Dollar Store Dinners – Pea Soup

October 14, 2022

This super simple and cozy pea soup with seasoned flatbread is a simple meal that you can make with minimal ingredients when your budget is tight. We used canned peas to keep the recipe quick and an all-purpose steak seasoning blend to add lots of flavor without needing to buy several herbs and spices. And, as always, I’ve got some variations and ideas for extra add-ins below if you have more ingredients and want to take it to the next level!

Dollar Store Dinners

Welcome to the new Dollar Store Dinners series on Budget Bytes. We’re making quick and simple meals using only ingredients found at the dollar store. While the availability of ingredients will vary from store to store, hopefully, these easy recipes will give you some inspiration for when money is tight and access to groceries is limited!

Overhead view of a bowl of split pea soup with flatbread and a spoon dipping into the center.

What’s In This Meal?

I based this pea soup on our favorite Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup which is made by combining blended canned beans with broth and herbs to make an incredibly simple yet delicious soup. This time around, we started off by browning some bacon for extra flavor, then puréed peas and chicken broth, and seasoned it up with a bold steak seasoning (garlic, onion, pepper, parika, and other spices).

We then used the extra bacon fat to brush our flatbread (aka pizza crust), then topped it with a little more steak seasoning and baked it until crispy. The delicious “flatbread” was perfect for dipping into the cozy soup!

Here’s what we bought:

3 cans of peas ($1.25 each) $3.75
1 quart chicken broth $1.25
3 oz. bacon $1.25
1 ultra-thin pizza crust $1.25
1 container steakhouse seasoning $1.25

Total: $8.75

Can I use Frozen Peas?

If you have access to frozen peas, definitely use those in place of canned peas. You’ll need about 4-5 cups of thawed peas to replace the three cans. Frozen peas will have a fresher, sweeter flavor and a brighter color than canned peas.

No Dollar Store, No problem

If you don’t have a dollar store in your area, don’t fret. This will still be an incredibly budget-friendly recipe, even when the ingredients are purchased at a traditional grocery store. In fact, in some cases, the prices will be even better at a traditional grocery store than at a dollar store. Canned peas, for instance, are usually around $0.80-$0.90 at our local grocery, but are $1.25 at the dollar store. Why is this? Dollar stores do not specialize in food, so their prices can sometimes be a bit higher.

What Else Can I Add?

If you have access to more ingredients, here are a few things that can take this pea soup to the next level:

Onion, garlic, carrot, and celery: dice each and sauté in the bacon fat after removing the cooked bacon from the pot.
Ham: make it extra hearty by adding some diced ham to your soup.
Extra herbs: if you have a stocked spice cabinet, try adding some oregano and thyme to your soup, or extra black pepper.
Potato: add a diced potato and simmer until the potatoes are soft to make this soup extra filling.
Add shredded cheese to your flatbread before baking for an extra delicious cheesy flatbread.

A spoon dipping into a bowl of pea soup with flatbread on the side.

Pea Soup with Seasoned Flatbread

This pea soup with seasoned flatbread is a simple and comforting meal that you can make using ingredients from the dollar store.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American

Total Cost $8.75 recipe / $2.19 serving

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 1.25 cups each

Calories 342kcal

Author Beth – Budget Bytes

Ingredients

3 15oz. cans peas $3.75
3 cups chicken broth $1.25
3 oz. bacon $1.25
1 thin pizza crust $1.25
1.75 tsp steak seasoning, divided $1.25

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400ºF Drain the canned peas and add them to a blender with 2 cups of chicken broth. Purée until smooth. Add more chicken broth until the peas reach a thick soup consistency, or your desired consistency. We used 3 cups of broth total.
Cut the bacon into smaller pieces, then add them to a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot.
Brush some of the bacon fat from the pot over the surface of the pizza crust. Season the pizza crust with an additional ¼ tsp steak seasoning.
Pour the puréed peas into the soup pot. Heat and stir over medium, using a wooden spoon or whisk to help dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Season the soup with steak seasoning, starting with 1 tsp and adding more to your liking. Make sure to taste as you go because steak seasoning often contains salt and you want to avoid over-salting the soup.
While the soup is heating, bake the pizza crust for about 5 minutes or until browned and crispy. Tear or cut the bread into pieces for serving.
Serve the soup in a bowl, topped with the browned bacon, and a couple pieces of the flatbread for dipping.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*I included the full purchase price for all ingredients rather than just the portion used. You will have leftover chicken broth and steak seasoning to use in other recipes.

Nutrition

How to Make Pea Soup – Step by Step Photos

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Drain three 15oz. cans of peas, then add them to a blender along with 2 cups of chicken broth. Purée until smooth. Add more broth until the peas reach a thick soup consistency. We used 3 cups of chicken broth in total.

Cut 3 oz. bacon into smaller pieces, then add to a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot.

Bacon fat being brushed over the pizza crust.

Brush the extra bacon fat from the pot over the surface of one thin pizza crust. Sprinkle about ¼ tsp steak seasoning over the flatbread.

Pea soup being poured from the blender into the pot.

Pour the puréed peas and chicken broth into the pot. Stir and heat over medium, using a wooden spoon or whisk to help dissolve the browned bits of bacon off the bottom of the pot.

Steak seasoning being added to the soup.

Add a teaspoon of steak seasoning to the soup. Stir to combine and heat through. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if desired. We used 1.5 teaspoons in total. Make sure to taste as you add the seasoning, as it does contain salt and you don’t want to over-salt the soup.

While the soup is heating, transfer the seasoned flatbread to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy. Tear or cut the flatbread into pieces for serving.

Once the soup is hot and seasoned to your liking, it’s ready to serve!

Served split pea soup with flatbread and topped with bacon.

Serve the soup in a bowl, top with the crumbled bacon, and the seasoned flatbread on the side.

More Pea Soup Recipes

Dollar Store Dinners – Pea Soup