Lemony Spinach Soup With Farro
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
- 2leeks, white and light green parts, chopped
- 2celery stalks, diced
- 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3rosemary or thyme branches
- 2bay leaves
- 1pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 to 3 medium potatoes)
- 1quart chicken or vegetable stock
- 1½teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more as needed
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- 1cup farro
- 1pound baby spinach (about 20 cups)
- 1cup cilantro leaves and tender stems (or use dill)
- 1cup parsley leaves and tender stems
- Juice of ½ lemon, plus more for serving
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
- Aleppo, Urfa, Turkish or other red-pepper flakes
- Grated Parmesan or pecorino (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
366 calories; 16 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 878 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Melt the butter or heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the leeks and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, rosemary and bay leaves; cook 1 minute more. Stir in the potatoes, stock, 2 cups water, 1½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer, partly covered, until vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add farro and cook according to the timing on the package until just tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain.
- Step 3
Discard rosemary branches and bay leaves from the soup pot. Add spinach, cilantro and parsley, and simmer uncovered until very soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Using an immersion blender, purée soup until smooth. (Alternatively, you can purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.) If the soup is too thick, add a little water. If it’s too thin, let it simmer uncovered for another few minutes to thicken. Stir in lemon juice and more salt to taste. Stir in farro.
- Step 4
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, flaky salt, red-pepper flakes and a little grated cheese, if desired.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Michelle S. Thompson
All of my favorite ingredients — well, cilantro not so much. Will quickly cook the first four ingredients in my Instant Pot in sauté mode. Then throw in the next seven ingredients, seal and cook under pressure for seven minutes or so. After a quick release, will fish out herbs with a slotted spoon, stir in the spinach and lemon, let it rest for a few and then serve. Life is short. Instant. Pot.
VRG
Delicious. You can substitute cauliflower for the potato. The soup is still delicious and thick!
YiaYia
Mel, Sadly, it’s the lemon that turns greens brown. Best to add at the last minute if the bright color appeals, or just accept the muddy color & enjoy the bright taste!
Mel
The soup was delicious. I used brown basmati rice and added the juice of a whole lemon for a great tangy finish. I hoped that the soup would remain the beautiful green color of the photo, but it soon turned muddy. Any tips for keeping it green?
G
This soup was bland and tasted of health food until I added the extra lemon juice, which transformed it into something unbelievable tasty. I couldn’t believe how much the lemon juice mattered. A dollop of creme fraiche made it an extra delicious dinner. Don’t skip the farro.
mjan
No farro? Wheat berries or barley work as well.
G
I’ve made this twice now, and I can confirm it actually tastes BETTER if you substitute a head of cauliflower for the potatoes. The potato gave the soup a slightly grainy texture, whereas the cauliflower blended into the soup smoother. Use double the lemon, it’s the most important part!
DB
Dear Ms. Clark -- thank you so much for showing a reasonable herb substitute for cilantro in this recipe, of which I am one of those genetically built people where it JUST does not taste good and especially in recipes where it's added as a main ingredient in copious amounts -- renders the dish inedible for quite a few of us out there. Keep such recipes coming -- it's so very appreciated.
Beth
Skip the 2 cups of water mentioned in the direction (but not included on the ingredient list). Water can always be added later. Cooking longer to thicken soup as mentioned in the directions just turns the color from vibrant green to 'muddy' green.
Jeremy G.
Loved it, don’t forget the olive oil drizzle!
J. Wong
A dollop of crème fraîche on top doesn't hurt.
AC
Subbed cauliflower for potatoes and skipped parsley. Didn’t have fresh herbs on hand. Used frozen spinach and the soup didn’t turn brown for me. For me, this needed more than half a lemon for me to taste good. It tasted ok the night that I made it, but the leftovers tasted fantastic. It’s one of those soups that need everything to meld overnight.
