Hearty Chickpea Soup
The perfect Fall and Winter Comfort food. This Hearty Chickpea Soup, made with loads of chickpeas, potato, tomatoes and spices is made creamy by blending half the ingredients, adding a little pasta makes it perfect. A meal all in itself!
If you are a chickpea lover than you should give this other Chickpea Soup a try. When it comes to Fall and Winter, A delicious Creamy Soup , Potato Soup or an Italian Beef Stew are always my favourite meals to make. Nothing like a big bowl of soup to warm you up!
I also love to make beans and I prefer dried beans from Chickpeas, black beans, borlotti beans, cannellini beans to navy beans, they are so much better than canned beans. You just have to plan in advance since it takes 8 hours for soaking.
Recipe Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Celery
- Potato
- Chickpeas – dried and soaked or canned and drained
- Tomatoes
- Spices – parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper
- Pasta – small pasta such as ditalloni
How to make a Hearty Chickpea Soup
In a large pot add the olive oil, minced onion, garlic and celery, saute on low/medium heat until clear.
Then add the potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, water and spices simmer on low/medium until tender and thickened. In the last 15 minutes cook the pasta in a separate pot until al dente then drain well, do not rinse (I prefer Orecchiette pasta in this soup).
Remove half the cooked soup and blend until smooth, return to the pot, add the pasta and heat until hot. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese if desired.
Cooking Dried Beans
There are three different methods for cooking dried beans, the first which is the Traditional Method, is what I usually do and that is to soak the beans for 8 hours.
I place the dried beans (I rinse them in cold water first) in a bowl of cold water before I go to bed and in the morning they are ready for cooking, just drain, rinse and cook.
The second method is the Hot Soak method, place beans in a large pot and cover with 10 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.
Then heat to boiling and continue to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 4-24 hours, then drain the beans and cook.
The third method is the Fastest method which I have yet to try. Place the beans in a large pot and add 6 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.
Then heat to boiling and continue to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and let stand one hour. Drain the beans and rinse with cold water. Then cook until tender.
This Creamy Chickpea Soup was made creamy not by the addition of cream, but by blending half the ingredients and then adding it to the pot with the remaining mixture.
I also found that adding Orecchietti pasta was the perfect choice in this soup. I also cooked the pasta before adding it to the soup.
Can I use canned chickpeas?
If using canned chickpeas, then drain and rinse, use 2 cups of water and cook for approximately 30 minutes, add more water if needed.
How to store the Chickpea Soup
Any leftover soup should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. It will keep for about 3-4 days.
If you plan on freezing the soup, then freeze it in a freezer safe container. But be sure to freeze it without the addition of pasta. The pasta will get too mushy and it won’t be very tasty. It will keep for up to four months in the freezer.
What to serve with this Hearty Chickpea Soup
- Since this is such a filling Comfort food, I always find that one of the perfect side dishes is a Simple Tossed Salad but here are a few more to choose from …
- Shredded Brussel Sprouts Salad
- Roasted Vegetables, Italian style
- Homemade Focaccia or Bread
- A Roasted Parsnip Salad
If you are looking for a Comforting Meal this Fall or Winter I hope you give this Chickpea Soup a try and let me know what you think. Buon Appetito!
Hearty Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ onion (minced)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 stalk celery (chopped)
- 1 potato (chopped small)
- 2¼ cups chickpeas**
- 1 can tomatoes pelati (peeled tomatoes, nothing added) (14.4 oz or 356 grams)
- 3 cups water
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon basil
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- hot pepper flakes to taste
- 1½ cups cooked pasta (more or less)
**¾ cups of dried chickpeas (should equal 2¼ cups) soaked for 8 hours in cold water, then drained and rinsed.
Instructions
- In a large pot add olive oil, minced onion, garlic and celery, sautee on low/medium heat for 2 minutes or until clear.
- Then add potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, water and spices simmer on low/medium until tender and thickened (approximately 60 minutes).
- In the last 15 minutes cook the pasta in a separate pot until al dente then drain well, do not rinse (I prefer Orecchiette pasta in this soup).
- Remove half the cooked soup and blend until smooth, return to the pot, add the pasta and heat until hot. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you 🙂
Hi Yula, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
This is a very yummy, filling soup. I added the cooked pasta just before serving so it did not get mushy. I will definitely make this again. I think it would be great with some chopped spinach too.
Hi Pam thanks so much, spinach is a good idea. Take care.
Delicious and nutritious!
I used spiral pasta, added 2 chopped carrots and used chicken stock.
BIG hit with the family, will definitely make again!
Hi Lin, thanks glad you enjoyed it.
Great simple dish. Much better in reality than on paper 😃My family enjoyed! Will be on our table often. Thank you!
Hi Jelena, thanks so much, so glad everyone enjoyed it. Have a great weekend.
Great soup, added a few more veggies as we don’t eat animal protein. The chickpeas turned out perfect!
Hi Carol glad you enjoyed it.
Loved this soup! I tweaked the recipe just a little to be a little more carb friendly. Dropped the pasta and added shrimp and cod! Turned out fantastic. Will keep making for the winter to come.
Hi Christina, thanks glad you enjoyed it. Good idea with adding the fish. Have a great week.
This is a bit of a silly question, but I have gotten mixed answers on this… When you said a stalk of celery, is that one single piece of celery or an entire head of celery? Thanks in advance— recipe looks amazing!
Hi Cynthia, by a stalk of celery, I mean a single piece. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Let me know. Have a great week.
Hi Rosemary,
Do you know how much each serving is? Also, is the nutrition count for the entire recipe or per serving? Looks amazing!
Hi Gabi, thanks, it’s probably about 1 1/2 cups (including the pasta and chickpeas) per serving, and the nutrition count is per serving. Hope you like it.
We had the soup tonight and loved it! It was amazing! Thank you! 🤗
Hi Gabi, thanks so glad you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend.
We loved it! Thank you! Have a great week. 🤗
Thank you Rosemary! I can’t wait to try it!
Do you think adding a ham hock would work with this recipe?
Hi Erin, I think it might work because Italians make chickpeas and pancetta and that’s pork too. If you do try it let me know. Sounds interesting. Have a great weekend.
This recipe is fantastic. Used rosemary and already cooked chickpeas and chicken stock. So good.
Hi Angela, thanks so much, yes one of our favourite soups. 🙂
Can this be made in an instant pot?
Hi Adrien, I am sorry I have no idea if it can be made in an instant pot, I don’t have one so I can’t say.
After soaking for 8 hours, draining and rinsing….can the chick peas be added directly or do they have to be cooked before adding to other ingredients
Hi Rosemary, add the chickpeas to the pot and it will all cook together, once the chickpeas are tender (about one hour, but taste to make sure) then continue with the recipe. Hope you enjoy it.
While I admittedly love soups, especially in cooler weather, this recipe was fabulous. I was happy to have it for lunch and dinner….on the same day. I dried my own beans and found it absolutely amazing. Thank you
Hi Donna, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Have a great Sunday.
If I want to make this wonderful soup using canned chick peas.. how many cans should I use? We have metrics, not cups etc. so I cannot work out how much 2 1/4 cup of dried peas would be canned ones…
Hi Marianne, in order to get the metric amounts, just above “get ingredients” you will see US Custom – Metric, just click on metric and the ingredients are changed to metric amounts. I would probably use 2 cans maybe more. Hope this helps, let me know.
Glad to find another beauty at your place 🙂
Oh thanks so much. 🙂