This Tuscan Chickpea Soup with Kale is savory, hearty and comforting. It's the perfect mix of fall flavors with chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, and kale. {gluten free}
How was your Halloween? Ours was crazy, as always. As long as I can remember it's been a wild night for us. The kids are all so hyper and excited and run ahead of us trick-or-treating. It always makes me nervous so I'm glad it's over!
We had a great party at the end of the cul-de-sac with way too much food and the kids came home with too much candy.
My son weighed his pillowcase full of treats and it came in at a whopping 12 pounds. Ugh, the thought of him eating all that makes me sick. So we have a trade in policy. I used to call it the Halloween Fairy, but they are on to me. They can keep 10 pieces of candy and we donate the rest to the troops. In return, give them money. That's a great deal in my mind. I save $$ in dental visits!
After consuming too many Baby Ruth's last night, I know you are ready for a healthy fix from this Tuscan Chickpea Soup with Kale. It's creamy, rich and full of so many layers of flavor. I tried something totally new with this recipe; adding sun-dried tomatoes in place of diced.
The other trick to this soup is pureeing 2 cups of it and adding it back in. This makes the broth thicker and makes for a much creamier final product. You can use this trick with any soup. I popped 2 cups into the Vitamix and blitzed it for a few seconds and tada, instant yumminess.
I love kale added this way towards the end of the cooking process. It adds so much color to the soup and makes it super healthy. Feel free to substitute spinach, swiss chard or escarole. Another neat trick is to put a parmesan cheese rind in while it's simmering. I didn't have any so I couldn't do it but have done it in the past and it adds a ton of flavor.
As far as chicken broth goes, I am partial to chicken stock. I use Kitchen Basics and it makes the soup a rich dark color. When I see that clear chicken broth I know that it lacks flavor. This makes a big difference when you are making soups and stews.
Looking for more yummy fall soups? Try these...
Tuscan Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 medium onion diced small
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3 10 oz bags cooked chickpeas I like Jyoti, or 2 cans of chickpeas
- 3 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes in oil chopped small
- 5 cups chicken stock I like Kitchen Basics,
- 2 cups chopped packed kale
- salt and pepper to taste
- grated parmesan for topping
Instructions
- Saute garlic and onion in a big pot. Add rosemary.
- Add chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or so until flavors marry.
- Take 2 cups of soup and whirl in a blender for a minute or two. Return to pot.
- Add chopped kale and cook until the kale wilts.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm with lots of grated parmesan.
- Keeps well in the fridge for several days.
Nutrition
This recipe was adapted from this one at My Recipes.
annie
This looks super! And it's easy, midweek, don't-have-time-to-cook-or-clean-the-kitchen perfection. My favorite part of this is the sun dried tomatoes. I have never thought to use them in soup. I bet they make the flavor out-of-this-world. Pinning right now.
Karen Kelly
Thanks Annie! I love your name for it - hmm, maybe I should have titled it that. Loving your latest granola recipe too!
Sarah Scherer
This was absolutely wonderful. I had canned chickpeas on hand so used those and it turned out great. Especially loved the sundries tomatoes. This is a keeper -- thanks!
Karen Kelly
So good to hear Sarah. Thanks for letting me know how it worked out for your family!
Rose
This looks amazing, I want to try if. Question: 10-ounce BAGS of chickpeas? Those are dry, right? I am confused because dry beans take forever to cook. I think I'm missing something. Can you explain since I'm obviously having a "dur" moment? ?
Karen Kelly
Hi Rose,
You are so right - I can see how that would be confusing. Sorry about that. Jyoti has bags of cooked chickpeas in the canned section. They are BPA free. Or you can use a 15.5 oz can. Here's a link to the "bags" if you want to see what they look like. http://jyotifoods.com/product/black-beans/
Hope you like the soup!
rona
delicious soup. I've made it for the 2nd time this week because I love it so much and its super flavorful but so easy to make. sun dried tomatoes and the lovely rosemary- my favorites!
Karen Kelly
Thanks so much for your kind review Rona!