Spicy Chickpea Soup

A reassuringly nurturing bowl of spicy chickpea soup packed with flavour makes a delicious lunch or easy dinner. With a tasty tomato base and spicy chickpeas.

Make the main soup recipe and when you are ready to eat cook through a few other ingredients like kale, spinach, cooked potato or broccoli. We like to enjoy the spicy chickpea soup with chunks of fresh homemade bread.

The soup ingredients are also easy to switch around if you do not have chickpeas, use kidney beans or butter beans similarly if you don’t have all the spices use those that you do a curry powder will still help create a tasty soup.

If there is any left it can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen in portions.

Serves 4

Cook time 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves crushed and diced

1 cm fresh ginger, grated

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ to 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 kefir leaves

150g red or yellow lentils, rinsed and drained

1 x 400g tinned tomatoes

1 x 400g chickpeas, retained drained liquid

1.5 Litres vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

Optional additions

Kale

Spinach

Cooked Potato/ sweet potato pieces

Cooked broccoli

To serve

Chilli flakes

Method

Add the oil to a large pan and bring to a medium heat. Now add the onion and cook until the onion starts to soften.

Now add the garlic and grated ginger then stir. Add the spices – cumin, turmeric, coriander and cinnamon, stir them through for 1 minute so that they start to release a spicy aroma.

Spoon in the tomato puree and stir through.

Now add the lentils, tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, kefir leaves and vegetable stock and stir into the soup. Bring the contents of the pan to a gentle simmer, place a lid ajar over the top and allow the soup to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the maple syrup, stir through and continue to cook for a further 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft to bite.

You can serve the soup as it is or add a couple of large handfuls of spinach or kale and stir this into the soup until it softens. Alternatively, if you have pre-cooked potatoes or broccoli this also makes a tasty addition to the soup.

Sprinkle over chilli flakes to serve.

Store.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Alternatively, freeze in portion sizes.

If you enjoyed our spicy chickpea soup recipe you will also love…

Easy Vegetable Soup

Mexican Bean Soup