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 (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!
This was absolutely DELICIOUS! So, so, so good. It’s like a warm hug in a bowl. It has the perfect seasoning and did I mention that it’s delicious? Wow. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m excited to try out your other recipes!
Hi Awestruck, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. I hope you like the other recipes also. Take care.
This is so fantastic! Definitely a keeper!
Hi Susie, thanks so much, so glad you liked it. Happy New Year.
This is a really great recipe and it you used canned garbanzo beans, it’s really quick!
Hi Barb, thanks so much and yes with canned it ready in no time. Take care.
Hi, you have the nutrition break down! But how much is one serving?
Hi Sherry, it would be the pot of soup divided by 4 is one serving. Hope that helps.
Amazing recipe I love making this on a cold day
Thanks so much Darah, glad you like it. Take care.
If you buy canned chickpeas do you still have to soak them?
Hi Samantha, no you don’t have to soak them, but rinse them before adding to the pot. And because they are already cooked, the soup will be ready quicker.
What kind of canned tomatoes should I use peeled, diced or crushed?
Hi Frances, you can use any of those as long as it’s just tomatoes and nothing added. I use pelati (peeled). Let me know how it goes.
The soup was delicious but the only thing the chickpeas were still a little hard and I cooked it for an hour. I did soak them overnight also. I’ll try and cook it maybe a little longer next time with the
lid on that might help. But it still was very tasty will definitely make it again!
Hi Frances, thanks glad you enjoyed it. And yes sometimes that happens to me, I have no idea why sometimes it takes longer for them too cook. Keeping the lid on for a bit will help too. Take care.
Can you use canned chick peas in this recipe?
Hi Carol, yes you can use canned chickpeas, just rinse them before using. Hope you like the recipe. Have a great week.
Very nice soup…it was enjoyed by myself and my 7 year old son. I would have loved to have all the ingredients. I did not have basil nor celery & substituted elbow macaroni for the Orecchiette. This was the 2nd time I made this….
Hi Michele, thanks so much so glad you both enjoyed it. Take care.
Made today. Had about 4 cups of chick peas left over from my husband making his hummus.
Perfect soup for a rainy day or in our case Hurricane ETA. Since we are hunkered down waiting for it to pass making this soup was the perfect remedy. All is fine and our tummies are full and comfy. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Claudia, thanks so much, so glad you all enjoyed it. Take care.
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! I didn’t have enough chickpeas so I added a little bit of red lentils, because they cook quickly and would give a similar texture. Thank you for sharing this recipe, I will definitely make again!
Hi Jessica, thanks so glad you liked it and good idea with adding the lentils.
If you have a pressure cooker, that works also for a 4th method of cooking. I love pressure cooking my beans b/c then they’re much softer and especially for dense beans like Chickpeas or Soybeans. Softer beans like Kidney Beans or any other soft bean comes out much tenderer than cooking them in a regular pot. For Chickpeas or Soybeans, I usually cook them for about a half an hour once the gauge starts to rock. For softer beans, I usually only cook them about 10 – 15 min when the gauge starts rocking. This soup looks absolutely wonderful!
Thanks Margaret, now I think I should get out my pressure cooker. Let me know if you make the soup.
I make up a batch of this soup for my 17yo daughter for school lunches, which she takes in a soup flask. I add chicken stock, it’s absolutely delicious and keeps you filled up for ages. It’s also good to serve to friends for lunch as it looks quite impressive, served with a seeded roll.
Hi Marie, thanks so much, great idea for a school lunch. 🙂
I added some chicken stock, and some white beans and came out great!
Hi Alex, good idea, glad you liked it.
Very good, I did use bouillon powder in the liquid. Not sure where you got the calorie number from, my total for this dish is around 1400, so 350 per person…even better news!