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Lately, I’ve been trying to incorporate a meatless meal at least once a week. I’ve found myself craving more veggies lately and just feel like I get plenty of protein (through meat) throughout the week and since legumes don’t seem to have an effect on my body/inflammation– chickpeas have been heavy on my mind. Don’t ask me why? haha. Just a phase, I guess. But that phase led me to this Easy Chickpea and Kale Tuscan-Style Soup!
I absolutely love Tuscan style bean soups and this soup came about the other day when I scoured my fridge and pantry and put together this Easy Chickpea and Kale Tuscan-Style Soup with things I had in my fridge and pantry. Y’all. It’s absolutely delicious, super easy to make, and very budget-friendly! Not to mention… healthy!
The key to a bowl of good bean soup, in my opinion, is to partially blend the soup. this gives the base that nice, creamy texture you want in a bean soup. You can either use an immersion blender to accomplish this, or transfer a portion of the soup to a blender and add it back to the soup. You just still want to leave plenty of the whole beans and veggies for texture.
SHOP THE POST.
Easy Chickpea and Kale Tuscan-Style Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup carrot, diced or 1 large carrot
- 1 cup celery, diced or 2 stalks
- 1 cup onion, finely diced or 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. kosher salt or more to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper or more to taste
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 bayleaf
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried
- 4 sprigs thyme or 1 tsp dried
- 1 [14.5 ounce] can diced tomatoes (undrained)
- 2 [15 ounce] cans garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) drained and rinsed
- 1 bunch Lacinato Kale ribs removed and loosely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice or 1 lemon
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 7 minutes.
- Add in the broth, rosemary, thyme, bayleaf, tomatoes, and chickpeas. Stir to combine and increase heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes of cooking, add the kale and stir to combine. Cover and continue cooking until the beans are very tender and the kale has wilted, 10 to 15 more minutes.
- Remove the bayleaf, and the thyme and rosemary stems (if using fresh). Using an immersion blender, partially blend the soup leaving plenty of beans and veggies for texture. (Alternatively, transfer about 1.5 cups of the soup to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Return to the soup and stir to combine).
- Stir in the lemon. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper, if needed. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- To freeze, let the soup cool completely, then transfer it to airtight containers or freezer bags, leaving some space for expansion. Label and date the containers before placing them in the freezer.
- To thaw, move the container to the refrigerator and let it defrost overnight, or for a quicker option, use the microwave's defrost setting. Further reheat the soup or stew in a pot on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches a simmer, or microwave it in intervals, stirring in between, until heated through.
- If you feel like the contents of the soup (i.e. noodles, rice, etc.) soaked up most of the liquid, you can add 1 to 2 cups more broth to rehydrate the soup and get it to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this soup! It’s my favorite. Do you know if it freezes well?
yes it does for sure!
I tried this recipe tonight and I’m amazed at how yummy it turned out!
Is the celery a major ingredient
no it doesn’t necessarily have to be in there!
This soup was delicious and so wasy to make! I was looking for something to make with what I had on hand. My kale wasn’t good to use so I threw in some greens from a spring mix for salad. I didn’t have canned tomatoes but an open jar of marina sauce and used that. Still came out great. Thanks for the great recipe, you saved my lunch for the week! 🙂
So glad I stumbled on this recipe. I have a lot of dried chickpeas I was able to put to good use! I did not blend this soup at all and I still love it. The flavors are great. Love that lemon addition.
This was delicious! I used a homemade vegetable stock instead of the chicken stock and used some grated parmesan when serving.
Love this soup, and so easy to make. I added some fresh green beans that I had on hand as well.
how do i adapt this recipe to using fresh and not canned tomatoes?
I would seed and finely dice 1.5 cups tomato and throw them in at the same time that you would add the canned
This soup was SO good! We doubled the batch (and snuck in some Italian sausage), and the entire family (kids and grandparents) LOVED it. YUMMMMMY!
ohhh yummy!
Wow! This soup is an absolute winner! Even my roast-beef-and-gravy family loved it and are asking for more. I used half-n-half veggie and chicken stock for mine, plus a little extra water, fresh tomato instead of canned, and stewed in 1 anise pod and 1 cinnamon stick. Those last two really amped up the flavour. Garnish with fresh parmesan and parsley, and this is DEFINITELY making a comeback in my house!
This soup is sooo delicious and is making it’s way into my soup rotations! I swapped out kale for spinach, included a parmesan rind when adding the broth, and served with fresh parmesan as well 🙂
The soup was delicious! It was quite spicy with the 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes so I may reduce that next time I make it. But overall really good! Cooking time was perfect for the chickpeas
glad you enjoyed it! I tend to get a little heavy handed on pepper flakes.. so this is good insight! xo
Wow! This soup is an absolute winner! Even my roast-beef-and-gravy family loved it and are asking for more. I used half-n-half veggie and chicken stock for mine, plus a little extra water, fresh tomato instead of canned, 1 anise pod, and 1 cinnamon stick. Those last two really amped up all the flavours. Garnished with fresh parmesan and parsley, and this is DEFINITELY making a comeback!
Can you make it ahead 2 days?
Yes!! It’s great made ahead