Vegan Garbanzo Bean Soup
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Vegan Garbanzo Bean Soup … You have my heart.
Seriously you guys, beans are so good, and these right here… delicious! One thing I know for sure is how happy I am that beans are vegan! Ha! I am such a beans-and-rice type of girl that if I had to give up beans, well that would have been a hard transition for me.
Meats, on the other hand, were super easy for me to give up. But beans?! No way. LOL I think it has to do with the fact that I grew up in a Cuban household and dinners were mostly, always, rice and beans, black beans, white beans, pinto beans, and of course garbanzo bean soup. Who else can relate?
Not only is this vegan garbanzo bean soup tasty, but it is also pretty easy to make. Okay, maybe not the easiesttt meal on the menu but seriously once you make them once (or twice), you’ll get the hang of it and be making beans with your eyes closed (or not, because dangerous…)
I was always afraid of making beans. It was this preconceived notion in my mind that beans were so difficult to make and only a talented few could do it. I always saw my mother or grandmother in the kitchen for hours making beans and it seemed like such a huge and daunting task to take on. Oh and hello, what about those old school pressure cookers which our parents always warned us to stay away from because “they could explode in any moment” … yea that kinda freaked me out too.
I stayed away from making beans for a really long time. I legit started making beans, on my own, just a few years ago, and I’m in my late 20’s sooo yea. lol.
What changed and how did I take on the daunting task of bean making?! Electric pressure cookers, that’s what changed.
Enter Instant Pot
The Instant Pot (affiliate link) changed my life you guys. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit over dramatic over here, but it definitely changed my cooking, for the better.
Why is the Instant Pot so great you ask?
- You don’t have to soak your beans the night before (even though I still do but sometimes I forget ya know?! It’s great to know that I can still have beans even though I didn’t soak them the night before)
- You can do a ton of other stuff in your instant pot, not just beans, and so that’s definitely a big PLUS. I’ll be adding more instant pot recipes eventually. 🙂
I bought my instant pot (affiliate link) off of Amazon and I loved it so much, I’ve bought two in the last three years. Just kidding, I mean, I do love it, but I had to buy a second one because I accidentally left (forgot) beans inside my 1st one for a few days (maybe a week?) and yea it got reallyyyy gross. Like Really Gross.
Making vegan garbanzo bean soup using an instant pot will be one of the easiest menu items you can have in your back pocket whenever you need a quick vegan meal that can be done within an hour and half!
Ideas for left overs
Vegan Garbanzo Beans are so amazing because they can be used in a variety of dishes. Once you make a large batch, you could be eating garbanzo beans for a few days straight by just changing around a few things.
Some great ideas for garbanzo beans are:
- Eat in a bowl as a soup with avocado slices
- Mix into a green salad
- Pour over baked sweet potatoes (YUM, recipe coming soon)
- Eat as a side dish with rice
- Use as stuffing for a burrito
- Make homemade hummus, like my favorite roasted beet hummus recipe, with garbanzos!
o.m.g so many ideas … What are some of your favorite ways to eat garbanzo beans?! And if you go ahead and try my recipe or make a version of your own let me know below in the comments or send me a pic of your dish via instagram at @sproutingzeneats
Vegan Garbanzo Bean Soup
This Vegan Garbanzo Bean Soup is so tasty and doesn’t take too much effort to cook up. I offer two versions – one with an instant pot and one stove top.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 - 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 to 2 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 package of dry garbanzo beans usually 1 lb (chickpea beans)
- 1 medium yellow onion or about 1 cup chopped
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce (I use tomato pasta sauce)
- 1 tablespoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp of Himalayan salt (always start with less and add more as needed for flavor)
- dash of black pepper and cayenne pepper (optional)
- about 6 cups of water
- about 1 cup of veggie broth to saute the vegetables (oil free option)
Additional optional ingredients: The above mentioned ingredients are good enough for a delicious garbanzo bean soup, however, if you have any of these other ingredients on hand or want a heavier soup feel free to add any of these suggestions:
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley (adds a nice flavor and also a beautiful green color)
- 1 cup of chopped red potatoes (takes about 2 small potatoes)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoons of dried basil
- 1 cup of chopped carrots (about 2 to 3 carrots)
Instructions
- Okay, for starters, you want to make sure to soak your beans the night before if you do NOT have an instant pot. Place them in a large bowl and cover with enough water (the beans will suck in water so make sure to use enough), I use about 6 cups of water. If you forgot to soak them the night before, or you’re in a time crunch, read my notes below for quick soaking method.
