Vegan bread soup from stale bread with onions and marjoram

Vegan bread soup made with day-old wholegrain bread, browned onions, carrot, caraway and marjoram in vegetable stock, with toasted bread cubes. A budget-friendly lunch that uses up leftovers.

At a glance

• Serves 4
• Prep time: 10 min
• Cooking time: 25 min
• Total time: 35 min
• Calories: 244 kcal per serving
• Protein: 8 g
• Fat: 7 g
• Carbs: 33 g

Ingredients

• 300g day-old wholegrain bread
• 2 onions
• 1 carrot
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1.2l homemade vegetable stock (no yeast extract)
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 bunch of chives

Method

You’ll need: frying pan · saucepan · stick blender · chopping board · knife · ladle

1. Cut the bread into cubes. Toast a quarter of them in a dry frying pan for 5 min until crisp and set aside.
2. Slice the onions into strips and dice the carrot small. Fry both in the olive oil in a pan for 8 min, until the onions are golden brown.
3. Add the garlic, caraway, marjoram and remaining bread cubes, pour in the stock, add the bay leaf and simmer the soup for 15 min.
4. Remove the bay leaf, roughly blend the soup and season with salt and pepper.
5. Snip the chives and serve the soup with the toasted bread cubes and chives.

Good to know

Bread soup is one of the oldest leftover dishes in Bavaria, Tyrol and Swabia. Hard bread, onions and stock turn into a thick soup that costs almost nothing. Caraway and marjoram give it its typical flavour.

Swaps

Wholegrain bread → day-old mixed rye bread or rolls. Carrot → celeriac. Caraway → thyme. For a vegetarian version, serve with a fried egg on top (in pregnancy, with a firm yolk).

Cooking tips

Let the onions get properly brown; the soup lives on them. For a smooth soup blend it very finely, for a rustic one only roughly. Shop-bought stock often contains yeast extract. For low-histamine cooking, make your own.

Storage

Keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer; store the bread cubes separately.

Allergens

Vegan; contains gluten (rye, wheat in the bread). Suitable for children. Suitable in pregnancy.

Dairy-free recipes