Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup

Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup is a fabulous, healthy, one-pot wonder!  Filled with tons of veggies & chickpeas, and seasoned with Italian herbs and a secret ingredient, you’ll want to add this scrumptious soup to your weekly menu rotation!

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Whether you need some veggies in your life from over-indulging in holiday goodies or are looking for a healthy vegetarian recipe to change things up, Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup, is a fabulous, meat-free comfort food that will check all your boxes!

This heathy and delicious soup is nice and chunky due to the assortment of fresh vegetables and canned green beans and tomatoes, then there’s the chickpeas – which provide fiber and protein! 

It’s got lots of Italian herbs like oregano, thyme, and basil, then there’s my secret weapon – a parmesan cheese rind.  Everything comes together so beautifully!

Chickpeas are one of my favorite staples in the pantry.  I have cans and cans of them for homemade hummus or falafel, but I also have bags of dried chickpeas because I want certain chickpea textures for certain dishes. 

Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup is good with either canned or soaked, dried chickpeas, but the latter is my favorite for this recipe.  (There are directions in the recipe for both canned and dry/soaked chickpeas.)

Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):

• Butter
• Onion
• Garlic
• Carrot
• Celery
• Can diced tomatoes
• Can green beans
• Tomato paste
• Chickpeas
• Vegetable broth
• Dried thyme, bay leaf, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper
• Parmesan cheese rind

Parmesan Cheese Rinds

Do you buy your parmesan cheese already shredded or grated or by the wedge? 

If you buy it by the wedge, and you used it all up, save the rind! 

The rind, the rock-hard edge of the parmesan wedge is a gold mine. 

When dropped in soups, it slowly releases a decadent, savory, richness that is absolutely wonderful.  It’s a perfect umami flavor. 

I keep my rinds in a baggie in the fridge so I’m ready for times like these.  Times where a bowl of Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup are in order!

How to make this Vegetable Soup Recipe:

1. Sauté the fresh vegetables and herbs in butter, then add a little tomato paste to give it some depth. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until done.  I like to top mine with a little parmesan cheese because, well, cheese.  Enough said.

How long is homemade soup good for?

Keep leftover soup in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Can you freeze homemade soup?

Homemade soup can be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.  Note that the texture of the vegetables may change.

Looking for more chickpea recipes?  Here are some favorites:

• Mediterranean Arugula Quinoa Salad 
• Harissa Garlic Hummus
• Mediterranean Balela Salad
• Chickpea & Cauliflower Curry (pictured below)
• Lemony Greek Chickpeas

NOTES:

• If using dried chickpeas, make sure you soak them for at least 12 hours/overnight.
• While a parmesan rind is not essential to making this soup, it does elevate it to another delectable level, and I HIGHLY recommend it.  You could add some shredded parmesan cheese to the soup instead, but it can tend to clump in the soup.
• Some parmesan cheeses are made with rennet from animals, and some are made with plant-based rennet.  Whether this soup is vegetarian depends on what type of parmesan cheese you use.  For more information on rennet and what makes it vegetarian, Vegetarian Times has an article about it on their site.
• If possible, use fire-roasted diced tomatoes, as they add more flavor than regular diced tomatoes.

Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup

Flavorful Eats

Italian Chickpea Vegetable Soup is a fabulous one-pot wonder for fall and winter!  Filled with tons of veggies & chickpeas, and seasoned with Italian herbs and a secret ingredient, you'll want to add this scrumptious soup to your weekly menu rotation!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1-2 carrots chopped
• 1-2 celery stalks diced
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 8 oz. dried chickpeas soaked overnight OR (2) 15.5 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained
• 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes undrained
• 14.5 oz. can cut green beans drained
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaf
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 parmesan cheese rind

Instructions

 

• Add butter, onion, garlic, carrot, and celery to a stockpot or Dutch oven. Sauté veggies in butter on medium/medium-high for about 5 minutes. Add the basil, oregano, and thyme to the veggies and cook another 5 minutes. Season with desired amount of salt & pepper. Add tomato paste to pot and stir around. Cook the veggies with the tomato paste for about a minute, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring soup to a boil.
• *If using canned chickpeas, reduce heat and simmer soup on medium/medium-low for for at least 30 minutes. Stir the parmesan rind around to help it disperse in the soup. Taste for needed salt & pepper, remove bay leaf and parmesan rind and enjoy.
• *If using pre-soaked, dried chickpeas, reduce heat and simmer soup on medium/medium-low for at least an hour, hour and a half. At the hour mark, taste a chickpea to see if they have softened enough. If not, continue to simmer until done. Taste for needed salt & pepper, remove bay leaf and parmesan rind and enjoy.

Keyword Chickpeas, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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