Spring Chickpea Soup

Spring Chickpea Soup is an easy one pot soup, ready to eat in 30 minutes or less!  This soup is packed full of fresh veggies and tons of flavor from lemon and herbs!

My chickpea soup is so perfect for these spring days where we’re in between hot/cold weather!  It’s a light soup with healthy ingredients, but it’s still hearty enough to keep you feeling full.  I’ve made this recipe up so that you can cook it in your instant pot or on your stove top, and both directions are in the recipe card!  Our soup is full of chickpeas, chopped asparagus, green onions, peas, a bit of pasta, simple herbs, and a good squeeze of lemon!  I really like this as a meatless main especially since veggies are easy to find right now, and I always have chickpeas on hand.  If you want to add meat to this soup, I’d recommend making a batch of these Crispy Baked Chicken Thighs, shredding and add right in!

How to Make the Best Chickpea Soup:

You’ll want to start out by prepping your veggies.  For the asparagus, just snap off the tough woody ends, and then rough chop into rounds.  I like to cut the asparagus all the way up to the tip, then just throw the tips right into the soup.  Also, we use a big bunch of green onions in our chickpea soup!  I like to use anywhere from 6-10, depending on how many I have on hand.  You will want to chop the green onions from the bottom up, using only the white part for this recipe.  You can save the green leafy part of the onions for garnishing if desired.

Cooking Method:

Whether or not you make this on the stove, or in your pressure cooker, the recipe starts out very much the same!  We add oil to our pot, and then in goes two cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas.  At that time, you also add in your chopped asparagus, green onion, garlic, and all the herbs and spices!  We let this cook for about 3-5 minutes until the onions are soft.  Cooking the veggies, herbs, and chickpeas together briefly before adding our broth ensures the best flavor!  Now, in goes your broth, and pasta.  A note that the pasta is OPTIONAL if you don’t want to add it to the recipe!  I used 1 cup of orecchiette because that’s what I had on hand, however, any short cut/small pasta is fine.  Then it simmers for 10 minutes on the stove or goes for 5 minutes in the instant pot.  Lastly, we can add in our peas and spinach and all they need to do is warm through!

A Few Recipe Notes:

• You can use dried chickpeas instead of canned for this recipe.  Keep in mind you will need to plan ahead and prepare the dried chickpeas first according to package directions before adding them to this soup.
• Use what you have on hand!  You can use white or yellow onion, or shallots instead of green onion.  Instead of asparagus, you can also use broccoli or substitute kale for the spinach.
• I like to keep this simple and serve it with a dollop of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.  It’s also great topped with chopped chives, or green onions.
• This soup is great for leftovers!  Keep in mind that the liquid will continue to absorb slightly.  So, you might want to add another 1/2-1 cup of broth when reheating.
• If you don’t have orecchiette pasta, you can use small shells, ditalini, elbow macaroni, or even fusilli would be ok!

Enjoy!

~Nichole

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5 from 10 votes

Spring Chickpea Soup

By Nichole

Spring Chickpea Soup is an easy one pot soup, ready to eat in 30 minutes or less!  This soup is packed full of fresh veggies and tons of flavor from lemon and herbs!

Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 20 minutes mins

Total 30 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ▢ 1/2 Pound Asparagus
• ▢ 8 Green Onions
• ▢ 2 14 Ounce Cans Chickpeas, Drained and Rinsed
• ▢ 4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• ▢ Salt & Pepper To Taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dried Dill
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Powdered Ginger
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flake
• ▢ 6 Cups Vegetable or Chicken Broth
• ▢ 1 Cup Short Cut Pasta* See Note
• ▢ 2 Cups Fresh Baby Spinach
• ▢ 1 Cup Peas
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Instructions 

STOVE TOP VERSION:

• Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, remove the woody ends from the asparagus, and roughly chop the asparagus into small pieces.
• Place the green onions on a large cutting board and chop the white parts only for the soup. Set the green leafy part aside for another use if desired.
• To the hot oil, add the asparagus, onions, chickpeas, garlic, salt & pepper, dill, turmeric, ginger, and red pepper flakes.
• Cook, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes until onions have softened.
• Pour the broth into the pot along with the pasta. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat back to medium and simmer for 10-12 minutes until pasta is soft.
• Stir in the peas, spinach, and lemon juice and cook for 2-3 more minutes until spinach is wilted. Serve immediately.

INSTANT POT VERSION:

• Heat the oil on saute mode in the instant pot insert.
• Add in the chopped asparagus, onions, chickpeas, garlic, salt, pepper, dill, turmeric, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes until onions are soft.
• Turn the pot off. Pour the broth into the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits if necessary.
• Place the lid on the pot and set the valve to the sealed position. Cook on MANUAL (PRESSURE COOK) setting for 5 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 2 minutes, then do a quick release.
• Open the pot and stir in the spinach and peas. Stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Serve immediately.

Notes

NOTE ON PASTA:  The 1 Cup of pasta is optional in this recipe.  I used Orecchiette pasta but any short cut pasta such as ditalini, macaroni, or small shells work fine.

NOTE ON CHICKPEAS:  You can use dried chickpeas if you wish, but, plan ahead.  You will need to prepare the dried chickpeas as directed on the package before adding them to this soup recipe.

NOTE ON SERVING:  We like to serve this with extra lemon for squeezing, a dollop of sour cream or plain greek yogurt, and chopped chives or green onion.

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5Cups, Calories: 278kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

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