This Vegetable Garbanzo Soup Recipe is slightly creamy and filled with flavor and texture! It’s super easy to make ahead and enjoy during the week.
Soup is great anytime of year and this is one of those hearty and balanced soups that can be a side dish or a main. This Vegetable Garbanzo Soup is a delicious recipe filled with healthy veggies and garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. Aromatics, onion and garlic, give this soup deep flavor. Carrots, Celery, and tomatoes give texture and bulk, plus sweet, savory, and tangy flavor. Herbs bring even more Italian flavor. Then the beans give that hearty, meaty bite.
This is a great vegetarian soup to add to your Meatless Mondays or International Wednesdays meal planning calendar!
Soup is a fantastic way to prep ahead for busy weeknights. Just make ahead and reheat! Want more tips for making busy family dinners easier? Click here for my Free Printable 5 Simple Steps to Easy Family Dinners!
Use Garbanzo Beans for more than Hummus!
Garbanzo beans, or Chickpeas, are so versatile, tasty, and healthy. They can be blended up into hummus or into a soup, like my Creamy Carrot and Chickpea Soup with Kale. You can add the whole beans to meatless skillets like Creamy Cajun Beans and Cauliflower over Quinoa. They are also terrific roasted for a snack or added to other dishes, like Quinoa and Kale Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Creamy Lemon Dressing
If you’re looking to add more plant-based dishes to your family diet, but you’re concerned about getting enough protein, beans are a great way to go! Ever since receiving my Certification in Nutrition and Healthy Living, I look at ways to eat more plant-based foods. I love chickpeas for both the protein and the fiber they provide.
Plus Chickpeas are great for so many health benefits that you can read more about!
Simple Ingredients and Substitutes
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Fridge and Fresh Ingredients
- Carrots, diced – You can use whole carrots with the skin on or peeled. I peeled for this recipe. You can substitute with diced baby carrots, parsnips, or even radishes.
- Onion, diced – I used yellow onion, but you can use white onion, red onion, shallots, or even scallions.
- Celery, diced – I like to use the stalk and the leaves. You can leave the celery out if you desire. You can also substitute with green pepper.
- Fresh Garlic cloves, minced – Fresh is best in this simple recipe, but you can buy the pre-minced garlic sold in a small jar or use dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
- Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped – Fresh parsley is best. I would not even bother with dried parsley. You can substitute in other fresh herbs for more flavor, such as basil or cilantro.
Pantry Ingredients
- Canned Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) 2 cans – Canned garbanzo beans are already cooked and therefore, much faster and easier to add to this soup. You could substitute with canned white beans, cannellini beans, or even black beans. You could also use dried garbanzo beans, but you will first need to soak them overnight and then boil them to cook them through and soften.
- Dried Oregano – You can substitute with fresh oregano. You can also sub in dried marjoram, basil, or italian seasoning.
- Bay Leaf – if you do not have a bay leaves, you can simply leave it out.
- Vegetable Broth – Vegetable stock is great too. Substitutes are chicken broth or chicken stock or beef broth or stock. You can also use 5 cups water with 5 bouillon cubes.
- Canned Diced Tomatoes – I like the chunks of tomato that you get with diced. However, you can substitute in pureed, crushed, diced, or whole tomatoes that you crush with your hands. Tomato sauce will work too. You can also add a tablespoon of tomato paste for more deep flavor.
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch is mixed with cold water to create a cornstarch slurry. This is the thickener for this soup. You don’t have to thicken the soup if you don’t have cornstarch. You can leave it as a thin broth. The alternative is to add 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon butter after you have cooked the carrots, celery, and onion for a few minutes. Stir the flour to combine with the veggies and let cook for another 2 minutes. Then whisk in the broth slowly and continue the recipe.
Recipe Equipment Needed
Nothing special is needed for this easy garbanzo bean soup recipe. I made this soup on the stove in a dutch oven. You could use any large pot.
You could also make it in a slow cooker (see instructions below).
Mincing garlic is made super easy with a Garlic Press.
Time Saving Prep-Ahead Steps for this Recipe
We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are steps you can prepare ahead to save time on busy nights! (See the full recipe below)
Peel & dice the carrots. Dice the celery. Dice the onion. Chop the parsley.
Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans.
Cooking on the Stove Top
Preheat a large dutch oven or pot on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, diced carrots, celery, and onion. Stir to combine and then sauté onion, carrot, celery mix for 5 minutes until they glisten and the onions begin to turn translucent.
Add the garbanzo beans, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add the broth, tomatoes, and then bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then cook for 15 minutes until the carrots are soft.
To a small mixing bowl or measuring cup, add the cold water and cornstarch. Whisk together until dissolved to make a slurry. Add the parsley, then slowly whisk the slurry into the soup. Bring back to a boil, stirring as the soup thickens, then cook for another 5 minutes.
