Who hasn’t had a nasty touch of stinging nettles. Now they are back around my garden and I am very happy about it. Today I made my first nettle soup, and it tasted fantastic as always. And even better, it contains more vitamins and minerals than both spinach and broccoli.
Nettles are used when the plant is young, but you can cut them down and get new growth. And they can really sting, so use some sort of glowes when harvesting. I use the top of the plant, and they are picked were there are no pollution. Then rinsed in water and I also let them soak a few minutes in boiling water to get rid of the sting. This water is discarded. Then I chop the nettles and simmer them in butter with onion, and I add a little flour before adding some stock. After boiling for 5-10 minutes I use a blender to make the soup smooth, then I add a littlebit of cream. Other use sour cream. I often serve with a boiled egg. Nettles can also be used in other ways.
I might also add other wild plants in my soup, like goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria), an alien species that are hated by many gardeners. It also taste very well. What is really important is to never eat a plant unless you are hundred percent sure of the species, because there are plants that are deadly poisonous.
Bente Haarstad Photography 
Looks absolutely yum! I’ve never had it though…
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You should try,Siddhartha, it is very lovely and healthy.
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I love nettle soup – you’ve made me feel hungry ;~)
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It is just to go out there and pick some (carefully), Rudolf.
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I have heard of using nettles for their health benefits. Perhaps I will give this a try, I have a lot of nettles in my garden. Thanks for sharing Bente. 🙂
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Then you get rid of them, and at the same time get a very lovely soup. If the are too old, long and starts to blossom, then you cut them down and wait for new growth. Best of luck.
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It seems the nettle leaf in your country looks different from here.
They are more serrated. (In UK, they are more like egg shape)
though, I guess the taste the same ?
(I’ll try your recipe next time. —– by the way, they are not
common in Japan)
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Stinging nettle is native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, and as a weed probably found in more places. But maybe not in Japan? If you do not know the plant, get somebody who knows to verify before you eat it. This is VERY important, Joshizen.
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It’s also in Japan though only in the mountain and rare.
As there are many another edible plants, Japanese is
not bother that all. I think, nettle couldn’t be mistaken as no another plant having the sting like them 🙂
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Hi,
I have never heard of nettle soup, very interesting, and looks nice as well.
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Nice, Mags, very nice. There are probably wild plants to be eaten in your place too. Anyway, you can use spinach the same way.
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Sounds really good. I am a soup lover, and like to try new things.
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It is one of the best soups, Sandy, made with young nettles. Easy to make, and cheap. The nettles are free..
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WOW! First of all the first photograph fascinated me, I should say… You captured amazingly… And this soup seems so delicious and I haven’t known this… Thank you dear Bente, with my love, nia
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Thanks a lot for your comment, dear Nia.
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I would never have thought of putting a boiled egg in the soup. Different cuisines. Very interesting though. And yes, I do remember my hands being blistered from nettles. I avoided them after that. Wouldn’t mind trying the soup though. I like how you described how to do it.
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I don’t like to be blistered either, but loves this soup. With washing gloves you are completly safe, but I usuallu use some thin gloves in cotton on these young nettles.
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Your nettles look quite different from ours, but we use them much the same in soup for a springtime restorative and for tastiness.
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Yes, the say these nettles restore the body after the winter. They have been eaten for centuries.
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Sounds very interesting. I have stayed away from nettles ever since I got badly stung by them. I’m sure the soup is good, though.
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The soup is good, Tuxedo. It certainly doesn’t let you get stung. It is very mild.
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Nettles remind me of England, where I was always getting stung. I’ve never thought them to be so beautiful as they look in your photo.
And, you are right about poisonous plants.
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Yes, if we eat something wild, from the nature, we have to be really sure.
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My Grandmother always said that Nettle soup would cure most ailments. TFS this. It has brought back lots of happy memories.
Regards Florence x
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Your grangmother certainly knew what she was talking about, Florence. They often do.
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I didn’t know nettles were edible. The photo is lovely, and the soup looks very good, too!
