Chickpea Soup - The Plant Based School (2024)

This chickpea soup is a wholesome, nutritious, and tasty dish you can make in one pot with simple ingredients for a weeknight dinner or meal prep.

Our recipe is Italian-inspired. The chickpeas are simmered in a rich broth enriched with herbs like rosemary and thyme, tender potatoes, and tomato paste.

Table of Contents

• Chickpea soup video
• How to make chickpea soup
• Serving suggestions
• Variations
• More soup recipes
• More chickpea recipes
• Chickpea Soup Recipe

You’ll love this chickpea soup recipe because it’s flavorful and nutritious, and you won’t believe it’s made in just over 30 minutes with minimal effort and in one pot.

It’s the perfect lunch or dinner for colder fall and winter days. It’ll nourish every cell in your body because it is warm and packed with healthy plant-based protein and nutrients.

The flavor of our chickpea soup is unmistakably rustic Italian. It’ll make you think of your dream holiday in Tuscany.

Sturdy fresh herbs like rosemary and bay leaves marry perfectly with the chickpeas and infuse the broth with an irresistible earthy aroma.

Serve the soup with a slice of toasted bread rubbed with garlic. Or stir in a couple of tablespoons of your favorite grain like rice, barley, or farro.

A drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil is the cherry on top.

The recipe is excellent for meal prep, and leftovers keep well for days.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Flavor base

A good flavor base gives your chickpea soup a depth of flavor. This is a common practice in Italian cooking, referred to as “soffritto.”

We recommend making it with:

• Onion: it adds sweetness and flavor. Substitute shallots for onions.
• Carrot: it adds sweetness and a pleasant bite.
• Celery: it adds freshness and some crunch.
• Leek: it adds more freshness and sweetness.
• Garlic: it adds zing and a pleasant aroma.

Extra virgin olive oil

We recommend using extra virgin olive oil to make the flavor base and drizzle on top of the soup. EVO oil is healthier and of higher quality than most vegetable oils.

It also adds a pleasantly fruity and nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with the chickpeas.

Substitute avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil for olive oil.

Chickpeas

You can use drained and rinsed canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) to make this soup quickly as an everyday dinner.

Or you can use dry chickpeas that you first soak overnight and cook in lightly salted boiling water until tender – about 1 to 2 hours.

Substitute cannellini beans, black beans, borlotti beans, or lentils for chickpeas.

Potatoes

Potatoes make the soup earthy and fulfilling. They become beautifully tender as they simmer in the flavorful broth.

Substitute sweet potatoes, butternut squash, cauliflower, or broccoli florets for potatoes.

You can substitute a short pasta like ditalini, fusilli, or rotini for potatoes and make a delicious chickpea noodle soup.

Tomatoes

We recommend using a can of crushed tomatoes and some tomato paste.

Substitute whole canned peeled tomatoes, tomato puree, fire-roasted tomatoes, or diced tomatoes for crushed tomatoes.

Aromatics

Like any homemade Italian-inspired soup, this chickpea soup needs sturdy herbs to shine.

The most common are bay leaves and rosemary because they are just perfect with chickpeas. Fresh herbs are best, but dried herbs work too.

You can substitute dried oregano or thyme for the bay leaves.

Alternatively, you can add spices and herbs such as cumin, turmeric, coriander, and parsley, but the soup will taste less Italian and more Eastern Mediterranean.

Vegetable broth

We use store-bought vegetable broth. Using veg broth instead of beef or chicken broth is a great way to reduce your meat consumption without realizing it.

If you are on a low-sodium diet, you can get a reduced-sodium vegetable broth.

Salt and pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. A pinch of red pepper flakes is good, too.

Add-ins

If you like to add more veggies and greens to this chickpea soup recipe, you can add fresh or frozen leafy greens such as kale, spinach or baby spinach, chard, and broccoli rabe.

To make the soup even more fulfilling and nutritious, add a cooked grain like farro, barley, and rice.

You can also add peas, beans, and lentils to mix up the legume component or whole grains such as barley, whole oats, and farro to make this soup even more nutritious and fulfilling.

Optionally, add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or a squeeze of lemon juice before eating it.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Chop carrot, celery, and onion not too finely. Cut the leek in half lengthwise, rinse it under water to remove sand hiding between the layers, and cut it into thin slices.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven.

Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, leek, and pressed garlic, and cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft. Stir often.

Tip: the longer you cook the veggies without them browning or burning, the more flavorful your soup will be.

Add the rosemary sprig, bay leaves, and tomato paste and stir them in for two more minutes.

Tip: you can tie the rosemary and bay leaves together to make a bouquet garni and tie it to the pot’s side. It’ll be easier to remove them later on.

Add vegetable broth, drained and rinsed chickpeas, peeled diced potatoes, crushed tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, then crack the top open and let the soup simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Note: add more or less vegetable broth based on your preference. Also, if you like a thicker chickpea soup, you can blend some (not much) with an immersion blender. We don’t do this as the soup is thick enough for our taste.

Taste and adjust for salt, then serve in a bowl with a small sprig of rosemary and a slice of toasted crusty bread brushed with garlic.

Drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil and enjoy this wholesome, earthy, and delicious Italian chickpea soup.

We love this as a main, with a thick slice of crusty bread brushed with garlic.

But can also serve chickpea soup in smaller portions as a starter or side dish.

In general, chickpea soup pairs well with:

• Homemade pita bread or naan bread.
• Crostini with tapenade or olive oil and salt.
• Focaccia: a no-knead recipe that you can prepare the night before baking it.
• Croutons with Italian herbs they’re ready in just 15 minutes!
• Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes or grilled vegetables.
• Most grains like farro, barley, rice, black rice, and more. Stir in a couple of tablespoons per portion of soup.

For a side dish to chickpea soup, we recommend:

• Roasted broccoli florets with lemon and grated garlic.
• Sauteed kale with garlic and fresh lemon.
• Carrot salad with a lemon vinaigrette and fresh herbs.
• Easy side salad: pairs perfectly with soups and stews.
• Green bean salad with a creamy mustard dressing and fresh tomatoes.
• Sautéed green beans.

Chickpea soup with greens and turmeric

Add a teaspoon of turmeric and your favorite leafy greens, such as kale, spinach, or Swiss chard.

You can add them 10 minutes before the soup is ready, and you can either use fresh or frozen ones.

The turmeric is incredible with rosemary, chickpeas, and leafy greens. This way, your chickpea soup recipe will be even more nutritious and tasty.

Chickpea noodle soup

To turn this recipe into a chickpea noodle soup, substitute your favorite pasta for potatoes. We recommend a short pasta type such as ditalini, fusilli, rotini, or conchiglie.

Let the chickpeas simmer in the broth for 15 minutes, then add the pasta and let simmer until the pasta is cooked al dente.

You might need to add some more vegetable broth if the soup thickens up too much.

Check out the full pasta with chickpeas recipe.

Chickpea soup with farro

Our newest variation is adding some boiled farro (or barely) to this chickpea soup a few minutes before serving it.

The farro adds a wonderful chew and plenty of nutrition. Its nutty flavor pairs perfectly with the chickpeas.

We recommend adding a couple of tablespoons of cooked farro per serving of soup.

Make ahead: chickpea soup is an excellent recipe to make ahead as its flavor gets better as the ingredients meld together. Also, it keeps well for days, making it a perfect recipe for meal prep.

Refrigerator: keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezer: let the soup cool down completely, transfer it into a freezer-friendly container, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw and Reheat: defrost in the fridge over several hours or in the microwave. Warm in the microwave for 2 to 4 minutes or in a saucepan with some water.

Get more warming and wholesome soup recipes with these freezer–friendly meals:

• Tuscan bean soup: a wholesome and winter-friendly soup with healthy leafy greens
• Kabocha squash soup made with roasted kabocha squash and easy-to-find ingredients
• Lentil soup: a protein-rich Italian soup that will nourish you for hours!
• Tofu soup: a 20-minute recipe with an Asian-inspired technique
• Broccoli soup with vibrant green color and velvety smooth texture
• Cauliflower soup: our easy and cheesy soup that is perfectly paired with roasted chickpeas
• Sweet potato soup: a perfect soup for the holidays and special occasions
• Butternut squash soup: a reader favorite prepared in one pot.

For more curries, stews, and soups, check out our soups category page.