- Once beans have soaked, drain and rinse the beans one last time. And let’s get cooking!
If you are using an Instant Pot (if you’re not, scroll down for alternative cooking method)
- Place your dry beans (rinsed and drained) in the instant pot, add 6 cups of water, lock instant pot lid in place, make sure the little pressure knob thingie is in the right location (check your instant pot manual if you need a reference) and press the “manual” button on your instant pot. I cook mine on high pressure for 30 minutes.
- Once the timer is up, allow pressure to be released slowly from instant pot. Remove lid and continue to cook beans under ‘Saute’ mode.
- While the beans are cooking: on a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth, chopped onions, sliced red bell peppers, and minced garlic. Allow to cook until soft and tender. Add more veggie broth as needed. Once soft and tender, set aside and add to the beans once soft.
- Back to the beans (once beans are soft): add salt, pepper, dash of cayenne, tomato powder, diced tomato, vinegar, oregano powder, and any of the other of the optional ingredients that I suggested (potatoes, carrots, parsley, dried basil). Continue to heat over low/medium heat, adding more water if needed, until you reach your desired consistency. If you are using potatoes or carrots, taste often to check softness.
- Taste test your soup often and add a little more salt or maybe a little more vinegar or even more tomato powder, if you haven’t reached your desired taste. Sometimes I even like to throw in a little dash of onion and garlic powder as well for that extra added cooked flavor! Yum.
If you are *not* using instant pot or pressure cooking, and you are just using your stove top
- Place soaked beans (rinsed and drained) in a large pot (I use an 8 quart stockpot) and add 6 cups of water, heat over medium heat and simmer gently with lid tilted until beans are soft and tender. This can take anywhere around 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Make sure to keep an eye on your beans and stir occasionally, burnt beans are the worst! You may have to add water as you go if the water is evaporated but the beans are still not tender enough.
- In the meantime – prepare your sauteed veggies. Scroll back up and follow steps 3, 4, and 5 from above. 🙂
Once beans are ready, serve in a bowl and top with avocados or serve as a side dish with rice or quinoa. You can also use these beans over a salad or make a yummy hummus out of your left overs.
Notes
- If using an instant pot you do not need to soak your beans.
- For those without an instant pot AND you didn’t soak beans the night before: quick soak your beans by bringing beans and 6-8 cups of water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and allow to sit for about 2 hours. (Read the label of your beans for more specific instructions)
- The thickness of your beans is totally up to personal preference. Sometimes I like my beans to have more of a lighter, soup-y, kind of texture. Other times I like them really heavy and thick and drier (not soup-like) so I allow more of the water to evaporate. If at any point your soup looks too dry you can always add more water into the mix until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Add acidic ingredients last (once beans are soft) like tomatoes and vinegar because this can affect the cooking of the beans.
Those garbanzo beans look so full of flavour! This is definitely my kind of meal.
★★★★★
Totally with you on that! My kind of meal as well. Yum!!
Garbanzo beans are one of my favorite foods! Love this.
Love this! I have a large bag of dry chickpeas at home and love finding new recipes to use them up. Plus this is perfect for the cool weather we have been having in Dubai. Don’t judge! I am weak.
Hahaha girl, you and I both! I live in Miami, and 75F is “chilly” for me. 😛 If you try this out let me know the outcome!! It’s one of my favorite go-to meals.