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Very, very edible, when prepared as soup.
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So, besides taking wonderful pictures, you also cook ?! Wonderful !
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Of course I cook, Karine, every day. Thanks.
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Looks yummy. Love hard boiled eggs and green’s my favorite color. How could I go wrong with that 🙂
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This might be your soup, Fabulous. But it also goes with spinach. Maybe easier to find? From the shop.
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Looks fantastic & I imagine tastes so as well. I was just reading a foodie article about nettle gnocchi. I think could really get the taste for weeds but I am a bit scared about identifying correctly what’s safe to eat.
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Thats the right attitude. Never eat anything wild if you do not know for sure. It is maybe possible to find someone who can verify? As soon as you know, you know for later..
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Boy Stinging Nettle keeps popping up lately. I love those photos and then the two eggs in the soup. It sounds wonderful.
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You have nettles in Hawaii? Wow. But I guess you have a lot more variety in green stuff than us, with that climate.
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Actually we have a small tree called Olona that is part of the nettle family but grows without the nettle. It was a very important part of ancient Hawaii as they made clothing from the inner-bark of the plant which they grew in groves.
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Interesting, Karen. Different plants used to be very important.
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Never had it…will have to try
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I guess there are a lot of british nettles around, David. I recomend it.
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I’m told it’s very healthy but I’ve never tried it. And nettles don’t grow in Perth 😦
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Very healthy, Keira, but I guess you have other healthy stuff in Australia.
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yumy!
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Yes, yumy yumy, Eldin.
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I’ve never tried this before but it looks delicious! 🙂
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It is, absolutely.
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Beautiful image of the nettles. Leaves on their own aren’t easy to photograph and you’ve done it perfectly, Bente.
(I make my spinach soup almost the same way, except that I don’t add cream – I don’t like dairy products. I don’t eat my soup with hard-boiled eggs either. I also make my spinach soup with young leaves.. I wash my spinach several times before cooking it, so one doesn’t get any of the gritty sand which are part of the soil, market gardeners use here as a growing medium).
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Well, then you know, Victoria. Spinach grows easily in my garden, believe it or not, and this summer I will try it in a soup, when the nettles get too old.
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This is new to me! I only knew the stinging part!
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Poor you, Mimo, haven’t we all tried the stinging part. 😉
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It’s both yummy and beautiful. I didn’t know such dish. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Thanks for your comment, Cocomino.
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I’ve heard of people making soup out of nettle. I even had a friend in college at Texas A&M who used to carefully pick the leaves, fold them so the pointy things were not exposed, and then chew on the raw stuff, kind of like snuff. Me? I won’t go near the stuff.
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For certain, I will NEVER try the raw nettles either, Russel.
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Yummy!
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That looks delicious! Never tried it before!
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Never eaten it but it looks nice
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I’ve never heard of nettle soup. We have what we call Bull Nettle here in Texas and it gives a very painful sting. Interesting post and lovely soup.
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Have been away, just catching up. So many gorgeous photos here, and now nettle soup! I learned of it when a friend’s Mum (British) called for it when she was ill. Best thing for you, was her view, and you show why.
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Yummy and those boiled eggs look so good in the soup…
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You make it sound and look delicious!
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Think I’ll give it a try.
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I can’t wait to try your nettle soup recipe! We have an abundance of nettles this year and I wanted to try something new with them. Thank you for sharing! (I’m glad you visited my blog so I could see yours! 🙂
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Good luck with your nettle soup, Kimberly. There are many variations, and there are some exact recipies on the link.
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Thank you!!
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How in the world did you figure out that stinging nettle was edible, I am so amazed by the beautiful soup you made out of it.
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I am very interested in edible plants, Silva, wild and others, and then nettle is one plant that is widely used, because it actually taste good and is very healthy.
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We have stinging nettle here in Texas. I’ve heard it can be made into delicious soups. I must try! I hope you don’t mind my pinging this post directly on my home page. It will remind me to get to cooking it.
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