Simple Chickpea Soup

Simple Chickpea Soup
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
About 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
4(660)
Comments
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This recipe came to The Times in 2013, when the food writers Michael Pollan and Michael Moss were prompted to make “a tasty, reasonably healthy lunch” using ingredients available at most grocery stores. “No farmers’ market produce, no grass-fed beef or artisanal anything,” the prompt stated. They came up with a few simple dishes: pizza, a salad of sliced avocados and oranges, and this simple but flavorful soup, which Mr. Pollan regularly made for his family and relies on canned garbanzos. —Emily Weinstein

Featured in: Pots and Pans, but Little Pain

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Ingredients

Yield:About 6 servings
  • 1large yellow onion, finely diced
  • 3tablespoons olive oil, more for serving
  • 1clove garlic, slivered
  • 2(15½-ounce) cans chickpeas
  • Juice of ½ lemon, more to taste
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parmesan, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

277 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 433 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a soup pot over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until onion is translucent and has lost its bite. Add garlic and cook until slightly colored.

  2. Step 2

    Rinse chickpeas in cold water, then add to pot. Add water to pot until chickpeas are covered to the depth of 1 inch.

  3. Step 3

    Cook over medium heat (soup should bubble, but not come to a full boil) for an hour, or until the chickpeas are soft and silky. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with grated Parmesan or a drizzle of good olive oil if desired.

Ratings

4 out of 5
660 user ratings
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Comments

If you're using canned chickpeas, why would this need to cook for an hour?

This is great base soup, easy to whip up with almost no prep. I suspect you can add almost anything (veggies, sausage, etc), but if you do, I'd recommend making sure to scale up the amount of lemon juice you use; the freshness is a critical flavor component.

I added kale, (which I didn't quite cut small enough so we did a lot of chewing...). I also used a potato masher to soften things up a bit at the end for a creamier soup, and added a bit of paprika and cayenne.

Great recipe!

This was really good... after it had the chance to sit for a day or two. I took some hints from a similar recipe that I make often (Chickpea Stew with Orzo & Mustard Greens), and sauteed some fennel & a shake of red pepper flakes with the onions, & threw in some chopped cherry tomatoes halfway through the cooking time. Also added a few handfuls of baby spinach & some lemon zest at the end. Finally, I had used all my Parmesan rinds, so added a 2-in chunk of cheese to cook down.

This is so good, and so simple! I added a few chopped carrots to the onions and a little basil at the end. I’ll make it again!

I cooked dried garbanzos in the oven at 275 degrees, with 2 cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and a ¼ teaspoon each of dried rosemary and thyme. For the soup, I didn't have onion, but found ¾ cup of freeze-dried shallots and sautéed those before adding the garlic. Used 4 cups of garbanzos with the cooking liquid in place of water. I was out of Parmesan, which would have been delicious, but the soup was fantastic without it. Magical flavors I'm still savoring an hour later.

This was a satisfying and delicious soup. I followed the recipe exactly. I added a Parmesan rind while it cooked. I think cooking for an hour was key to the success of the dish. I used 1/2 of a pretty large lemon, so it may have counted as a whole lemon. I’d say the recipe yields 3 bowls of soup. Next time, I’ll double it.

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Credits

Adapted from Michael Pollan

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