the pot.
Add a teaspoon of steak seasoning to the soup. Stir to combine and heat through. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if desired. We used 1.5 teaspoons in total. Make sure to taste as you add the seasoning, as it does contain salt and you don’t want to over-salt the soup.
While the soup is heating, transfer the seasoned flatbread to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Tear or cut the flatbread into pieces for serving.
Once the soup is hot and seasoned to your liking, it’s ready to serve!
Serve the soup in a bowl, top with the crumbled bacon, and the seasoned flatbread on the side.
I’m looking forward to making this pea soup in near future. Thank you so much for putting these recipes together for us. 😊
Love this new series. Keep ’em coming! Thanks!
I love this idea, and am thrilled you’re tackling the very real issue of food insecurity with this series.
I made this with frozen peas because I had them on hand in the back of my freezer, but I didn’t have quite enough so I added a can of drained/rinsed canellini beans from my pantry. I’m not sure if this specific bean would be available at most dollar stores, but I think any neutral-flavored bean would do, as it just added body to the soup. I think even refried beans might work and give the soup a little of that smoky flavor I lost by omitting the bacon due to dietary restrictions. I also added a couple of cups of water to stretch the recipe a little further, and with a bit more seasoning, the soup was still delicious and filling.
While I hate peas and don’t shop at the Dollar Store, I love the idea of this series. In addition to people in food deserts, there are students and new-to-cooking folks who need simple recipes with limited ingredients even if they buy them at regular grocery stores.
Love the idea for the series. Although for pea soup I would have to go with dried peas- available from our local “economy” chain of stores.
I really appreciate this new series. I’m looking forward to more recipes like this for the folks that are in food deserts. <3 Thank you for always pushing for new & improved content & different ways to share your knowledge.
This is a brilliant idea for a series, I feel like you are getting back to your roots here! I’m very excited to see future installments. Another poster makes an interesting comment about the blender, but honestly you could make do with a potato masher or even a fork in a pinch. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! XOXO -Monti
So here is a less expensive option. Buy a bag of dried peas. Cost is about a dollar. Use dehydrated chicken broth instead of buying a liter of chicken broth. Cost is less than a dollar. With a bag of dried peas you can make five to six large pots of soup. Buy a small piece of ham from the deli for about a dollar. By doing this you will have a more authentic pea soup at a cost of about $2 instead of $9
Hi Lynn, This series is for people who live in food deserts. They shop almost exclusively at the Dollar Store because that is all they have access to. Many times, food prices at a supermarket are much cheaper than prices at the Dollar Store. But, again, they don’t have access to transportation to a supermarket or there is no supermarket. They definitely don’t have access to a deli. This is why we purchased only ingredients that were available at the Dollar Store. Thanks for being here. XOXO -Monti
I’m not a pea soup fan, but am excited about this series and love how you used the pizza crust!
Fantastic idea for a recipe series, especially with grocery prices rising so high these days! Please keep them coming and remember to include something for us vegetarians, as you always do!
We have some vegetarians ones coming up!! Thanks for checking it out! XOXO -Monti
This was delicious and extremely easy to make. I added two carrots, three stalks of celery, and half an onion as recommended as a possible addition to the recipe and I think that elevated the flavor, but the soup would be fine without that. This will be on our rotation for a weeknight dinner because of how easy it was to make!
This series is a great idea, one thing I would say is that you may want to consider the types of kitchen utensils and cooking tools likely available to people who are shopping for groceries at a dollar store. How likely are they to have a blender? Many probably do, many probably do not. Just something to consider.
I love this idea! As someone who loves Dollar Tree, I also appreciate that you mentioned something key—that you can often find canned foods for less at grocery stores. However, if you’re trying to save gas/bus fare or just don’t have access to a good grocery store, the dollar store can be a great one-stop-shopping option. I’m really looking forward to more recipes!
Looks yummy! I LOVE this idea for a series. With food prices rising so rapidly, it’s helpful to have some modestly priced meal options.
When making the soup from frozen peas, should I thaw them first, then blend and heat, or boil them and then blend?
Thaw them first. XOXO -Monti
Would this be more economical and tastier if made with dried split peas? I find an off taste from canned peas.
More economical and tastier is relative. But def try it with dried. XOXO -Monti
What an excellent recipe! You can also add ham in most forms. I used to make pea soup form frozen leftover ham bone. Now there’s diced ham you could add that doesn’t make it quite so greasy as the ham bone. You can also add tarragon or marjoram as well.
My husband is going to love this and want it weekly if not daily. LOL!
What a great series idea for folks who live in neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets! I haven’t yet tried this, but know from the recipe that it’s delicious–very similar to one of my go-to dried pea soup faves. I keep a few cans of peas in my pantry because that’s what I grew up with and I still crave some of my grandmother’s soup and salad recipes–her canned pea and shell macaroni salad, for instance. Another tip–I cook bacon in the oven these days, and usually do a whole package at a time, so any of it not immediately used goes into the freezer. The bacon fat goes into a jar in the fridge. Otherwise what’s left of the pkg of bacon in the fridge often ends up forgotten and wasted.
Good tip to avoid waste.
Bacon cooked in the oven tastes so much better.
Thanks