If you have a craving for Middle Eastern flavors, try this Chickpea Soup recipe. This balanced one-pot meal is brimming only with healthy ingredients and earthy spices.
What to make for lunch when your imagination exhausted? Just explore new combinations even when it comes to soups. After some brainstorming, today, my inspiration goes to the Middle East. One of my favorite cuisines is a Lebanese one. Actually, you can find on our blog a lot of recipes specific to Middle East cuisine. Besides that, all of them are healthy, most of the recipes are even vegetarian. I am sure you will find interesting and useful this colorful Beetroot Hummus, healthy Avocado Chickpea Sandwich, or crunchy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad.
As it happened with most cuisines, over time, Lebanese cuisine has been influenced by several civilizations, so now you can notice a wide variety of ingredients used in their recipes. A good example is a seemingly simple chickpea soup that my family enjoys every time I cook it. This easiest hands-off soup recipes can serve a perfect hearty and satisfying meal, either for lunch or even dinner.
A fragrant and slightly creamy cozy bowl of chickpea soup is filled with lots of aromatic spices, fresh baby spinach, and vibrant vegetables that give even more flavor and color.
Even if it looks simple, this chickpea soup is extraordinary, and I am convinced that everyone who will taste it will be impressed.
Ingredients for Chickpea Soup:
Ingredients for Chickpea Soup:It is probably hard to believe that this simple combo of healthy ingredients can create a bold and rich taste for real. However, you can make chickpea soup with the ingredients you have on hand.
This soup recipe is very flexible. The only ingredient that remains indispensable in this recipe is chickpea. Hummus, falafel – these well-known meals have a common ingredient – chickpeas – a core ingredient often used in Middle East cuisines. Chickpeas are an excellent source of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber. These nutrition facts make it popular ingredients among people following vegetarian or vegan diets. This super healthy legume helps to fight certain cardiovascular and digestive diseases. Moreover, chickpeas are rich in iron, B vitamins, and even antioxidants.
Vegetables – here, you can play with ingredients based only on your preferences. Feel free to use any veggies, either frozen, fresh, or leftover, you have on hand. Even the simplest fresh vegetables create a unique flavor. But today, I made my soup out of the most commonly used soup vegetables such as onion, carrot, tomato, and celery ( sorry, I missed it in the picture). For more color, I like to add green vegetables, such as peas or green beans.
Spices – make all the flavor! Not consuming yourself with guessing which spice will improve or spoil your chickpea soup, just stop at the Baharat spice mix. Baharat is a mix of spices specific to the Middle East, including peppercorns, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom, paprika, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Spices are finely grounded together and are used for fish, meat, vegetables, soups, and dips. Do not worry if you didn’t find this seasoning just use a pinch of either species listed above.
Spinach – the leaves will add some freshness to this hearty soup. You can easily substitute them with frozen spinach or fresh kale.
Lemon – squeezing some lemon before serving will adds extra freshness to the soup. But it is optional and is added to taste. Lime will go well here too.
How to make Chickpea Soup?
Perhaps chickpea soup is the simplest recipe. It could not be any easier and only takes 30 minutes. In fact, all of the delectable ingredients are added to the pot gradually, allowing saute until perfection.
Before we start, I would like to mention that I used canned chickpeas. That is why the preparation time is so short. If you are preparing your soup from dried chickpeas, I advise you to plan your time well and follow the instructions of “How to boil Chickpeas.” Once you are ready, let’s begin.
The making process starts with sautéing onion. Preheat a large pot with olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add finely chopped onion and saute until translucence. Add Baharat spice mix. Stirring constantly, cook for one more minute. For note: Once I read that spices, such as chili, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, must be added early during the cooking process. So the more flavor is derived from these spices.
Now once your kitchen is full of oriental flavors, add sliced carrot and chopped celery. Saute for two more minutes and add chopped canned peeled tomatoes. The fresh one will match here too. But canned tomatoes will add a savory note to this recipe.
Then stir in chickpeas, peas, and pour the water. Season with salt to taste and mix until well combined. Turn up the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once bubbling, lower the heat, close the pot with the lid, and leave it simmering for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Once your chickpea soup is ready to go, add a bunch of fresh baby spinach. It will definitely add an exceptional, delicate, slightly fresh taste. Squeeze some lemon juice if desired.
Enjoy a warm bowl of chickpea soup topped with a bit of sour cream paired with a piece of freshly baked bread.
Hearty Spinach Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas
- 1 (15-ounce) can peeled tomatoes
- 1 onion large
- 1 carrot large
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1 cup peas
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp Baharat spice mix
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 4 cups water
- lemon
Instructions
- Preheat a large pot with olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add finely chopped onion and saute until translucence. Add Baharat spice mix. Stirring constantly, cook for one more minute.
- Add sliced carrot and chopped celery. Saute for two more minutes and add chopped canned peeled tomatoes.
- Then stir in chickpeas, peas, and pour the water. Season with salt to taste and mix until well combined. Turn up the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once bubbling, lower the heat, close the pot with the lid, and leave it simmering for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Once your chickpea soup is ready to go, add a bunch of fresh baby spinach. It will definitely add an exceptional, delicate, slightly fresh taste. Squeeze some lemon juice if desired.
Nutrition
