Smoky Chickpea Kale Soup
This hearty Chickpea Kale Soup is smoky and loaded with fresh thyme, ginger, kale and sweet potato. An easy and cozy vegan soup recipe.
I adore bean based soups so much. And loading them up with some extra nutrients like hearty greens, potatoes and lots of herbs…those soups always have my heart. Whether you like simple soups like this Chickpea Kale Soup or soups that are even more complex like this Red Lentil Soup, you are in the right place because soups and stews are my jam.
Why You’ll Love this Chickpea Kale Soup
- Soups are kind of the winter version of salads. And that means that they can be very nutritious and hearty with the right ingredients. This soup, is definitely all those things and it tastes amazing even though we are using very basic ingredients.
- Easy to put together. Everything cooks in one pot and takes less than 30 minutes to make.
- Vegan and Gluten-Free. Loaded with plant protein and lots of non-starchy and starchy vegetables too.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Sweet Potato: If leaving the peel on, just make sure to scrub the dirt off the skin really well. And if you aren’t a fan of sweet potatoes, feel free to use regular potatoes.
- Kale: Love this hearty green in soups and it softens really well in this soup.
- Chickpeas: Our plant protein of choice, but you can easily swap this out with some white beans as well.
- Smoked Paprika: It’s one of my favorite ingredients and it adds a delicious layer of smokiness to our soup.
- Herbs: I used a mix of fresh and dry herbs including bay leaves, fresh thyme sprigs, and dry basil. You can change up the flavors by using other herbs as desired.
- Fresh Tomatoes: Totally optional or you can replace with some fire roasted red bell pepper.
- Vegetable Broth: I often will use a combination of water with good quality bouillon cubes or bouillon paste.
- Lemon Juice: Helps to brighten up the soup at the very end, but also helps make a lot of the nutrients in this soup like iron more absorbable.
How to Make Chickpea Kale Soup
You just need one pot for this soup. First start by sautéing your aromatic vegetables and sweat them until softened with a pinch of salt.
Now layer in your other flavors, like your garlic and ginger until fragrant. Then add in your tomatoes and smoky paprika and dry herbs.
Once you add in the sweet potatoes and chickpeas, you can fill your pot with vegetable broth and then add in your fresh thyme sprigs.
If you decide to blend a portion of your soup, make sure to do that after removing the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Then return the blended portion to your soup and give a nice squeeze of lemon to help brighten up the soup.
Tips for the Perfect Hearty Soup
- Change the texture of the soup by partially blending. You can have this soup two ways. It can be left as a nice broth based soup with chunky vegetables, or if you have a blender or immersion blender, you can partially blend 1/4 to 1/3 of the soup to make it more creamy and rich. Just make sure to remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves before doing this.
- Don’t add your kale too soon. I like adding it in 5 minutes before it’s done cooking so that it softens, but doesn’t overcook and get too mushy.
- Use Canned Chickpeas. While you can absolutely make this soup with freshly cooked chickpeas, I find using canned chickpeas for this soup so much easier.
- Taste and adjust your soup as you go along. Make sure to sweat your vegetables in the beginning with a pinch of salt. Add more or less herbs to your soup based on your taste. This is important because the quality of our herbs and spices might differ slightly. Or you might like more or less salt in your soup compared to me. So use this as a base and add more or less of the things you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cool your soup completely and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this soup in the freezer for up to 3 months. I often times recommend when freezing to store in single portion containers so that it’s easier to pull out and use as needed on a day by day basis.
Chickpeas provide a variety of different helpful nutrients that our body can use to keep us going. What they tend to provide a good amount of would be things like fiber, plant based protein, iron, potassium that is good for blood pressure, folate and choline. Because of the combo of fiber and plant protein, chickpeas can make meals more filling and satisfying.
Chickpeas along with other legumes and pulses like lentils can be consumed regularly for optimal health unless there is a medical reason such as allergies or severe gastrointestinal issues. A serving of beans daily may help to reduce chronic disease risk such as heart disease and colon cancer. If you are not a bean eater and want to start introducing them into your meals, do it slowly. Start with a few tablespoons at a time to help get your gut used to them and then slowly increase them over time so you can see how you tolerate them.
If using dry beans, make sure to spend some time soaking them before you cook them. Soaking for about 8 hours or overnight can help improve their digestibility. And don’t forget to discard the water the beans have soaked in and replace with fresh water when ready to cook.
If using canned beans, make sure to rinse them under running water for a few minutes to remove the starches that often lead to gas (when you see no more bubbles that’s a good indication you rinsed them well).
You can also dry and rub your chickpeas in a clean kitchen towel to help remove some of the skins on the chickpeas.
And if you try all of those and still no luck, experiment with other beans. Soups like this Barley and Bean Soup might be more tolerable for you.
How to Serve your Chickpea Kale Soup
Enjoy this soup with some more texture. I love serving this with a side of crunchy bread, sprinkling some pepita seeds on top or adding some Baked Tofu. Not only will it provide more chewy texture to your soup, but each of these different toppings can help further add nutrition balance to this meal.
- Pepita Topping: Crunch and Zinc
- Crunchy Bread: More energy and fullness
- Baked Tofu: Nice chewiness and additional filling plant based protein
More Quick & Easy Vegan Soups
- Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup
- Lemon White Bean Orzo Soup
- Sweet Potato Red Lentil Soup
- Cauliflower Quinoa Soup
- Vegan Lasagna Soup
Smoky Chickpea Kale Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This hearty Chickpea Kale Soup is smoky and loaded with fresh thyme, ginger, kale and sweet potato. An easy and cozy vegan soup recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp avocado oil or neutral flavored oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1–2 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger, finely minced or grated
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
- 1 large sweet potato, cubed
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dry basil
- 5–6 cups vegetable broth or 2 bouillon cubes with water
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dry thyme
- 2 cups kale, roughly chopped
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a soup pot over medium heat, add in your oil to warm through. Then add in your onions, peppers and celery with a pinch of salt and saute until softened.
- Next, add in your bay leaves and give a good stir to heat through, then add in the garlic and ginger making sure to continue to stir until fragrant.
- Add in the diced tomatoes and potatoes along with your paprika and basil then stir that all together to coat.
- Stir in your chickpeas and then pour in your vegetable broth. Give your pot a stir and then add the thyme.
- Bring your soup to a low boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer and allow your soup to cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the sweet potato has softened.
- Add in your kale, cover your pot with a lid and allow to simmer on low for 5 minutes to help wilt the kale.
- Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs then add a nice squeeze of lemon juice and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. If you want the soup to be slightly thicker, use an immersion blender to blend a small portion of the soup to your desired consistency.
Notes
You can have this soup two ways. It can be left as a nice broth based soup with chunky vegetables, or if you have a blender or immersion blender, you can partially blend 1/4 to 1/3 of the soup to make it more creamy and rich. Just make sure to remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves before doing this.
I like adding the in 5 minutes before it’s done cooking so that it softens, but doesn’t overcook and get too mushy.
While you can absolutely make this soup with freshly cooked chickpeas, I find using canned chickpeas for this soup so much easier.
Make sure to sweat your vegetables in the beginning with a pinch of salt. Add more or less herbs to your soup based on your taste. This is important because the quality of our herbs and spices might differ slightly or you might like more or less salt in your soup compared to me. So use this as a base and add more or less of the things you like.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
So comforting. Enjoyed this for dinner last night. Perfect for the cooler weather.