Greek Chickpea Soup
Chickpeas, also known as Garbanzo beans, are gradually gaining more and more popularity these days as people are discovering their health benefits and their nutty unique taste.
Among others, they are can improve our digestion, improve the elasticity of our skin and as a result reduce our wrinkles, help with weight loss, strengthen our bones, prevent diabetes, maintain blood pressure, and even boosts our heart health.
With so many benefits what’s not to like about chickpeas?
In the old days, they used to soak chickpeas with baking soda to remove their skin but over the years they realized that together with the skin they also remove part of their taste so they have stopped doing it because it’s not necessary and it often breaks the chickpeas in half.
Even if you would like to make hummus just soak them overnight and use the pressure cooker to cook them. Τrust me, your final product will be as smooth as cream cheese! But this is the prologue for another recipe I plan on making in the future!
The recipe for chickpeas that you will read below is a very old traditional Greek recipe with only 5 basic ingredients very easy and simple to make. My yaya (grandmother) used to cook it without the spearmint but one day that I wanted to try new things on an old recipe I added the spearmint and I liked it so much that I only cook it with spearmint from then on. Anyway, before you start… you can read more information about cooking beans and legumes here, and while on it, make sure you start soaking your chickpeas!
4 reasons why you should soak the chickpeas overnight or for 8 hours
1. Reduces their cooking time
2. Makes them easier to digest
3. Removes the preservatives that all products in a bag have
4. Removes the bloating factor that produces gas
Nevertheless, situations might arise where you have planned to cook chickpeas but forgot to soak them overnight what do you do? In those cases, you can give them a good wash and soak them in hot water for 1 hour before you cook them. It will not be the same as soaking them overnight but at least it is better than no soaking at all!
3 ways to cook your Chickpea soup
Slow cooker, speed cooker, or normal pot? You can choose any of the 3 cooking options according to what you have available at your house but I would recommend a slow cooker or a speed cooker which are great with this recipe. Detailed instructions on how to cook chickpea soup with each method are provided below the ingredients of the recipe.
1. Normal pot
With a normal pot and if you use chickpeas from a bag you will need about 2 hours more – less. If you use canned chickpeas then the cooking time reduces to 1 hour. You can also cook them in a Dutch oven but I will make a separate recipe for that one another time.
2. Speed cooker, pressure cooker or instant pot
With a speed-cooker, pressure-cooker, or instant pot, it only takes 2 mins on high for my pressure cooker then I turn it off and return in an hour to my perfectly cooked chickpeas. Every pressure-cooker should have its own instructions for cooking beans and it is wise to follow them nevertheless I also include detailed instructions below the recipe ingredients for your reference.
3. Slow cooker
With a slow cooker, you can easily let the chickpeas simmer overnight (6-8 hours) and add the ingredients to complete the soup in the morning.
With what can you serve chickpeas with?
Chickpea soup goes well with sausages, tuna, feta and olives. If you cook them differently, then they can accompany nearly any meat or fish dish because they are very versatile. I personally enjoy pairing them with squid, calamari and shrimps and I will make sure in the future to provide you with recipes with those combinations. If you are wondering with what vegetables to pair the chickpeas I would say eggplants and cauliflower is a good choice. The options with what you can pair chickpeas are limitless!
Greek Chickpea Soup recipe
Ingredients:
- 500g chickpeas
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 lemons (their juice)
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried spearmint
- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch / Niseshte flour*
- 1,3L Water
- Salt/pepper (at the end of cooking)
Instructions for a normal pot cooking:
- Soak the chickpeas in water overnight
- In the morning drain them, rinse well over running water* and put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them.
- Bring to a boil and with a spoon remove the white foam that they produce on top.
- Then add the onions, the olive oil, and the dried spearmint and let them simmer in low heat for about 2 hours stirring occasionally.
- Put the juice of two lemons into a bowl, add the cornstarch and stir well until it dissolves.
- Then with a large soup spoon introduce 2 spoonfuls of the chickpea broth into your bowl, stir well.
- Pour the ingredients of the bowl inside the soup, add salt and pepper, stir well, and bring to a boil.
- Then, turn off the heat and your Chickpea soup is ready!
- Serve with feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and fresh bread.
Instructions for a speed-cooker / pressure cooker:
- Soak the chickpeas in water overnight
- In the morning drain them, rinse well over running water* and put them in your speed cooker with just enough water to cover them (Or you can measure 1,3L of water).
- Bring to a boil and remove the white foam that they produce on top.
- Turn on your speed cooker to high for 2 mins, then turn off the heat and come back after an hour to continue with the recipe.
- Add the onions, the oil, the spearmint and bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- While it simmers, on a separate bowl put the juice of two lemons, add the cornstarch and stir well until it dissolves.
- Then take a large soup spoon and introduce 2 spoonfuls of the chickpea broth into your bowl, stir well.
- Pour the ingredients of the bowl inside the soup, add salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a boil.
- Then, turn off the heat, let it simmer for 10 min and your soup is ready!
Instructions for chickpeas from a can:
- Drain them and put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them.
- Bring to a boil, remove the foam that they will produce on top, add the onions, the olive oil, and the dried spearmint and let them simmer in low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
- Put the juice of two lemons into a bowl, add the cornstarch and stir well until it dissolves.
- Introduce 2 large spoonfuls of the chickpea broth into your bowl, stir well.
- Pour the ingredients of the bowl inside your pot together with salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a boil.
- Then, turn off the heat and your Chickpea soup is ready!
Notes:
- *Cornstarch, which might be called Corn flour or Niseshte in some countries, is a thickening agent for soups and sauces and it’s produced from corn kernels which are processed to extract the starch. It is white, flavorless, and it resembles flour but with a smoother, silklike touch and feel.
- If you don’t have cornstarch and you would like to cook this recipe you can add flour. It won’t be the same but if you are in a pinch, plain all-purpose flour can be used as a substitute.
- You have to be careful just before you bring the chickpeas to a boil for the first time because they tend to foam a lot and they might overflow into your kitchen counter. After you skim the foam and reduce the heat they will not produce anymore.
- Spearmint can be replaced with dried basil or oregano if you prefer.
- After soaking the chickpeas overnight it is necessary to throw away the water they have been soaking in because a) That water is full of conservatives that have been removed from the surface of the chickpeas b) it smells funny and you don’t want to add that smell in your soup.
- When you are cooking chickpeas or any type of beans always put the salt at the end of your cooking because if you add it too early it toughens them and they are not cooked properly.
- Greek Traditional, Recipes, Soup, Vegan
- chickpeas, lemon, soup, spearmint, Vegan
- MEAL: LUNCH / DINNER
- COURSE: SOUP
- CUISINE: GREEK
- Recipe by: Christine Karagianni
Did you make this recipe? Or are you planning to make it? Let me know in the comments below, tag me on Instagram @freshpiato or show me your photos on Pinterest!
