Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic
Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic is a gluten-free, vegan soup with cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and a hint of lemon.
Some nights I want nothing more for dinner than a simple soup. I love that I can start cooking soup in the afternoon when my kids are at school, then finish or re-warm it just in time for dinner. Paired with a soft dinner roll or some crusty sourdough bread and butter, there is nothing better.
There are just so many options for soups! They can be light and vegetable-based, hearty and meaty, full of fun, slurpy noodles, or thick and full of beans or legumes, like this Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic.
And the bonus is that when I make soup, there are almost always leftovers, which means an automatic hot lunch the next day for myself and Mr. Dreamboat. Keep reading to learn how to make this healthy and hearty vegan soup.
How to Make Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic
To make this soup, start by draining the chickpeas, but make sure to keep the liquid (aquafaba). You will be using ½ cup of it in the soup, plus you can keep the rest of it for other recipes, if desired. Rinse the chickpeas and set them aside for now.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or medium Dutch oven and add the minced onions, garlic, and kosher salt. Cook until the onions are softened. Stir in the cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, black pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant.
Add the chickpeas, and mash about half of them with a potato masher, or large fork or spoon. Mashing some of the chickpeas helps to thicken the soup, while still providing texture from the ones that are left whole.
Stir in the vegetable broth and the reserved aquafaba. Loosely cover the pot (place the lid on at an angle, leaving a small gap for the steam to escape) and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach and the minced parsley. Once the spinach has wilted, stir in the lemon juice.
Divide the soup between four bowls, and sprinkle with additional minced parsley and/or red pepper flakes, if desired.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat.
Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic Ingredients
- Canned chickpeas – the cans should be the 19-ounce (540mL) size.
- Olive oil – or you could use any neutral-flavored cooking oil.
- Large yellow onion
- Garlic
- Kosher salt
- Ground cumin
- Ground coriander
- Smoked paprika
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Red pepper flakes – Increase the amount if you want your soup spicy, decrease or omit if you don’t want any heat in your soup.
- Vegetable broth – Use a reduced-sodium version to cut down on the amount of salt in the soup, or you can use chicken broth if you don’t need this soup to be vegan or vegetarian.
- Fresh baby spinach – I tossed in the entire 142g (about 5 ounce) carton. You could also measure out about 5 cups if you have a larger package (or weigh it out).
- Fresh parsley – Flat-leaf parsley has a stronger flavor and is more tender than curly parsley. Flat-leaf parsley is generally better for cooking, where curly parsley makes a nice garnish.
- Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice is always best, but bottled will work here too.
Want more vegetarian soup recipes?
Chickpea Soup with Spinach and Garlic Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one quarter of the recipe. If your portion is larger (or smaller) than this, the nutrition information will vary accordingly.
This soup (like many soups) is fairly high in sodium. To cut back, you can use no-salt-added chickpeas, use a reduced-sodium vegetable broth, and/or cut down on the amount of salt you add to the recipe.
Serve this soup with crusty bread or flatbread to make a complete meal.
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Open 2 cans chickpeas, and drain the liquid (aquafaba) into a large measuring cup (you will get about 2 cups of aquafaba. Set aside ½ cup of the liquid for this recipe (if you want to store the rest of the aquafaba for other recipes, pour it into an airtight jar or container and put it in the fridge). Rinse the chickpeas and drain again.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven oven medium heat. Add the minced onion, minced garlic, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, and stir. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the rinsed chickpeas and stir. Lightly mash about half of the chickpeas with a large spoon, fork, or potato masher (this will help to thicken the soup).
- Add 4 cups vegetable broth and the reserved 1/2 cup of aquafaba. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover loosely with the lid (place the lid on loosely so that it's crooked and slightly open on one side), and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in 5 ounces (142 g) fresh baby spinach and ½ cup chopped fresh parsley. Once the spinach has wilted, stir in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. If desired, serve with crusty bread or flatbread.
Nutrition
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