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Pie Floater Recipe with Pea Soup

Pie floaters are a classic South Australian street food snack made out of a crispy, flaky meat pie floating in a delicious pea soup. Learn how to make your very own mushy pea soup pie floater - Adelaide style.
Course Soup
Cuisine Australian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 465kcal
Cost $10

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Pop your dried peas in a large saucepan (no need to soak!). Pour in your chicken stock and bicarb soda and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer on low.
    2 cups dried peas, 6 cups chicken stock, 1 tbsp bicarb soda
  • Cook until the peas have softened and the soup has thickened nicely, around 1 hour. Stir every now and then to prevent sticking. Scoop off any foam as you go. Note 1: If it starts to boil over, you've got the heat too high! Note 2: If the liquid evaporates too quick, just add more water as you go, 1/2 cup at a time for a runnier soup.
  • During the last 15 minutes of cooking the soup, pop your store-bought or homemade beef pies in the oven to heat and cook through.
    4 mini beef pies
  • Transfer your mushy green pea soup into serving bowls and top with the hot flaky beef pies. Slather with your favourite toppings such as tomato sauce and tuck in!
    tomato sauce / ketchup, BBQ sauce, Mint sauce, Malt vinegar, Salt and pepper

Notes

  • Pies – You can use any store bought pie if you like - beef, chicken, curry or potato pies would all taste amazing. but for the best flavour we recommend making them yourself. Our Mini Meat Pies are the perfect accomplice to your homemade pie floater. Add the pie just before serving so the pastry stays crispy and flaky. To be extra authentic you can serve the pie upside down in the soup. 
  • Pea Soup - Our traditional-style soup is made with dried blue boiler peas or Marrowfat peas - they give the best texture for mushy pea soup once cooked! However, they both require some pre-planning since you need to soak them overnight. To save time you can use regular peas (fresh, canned or frozen) or green split peas, similar to our homemade Erwtensoep - Dutch Split Pea Soup. You could even use canned pea soup - though the flavour will never be the same as homemade. If your pea soup is too thin, try adding pureed vegetables such as potato, carrot or celery OR, make a cornflour slurry from 1-1.5 tsp of corn starch and 3 tsp cold water. Stir through the soup to thicken.
  • Tomato Sauce – In Australia we love tomato sauce, which is similar to American ketchup (definitely not canned tomato puree used for pasta).
  • Make it Vegan - Swap the beef pie for your favourite vegan pie, and use vegetable stock in the soup instead of chicken stock.
  • Tweak the Sauces - Traditional options include mint sauce, BBQ sauce, or malt vinegar. Another popular version is to top with mashed potato and gravy! But if you're feeling more adventurous, you could try it with Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, Yakisoba sauce or even Takoyaki sauce. Those last two are amazing Japanese condiments with a similar flavour to BBQ sauce.
  • Store & Reheat - The pea soup will last for around 3 days in the fridge, up to a few months if stored in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top. Homemade beef pies can be stored in the freezer, then thawed completely before baking in the oven until heated through. Serve your assembled pie floater immediately.

      Nutrition

      Calories: 465kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 1350mg | Potassium: 1344mg | Fiber: 25g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 158IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 5mg