Laura the Gastronaut > Julia Child > Soup > Cream of Watercress Soup

Cream of Watercress Soup

November 13, 2019 | Updated August 28, 2023 | Laura

✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽

Julia Child Recipe 49 | 479 recipes to go!

✽ Cream of Water-cress Soup [Potage Créme de Cresson], p. 41

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✽ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ You can buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I which contains these recipes here. (affiliate link)

The purpose of this Julia Child section of my blog is to document my journey of learning how to cook. To show my successes, my failures, and what I learned along the way.

Since I didn't create these recipes (if only!), I do not post exact amounts of ingredients or word-for-word instructions. If any of these recipes spark your interest, I highly recommend you buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (affiliate link). It's a great investment and learning tool and contains hundreds of classic recipes.

I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts, learn something new, and leave inspired to try a new recipe. Bon appétit!

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✽ Butter Count: +5 TB

✽ Cost: $6.06 [~$1.01 per serving]

Check out the total Julia Child butter count & cost here!

→ Looking for a different Julia Child recipe? Here's a list of all of the completed and pending Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes!

48 recipes. That’s how many Julia Child recipes I got through before I injured myself. If you ever think it is a good idea to fill a blender three-fourths full with extremely hot soup- think again. I know I will next time thanks to my new scar on my right forearm. Or as I like to call it- my constant reminder not to do stupid things in the kitchen. Oh well, lesson learned. Maybe I need to invest in a food mill.

This soup is simple. It is delicious, and, as I write on this cold day, I could actually go for a bowl right now. Julia calls it a lovely soup that is perfect for an important dinner. With that said, I enjoyed the leek and potato soups much more.

Looking for more Julia Child soup recipes to read about?

→ Check out all of the soup recipes that I've completed so far!

✽ Step 1: Cook Onion

It starts with onion and butter in a saucepan, as all good recipes do. You’ll get them translucent but not brown. This is accomplished by having it on a fairly low heat with the lid on for about 5 to 10 minutes.

✽ Step 2: Add watercress

Then you’ll dump in 3 to 4 cups of watercress and some salt, and cook for a few more minutes.

✽ Steps 3-4: Add Flour & Broth and Puree

A small amount of flour is added to thicken it up, boiling chicken broth is beaten in, simmered for a few more minutes, and then pureed through a *food mill*.

✽ Step 5: Add Eggs & Cream

Next, you will make the creamy component. You can make a soup creamy by adding egg yolks and cream and beating them slowly into the soup base.

Return the pot to heat to poach eggs but do not scramble! With a little practice, this will become not so intimidating. Lastly, add butter, of course!

This is a great soup if you want to look fancy but do not want to put that much work in.

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Edit: These pictures are.. not great. I apologize. When making these early recipes I was working in an extremely tiny kitchen that had pratically zero counter space and very poor lighting. My only saving grace was that somebody once had one of those pull-out cutting boards installed. What a life saver.

I was also in pharmacy school, getting minimal sleep, working for free, completely broke, didn't know the first thing about taking photos, and knew practically nothing about French cooking (or cooking in general for that matter).

I've debated taking these old posts down but decided to keep them up because they are all a part of my journey. These photos and my written struggles remind me how far I've come. I can pretty much make some of these base recipes in my sleep now!

You don't need fancy equipment or the finest ingredients to enjoy cooking and make good food. As one of my favorite cartoon characters, Ms. Frizzle, says, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

*This blog, Laura the Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.

Category: Julia Child, Soup Cuisine: French
Keywords: julia child soup recipes, watercress soup recipe, french soups

✽ Did you make this recipe too?
→ Let me know by leaving a comment below and sharing on Instagram. Tag @laurathegastronaut and hashtag it #laurathegastronaut.

More Soup Recipes:

✽ Watercress Soup (a watercress soup without the egg yolk addition)
✽ Cream of Mushroom Soup (a good soup for mushroom lovers)
✽ Onion Soup (French onion soup is a classic for a reason- so delicious)
→ Check out all of the completed Julia Child soup recipes!

✽ You can find this recipe and all the other Julia Child recipes I make in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I (affiliate link). Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ Check out my Julia Child Recipe Checklist to see a list of all my completed and pending recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

Bon appétit!

November 13, 2019 by Laura Ehlers

*This Cream of Watercress Soup blog post may contain Amazon affiliate links. These link to products that I personally use and recommend. If you purchase anything using my links, it will not cost you anything. It will though give laurathegastronaut.com some financial support which helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for reading my blogs and your continued support.