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Potato Soup

A hearty soup of potatoes, stock, water, peas, rice, celery, leeks, and bread, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 16 ingredients
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Potato Soup

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Soup

12 persons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the potato soup

  1. Boil the potatoes until very dry.

  2. Mash them smoothly, ensuring no lumps remain.

  3. Gradually add the mashed potatoes to the boiling stock.

  4. Pass the mixture through a sieve.

  5. Season with pepper and salt to taste.

  6. Simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. Skim well.

  8. Serve with fried bread.

Prepare the beef and vegetables

  1. Cut the beef into thin slices.

  2. Chop the potatoes and onion.

  3. Put the beef, potatoes, onion, water, peas, and rice into a stewpan.

  4. Stew gently until the gravy is drawn from the meat.

  5. Strain the liquid, remove the beef.

  6. Pulp the remaining ingredients through a coarse sieve.

  7. Return the pulp to the soup.

  8. Cut the celery into pieces and add it to the soup.

  9. Simmer until the celery is tender.

  10. Season with pepper and salt to taste.

  11. Serve with fried bread cut into it.

Simmer and finish

  1. Bring water to a full boil.

  2. Add all ingredients except rice, salt, and pepper.

  3. Cover and let them come to a brisk boil.

  4. Add rice, salt, and pepper.

  5. Let the soup boil slowly for an hour, or until all ingredients are thoroughly cooked and juices are extracted and mixed.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

328Calories
10 gProtein
1 gFat
73 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Celery + leektop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,093 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Onion + leektop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,326 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  4. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Potato + leektop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Thicken the soup when mashed and pureed, giving it body and a smooth texture.
Stock
Forms the liquid base that carries the flavour of the soup.
Celery
Adds aroma and a subtle savoury flavour as it softens in the soup.
Peas
Add sweetness and body when cooked and pulped into the soup.
Leeks
Contribute a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness as they cook.

The step that matters

Passing the potatoes through a sieve after boiling. Potatoes must be boiled until very dry and then mashed smoothly; wet or lumpy potatoes turn gluey or grainy, so the texture depends on how dry and fine they are before adding the stock.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, onion, potato, leek, sugar, pepper):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, onion, potato, leek, sugar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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