How To Make Garbanzo Bean Soup

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Puerto Rican Garbanzo Soup – The Crowd Pleaser

This garbanzo bean soup is one of my favorite recipes. It is quick and easy. You can serve it rustic, which is my preferred method, or pureed for a more elevated presentation.

Every time I make this for a get together I do opt to puree the garbanzo bean soup and I serve it in a coffee mug for my guests to sip on as an appetizer. They love this! If I am cooking it for myself and family, I leave it as is and avoid the extra puree step. Either way is delicious!

Pro Tips:

  • Use a dutch oven to prepare the soup – it can be enameled cast iron or stainless steel
  • If you plan to puree the soup – I suggest using a handheld blender
  • Pureeing the soup will actually appeal to more people, even those who claim they don’t like garbanzo beans. You’re welcome 🙂

Garbanzo Bean Soup Recipe

Serving Size:
10-12
Time:
50 min
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 Kielbasa Sausage 14 oz. – or sausage of your choosing (optional)
  • 2 16 oz cans of garbanzo beans
  • 1/2 small white onion sliced
  • 1 shallot sliced
  • 8 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 1 pint of chicken stock
  • 3 cups of water
  • 1 tsp of Better Than Bouillon – chicken flavor (optional)
  • 1/2 red bell pepper – chopped
  • 1-2 handfuls of chopped kale (optional)
  • 1 tsp Loisa Adobo Powder (optional)
  • 3 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon of fresh cilantro – chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon of fresh parsley – chopped

Instructions

  1. Add 1 Tablespoon of good olive oil to your pot on medium heat
  2. Quarter the sausage into small 1/2 inch pieces (see photo). This is will allow them to brown more easily and make for tastier bites in the soup. Should you choose to puree the soup, it will be much easier with the smaller bits of sausage.
  3. Brown the sausage on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until they are mostly golden brown. Refer to the photos below for reference.
  4. Once the sausage is brown, add your chopped onion, shallot, and bell pepper. Add a pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Cook until beginning to brown and caramelize. This should take around 10-15 minutes.
  5. After aromatics are caramelized – add the finely chopped garlic. Then, saute for another 3 minutes.
  6. Add the 2 cans of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans – allow this to cook for 10 minutes
  7. Deglaze your pot with the chicken stock and water. Make sure you scrape up all of the brown bits at the bottom of your pot as this will impart flavor to the soup. It is an essential step.
  8. Add your garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, kosher salt, black pepper, and bay leaf
  9. Add 1 tsp of the Better Than Bouillon, stir well, and bring to a simmer
  10. Allow to simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes
  11. Lower heat to LOW – add 1-2 handfuls of chopped kale. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
  12. Finally, top with chopped cilantro and parsley – then serve! If you want to puree the garbanzo bean soup, allow it cool for 15 minutes before doing so. Remove your bay leaf prior to pureeing the soup!

Storing Garbanzo Bean Soup

This soup needs to be stored immediately upon cooling. Garbanzo beans can begin fermenting quickly at room temperature. Once properly stored in the refrigerator, leftovers will stay good for 2 additional days. The soup is even better the second day!

FAQs

Why should you rinse garbanzo beans?

You should always rinse canned garbanzo beans prior to adding them to your dish. The sodium content is high in canned garbanzo beans, for this reason you should avoid adding any of the canned liquid to your dish. To reduce the amount of sodium, I suggest rinsing them with cool water for 3 minutes.

Are chickpeas and garbanzo beans the same?

YES! They are the same bean. Chickpea and garbanzo can be used interchangeably. Where you are from will determine whether you refer to the bean as a chickpea or garbanzo. My family is Puerto Rican and we all refer to them as garbanzo beans, most Spanish speaking countries do.

Can you convert this to vegan garbanzo bean soup?

Yes! You can easily convert this into a vegan garbanzo bean soup by eliminating the sausage. I have done this recipe without sausage and it is just as tasty. Don’t forget to substitute the chicken Better Than Bouillon with vegetable Better Than Bouillon and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

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