What’s the easiest way to convert a veg-packed, nutrient-rich soup into a filling, muscle-building meal? Add a pile of meat. The ham hock added to this pea soup is a high-protein food, containing 26g of protein per 100g, which will help you build lean muscle as well as making you feel full so you resist the temptation to snack. The ingredients in this recipe are fairly low in carbs, so you’ll avoid fat-storing blood sugar spikes.
You’ll need some sort of blender for this recipe – here’s our pick of the best food processors and handheld blenders on the market. This soup is ideal if you’re looking to pack in more protein with a muscle building diet, and it works if you’re following our weight loss diet plan for men or weight loss meal plan for women – just swap it for a meal of a similar calorie count.
Pea And Ham Soup Recipe
594 calories per serving
Ingredients (Serves Two)
- 2tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
- 1 medium-sized sweet potato, cut into small cubes
- 300g frozen garden peas
- 300ml vegetable stock
- 100ml semi-skimmed milk
- 200g shredded ham hock
- 1 small handful of fresh mint leaves
- 1tsp chopped chives
- Salt and pepper
Method
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweet potato, season with the salt and pepper and fry for three minutes, stirring continuously. Add the peas and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for four minutes. Add the milk, bring back to the boil and then take off the heat. Blend the soup in a food processor until smooth. Serve it in a bowl and garnish it with the ham, chives and mint leaves.
Nutrition
We used Myfitnesspal, one of the best weight-loss apps for calorie counting, to crunch the numbers for us to get approximate nutritional values for this recipe. This soup contains around 594 calories, and provides 36g fat, 35g of carbohydrates, 34g of protein and 6g of fibre.
Sweet potato is rich in heart-healthy beta carotene, as well as copper, which helps the body generate energy from carbs.
Peas are high in bone-strengthening vitamin K and manganese, as well as filling fibre.
Onion is a source of anti-inflammatory quercetin and blood sugar-stabilising biotin.
Ham offers metabolism-boosting thiamin, while the fat it contains helps you absorb beta carotene.
More High-Protein Soup Ideas
- Help your muscles repair and grow with this chicken noodle soup
- Try this warming spiced parsnip, sweet potato and lentil soup
- This healthy seafood soup is jam-packed with lean muscle-building protein
