A hearty and delicious soup that will ‘stick to your ribs’! Grandma’s thick and tasty soup has fresh vegetables plus dried peas, beans, barley and lentils – it’s a meal in a bowl.
My grandma was a great cook. Although like many women of her generation, I never saw her refer to a recipe.
This soup was one of her staples. Sometimes referred to as “peas-beans-barley-and-lentils soup”, it was more usually called “stick to your ribs soup”. It was thick, filling, delicious, and basically a whole meal in a bowl.
Peas, beans, barley and lentils
Dried peas, dried beans, barley and lentils were the backbone of Grandma’s soup. There was a large glass jar in her pantry cupboard that contained a prepared mixture of these staple soup ingredients.
I was delighted to find that most packets of “soup mix” contain some or other variation on this combination. Some have split peas, yellow peas, or marrowfat peas. Some have mung beans, some have haricot beans. They may contain pearl barley or pot barley. And some have red, brown or green lentils. But fundamentally, it’s peas, beans, barley and lentils in almost all of them.
Mix it yourself!
Of course, you could buy those things individually and create your own mixture. Honestly, I have no idea whether Grandmas’s soup mix was readymade or her own proprietary mixture. Either way, I’m happy to stick with a readymade soup mixes, as they generally give excellent results.
Stick to your ribs soup
The phrase ‘stick to your ribs soup’ was always used by my family to imply just how thick and hearty Grandma’s soup was. If you couldn’t stand the spoon up in it, then it wasn’t thick enough!
Long, slow cooking means that the lentils, barley and potatoes become fall-apart tender, and their starches thicken the liquid to give a substantial soup. Once Grandma’s soup is cooked and cooled, it will thicken further – or even set into a solid block! It should loosen up on reheating, but you may need to add a little more hot water or stock to get the consistency that you prefer.
Despite its long cooking, the beans and peas retain some ‘bite’ so there is plenty of pleasing texture in this dish.
Meat or vegetarian
Grandma’s soup was definitely a meaty dish. She would cook chunks of beef in with the beans, pulses and vegetables until they were so soft they were almost falling apart. Every bowl of her soup was laced with shreds of meat, together with chunks of carrots and potatoes. You can see why this was a meal in itself!
I haven’t eaten beef for around 30 years! So usually I just make this soup without it, and it’s still really good. This time however, I’ve used Tivall’s beef style pieces as a substitute, and they really aren’t bad! Don’t cook them in the soup though – they’ll just fall apart. Fry them up when you’re ready to serve, and add a few to each bowl, like a protein-packed garnish.
(I’m not in the pay of Tivall or anything like that! I bought this product and really liked it, hence the recommendation.)
Ingredients in Grandma’s soup
This tasty, filling soup has just a handful of ingredients. To make it yourself you will need:
- Onion
- Carrots
- Potato
- Dried soup mix – containing some combination of dried peas, beans, barley and lentils
- Vegetable stock – from a stock cube/powder is fine
- Oil
- Vegetarian meaty chunks – optional, and the soup is great without them
- Salt and pepper to taste
A thrifty dish
This delicious soup is very economical to make. It costs only about 50p per portion without the meaty chunks, or just over £1 per portion with them. Not bad for a meal in a bowl!
Stick to your ribs soup – A meal in a bowl!
I’m sure Grandma would be delighted that we’re still making and enjoying this delicious soup. And that it still ‘sticks to your ribs’!
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📖 Recipe
Grandma’s stick-to-your-ribs soup
Ingredients
- 125 g dried 'soup mix' – dried peas, beans, barley and lentils
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large potato (approx. 300g/10½ oz)
- 3 medium carrots (approx. 300g/10½ oz)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 750 ml hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine) + additional hot water/stock to achieve desired consistency
- salt and pepper to taste
- 150 g Tivall vegetarian beef style pieces or similar vegetarian/vegan 'chunks' (optional)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Place the soup mix (peas, beans, barley and lentils) in a bowl and cover with plenty of cold water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid, and leave to soak overnight (8-12 hours).
- When you're ready to make the soup, drain the water from the soaked soup mix, and rinse well in clean water. Leave in a sieve to drain while you prepare the vegetables.
- Peel and dice the onion. Peel the potato and cut into 1cm (⅓ inch) pieces. Peel the carrot, quarter lengthwise and chop into 8-10mm slices.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium flame. Add the onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the drained, soaked soup mix and stir well. Add the stock to the pan – it should cover the vegetables and pulses etc completely + a little bit.