Austin
Pleasant if somewhat bland and grassy as-is. I made the following alterations: - rendered three slices of bacon for the fat instead of oil/butter. I removed the pieces of meat after they were crispy and added them back with the farro - twice as much farro - juice of a whole lemon plus its zest- THAT’s lemony. - added shiitake mushrooms and a bell pepper for more flavor variation - substituted fennel for celery (I usually do this). - chili flakes added along with the farro
Lili
Chopped pistachios when serving are great too!
coqua
We loved this soup! No cilantro for us. The dill was a great sub. It did turn darker with the lemon, but was that much more delicious with it. The next day it turned into a pasta sauce.
Sara
chili onion crunch on top instead of red pepper flakes when cooking is also pretty awesome
Sara
used instapot, sauté for the first step, then 4 minutes pressure with the potatoes, sauté again at end with greens. spring onions instead of leeks and celery since that’s what was in csa box. sautéed some chopped tokyo turnips in butter in farro pot and set aside as a topping before cooking the farro and that was pretty delicious. agree about extra lemon juice, and don’t add it until at the table so leftovers don’t turn brown.
Jillian
I took the suggested to swap out the potatoes for cauliflower and it was so good. I actually didn’t love the texture of the farro and think the soup stands on its own with it. This is a winner!!
Emma
Fabulous soup! Healthy and hearty, fresh and filling. Went for the cauliflower and dill version - fantastic. Frozen spinach worked a treat. Olive oil, salt and chilli topper is a must! Yum
Lisa Simeone
Actually, we found this surprisingly bland, even though I tripled the amount of garlic (I don't think NYT recipes ever call for enough garlic), and added a strong onion to the mix. We ended up dousing it with Panamanian hot sauce to spiff it up. And to prevent the muddy color some readers mentioned, I added lemon juice to our individual bowls just before serving. I don't know; maybe it'll taste better as leftovers, after the flavors have had a chance to coalesce.
Lisa Simeone
OK, have to supply an addendum: as I suspected, it was definitely better the next day as leftovers. More flavorful.
Meg
Is it just me, or were there no directions to actually ADD the farro to the soup? When??
Lisa Simeone
Look at the last sentence in Step 3: "Stir in farro."
Rae
The user notes were so helpful to make my soup! Here are my edits: -nix the water & only use the stock -juice of 1 lemon -I didn't have fresh herbs so I use both dried rosemary and thyme, worked great! -1/2 lb half peeled potato and 1/2 lb cauliflower -add cooked mushrooms at the end So good! Great recipe
Gerry
Had it not turned a dull green would have re-named it after Kermit the Frog! Used frozen spinach. Subbed fresh parley ( doubled amount ) for herb of choice, a handful of arugula and , bloomed 2 tsp of ground cumin in with the leeks and celery. Jolly good. Consensus is "no" to the Pecorino but yes to a dollop of sour cream with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and Aleppo pepper flakes.
Ann S.
Amazingly beautiful & delicious. I cooked everything according to the instructions with these exceptions: steamed the spinach apart, then blended it in once everything had cooled off. Heated up enough for whoever was sitting down in a separate pot. Added farro & lemon to each bowl and ladled the soup on top. Kept the soup bright green and the farro toothsome and distinct the second day. Looking forward to trying it with cauliflower as soon as it isn't 7$ a head ; )
Wendy
Sub cauliflower
FFCook
Add a pinch of baking powder before adding the spinach to preserve the bright green.
Robin
Delicious!
Helen
This is spectacular! I used all chicken broth, not water and broth. Added a pinch of red pepper flakes. Puréed in the Vitamix which yielded a smooth flavorful and colorful soup. We each added our own lemon juice to preserve the color as suggested.
Lisa Daly
This soup got high marks from my family and was easy to prep. To use what I had on hand, for herbs I used basil & for some spinach I subbed kale. After reading the comments I decided to sub lemon zest for the juice. Color was perfect. I skipped farro in favor of serving with bread & offered lemon wedges, grated parmesan, sour cream, pepper flakes & olive oil as toppings. On my own bowl I used pepper, olive oil & parm - was delicious. One bowl was left over - made a good cold lunch the next day.
Joel C.
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Melissa Clark cult but....the soup is "fine". It needs all the fixings on top to make it better. Fresh lemon juice, a dusting of sumac, a drizzle of olive oil, red pepper flakes, maldon salt, freshly cracked black pepper and grated parm. Then it graduated from "fine" to "good" :)
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