Cooking in a Slow Cooker
If you want to make this chickpea soup recipe in a slow cooker, simply add everything to the insert pot. Then set to any of the settings that work with your schedule – High 4-6 hours or Low 8-10 hours. Any of these settings will work as you are just looking to soften the carrots, celery, and onion. The slow cooker will also cook all of the delicious flavors together.
What to Serve with this Garbanzo Soup
A crusty bread is always a good side. Of course, you cannot go wrong pairing this soup with a salad. Starting at the simple end, try this Herb Parmesan Crisps and Shallot Vinaigrette Salad. If you want to amp up your salad game, how about this Red Potato Salad Recipe with Edamame and Harissa. And if you want another protein-based salad, how about this Kale Caesar Salad with Crispy Lemon Chicken or even this Grilled Flank Steak Salad Recipe with Basil Dressing.
ENJOY! 😍 Carrie
Recipe FAQS
If you want to bulk this soup up even more, you can add a short-cut pasta. Macaroni pasta, Ditalini pasta, Orzo pasta are great options. You can also use egg noodles. For any of these options, I like to cook them separately to al dente and then add them to the soup for the final 5 minutes of cooking. Last, but not least, you can cook white rice or brown rice and add it to this soup.
This garbanzo soup recipe is gluten free. Always check food ingredient labels to ensure that they are gluten free.
There are other ingredients that you could substitute or add to this soup. In terms of herbs, you could add fresh oregano, fresh basil, or fresh thyme. For veggies, you could add green pepper, red pepper, zucchini, or mushrooms. You could also add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to give it a kick. See above question for adding pasta or noodles.
Once cooked, this soup can be stored in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can reheat it on the stove in a pot on medium heat. Or reheat it in the microwave in a microwave safe container.
This Garbanzo Soup Recipe can be made entirely ahead, portioned out as desired, and then frozen. I like to freeze this soup in freezer bags laying flat in a sheet pan. Once frozen, I can stack the bags like books for easy access in the freezer. You can also use an airtight freezer safe container. This soup will last for up to 6 months in the freezer.
To reheat the soup, you can thaw it in the fridge overnight and then heat it on medium heat in a pot on the stove. You can also reheat it from the frozen state.
Want more Soup recipes? Check out all of the easy and delicious Soups!
Have you tried this recipe? If so, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe below! I love to hear your feedback and your rating helps others to find this recipe. Thanks so much!
Vegetable Garbanzo Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 oz Canned Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) 2 cans
- 1 cup Carrots diced
- 1 cup Onion diced
- 1 cup Celery diced
- 1 clove Garlic, minced
- ¼ cup Italian Parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Bay Leaf
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 5 cups Vegetable Broth or Stock or Chicken broth or stock
- 23 ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
Instructions
Prep-Ahead Steps
- Peel & dice the carrots. Dice the celery. Dice the onion. Chop the parsley.
- Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans.
Cooking Steps
- Preheat a soup pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, diced carrots, celery, and onion. Stir to combine and then cook for 5 minutes until they glisten and the onions begin to turn translucent.
- Add the garbanzo beans, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add the broth, tomatoes, and then bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then cook for 15 minutes until the carrots are soft.
- To a small mixing bowl or measuring cup, add the cold water and cornstarch. Whisk together until dissolved to make a slurry. Add the parsley, then slowly whisk the slurry into the soup. Bring back to a boil, stirring as the soup thickens, then cook for another 5 minutes.
Notes
- 8 servings is based on 1 cup per serving
- This garbanzo soup recipe is gluten free. Always check food ingredient labels to ensure that they are gluten free.
- Adding Pasta/Noodles: If you want to bulk this soup up even more, you can add a short-cut pasta. Macaroni pasta, Ditalini pasta, Orzo pasta are great options. You can also use egg noodles. For any of these options, I like to cook them separately to al dente and then add them to the soup for the final 5 minutes of cooking.
- How long will this Garbanzo soup last? Once cooked, this soup can be stored in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can reheat it on the stove in a pot on medium heat. Or reheat it in the microwave in a microwave safe container.
- Can I freeze this Garbanzo soup? This Garbanzo Soup Recipe can be made entirely ahead, portioned out as desired, and then frozen. I like to freeze this soup in freezer bags laying flat in a sheet pan. Once frozen, I can stack the bags like books for easy access in the freezer. You can also use an airtight freezer safe container. This soup will last for up to 6 months in the freezer. To reheat the soup, you can thaw it in the fridge overnight and then heat it on medium heat in a pot on the stove. You can also reheat it from the frozen state.
Ann says
This is a perfect recipe for eating healthy this time of year!
Linger A Little, Kristy says
I do love a meal-in-a-bowl recipe. The ingredient list here is fabulous and it sounds delicious Carrie. I enjoy a good soup year round, so thanks much for sharing. I’ll have to try it soon.