- Bring the soup to a simmer, cover the pan, and turn down the heat. The soup needs to cook at a bare simmer for about an hour or possibly a bit longer – until the vegetables are very soft and the beans, peas, pulses etc are completely cooked. Taste as season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Fry the beef style pieces in a little olive oil for 7-8 minutes until cooked through. Put a few in each bowl and top with soup before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
More fantastic hearty soup recipes
If this recipe has got you in the mood for hearty, filling main course type soups, why not try:
Or take a look at this list of the best meal-in-a-bowl vegetable soups from family-friends-food and around the web.
Finally, I ended up in a Wikipedia rabbit hole and found this awesome list of soups from around the world!
I’ve linked up this fabulous soup recipe with #CookBlogShare.
Natalie Sherman
I made this delicious soup without adding the meat substitute and it was still thick and chunky. My very fussy family ate it without complaint and then asked if there was any left for ‘seconds’!
I am definitely making it again and I am going to experiment using different types of beans.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Helen
That’s so great to hear Natalie – so glad you all enjoyed it!
Choclette
Stick to your ribs sounds absolutely perfect at this time of year. Your grandma’s soup sounds delicious. My grandmother was just the same – a fantastic cook and not a single written recipe in the house.
Helen
Thanks Choclette. Yes – their generation learned to cook using ‘how it looks’ and ‘how it tastes’ as a guide. It’s a shame so many people have lost those skills.
Chloe
If a soup isn’t sticking to my ribs, quite frankly I’m just not interested!
Helen
LOL! This one should be right up your street then Chloe!
CGood
My grandmother and my mother made this soup using the Manischewitz vegetable soup with mushroom mix. I recall they used one carrot, one potato and one onion per soup package. I always preferred it on the thicker side and would let it simmer until the bottom stated to brown, my favorite part! Thank you for bringing back such fond memories. I hope they still sell those soup packages, because now I need to make some soup!
Helen
So happy to hear these memories! I hope you can get your hands on the soup mix 🙂
Gsil
I sometimes go back and forth. From vegetarian to some meats. I usually substitute baby portabellas for meat. They are small like meatballs and are tasty. Thank you for this recipe.
Helen
Thanks Gail. That sounds like a great idea!
Sandra Lawson
I’ve been making a similar version without meat for years. I recently found dried mixed lentils in an Indian grocery shop and added some of them too. I cook it in my Instant Pot in about 15 minutes. My best friend has just died from cancer and last year when she was having problems eating I liquidised a batch for her. She, and her sons who shared it with her, pronounced it was delicious.
Helen
Sorry to hear about your friend, but glad you were able to support her.
Great idea to use the Instant Pot – I must remember to try that.
All the best, Helen x.
Lesley
I love bowls of thick, pulse laden soups – they are the perfect winter comfort food for me.
Helen
Thanks Lesley. Me too! I love that they warm you up from the inside.
Janice
Wonderful soup recipe and just the thing for cold days.
Helen
Thanks Janice, I quite agree!
sharon
if i want to use real meat, when should i add that to the soup? when it’s first put up? do they need to be sautéed first as well?
Helen
Hi Sharon. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember how my Grandma did it – it’s probably close to 40 years since I last ate her soup! I suspect that she browned the meat with the onions and vegetables and then cooked it in the soup so it was very soft and tender. I hope you enjoy the soup! All the best, Helen.
Jill
Our temperatures have been almost down to 0 degrees some days in these past couple of weeks so I am all about “stick to your ribs” food right now. Putting your Grandma’s soup on my menu this week!
Helen
Thanks Jill! I’m sure Grandma would be thrilled to know she was keeping so many people warm!
Katherine
Such a thick, hearty and nourishing soup! Perfect for using up the bag of soup mix grains I have in the cupboard.
Helen
Thanks Katherine! I think everyone has a bag of soup mix lingering in the the cupboard!!
Gina
This was really delicious – perfect for a cold day when you want something comforting but also meatless.
Helen
Thanks Gina. Agree – it’s a great veggie option!
Savita
This soup looks so hearty and comforting. A perfect dinner option.
Helen
Thanks Savita. We love it for dinner – it’s delicious and filling.
Danielle
Sounds like a great soup for a cold winter day! Delicious!
Helen
Thanks Danielle. Yes, it’s perfect for the chilly weather.