Easy to make and budget-friendly, my Greek-Inspired Chickpea Soup is brimming with flavor from hearty chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, and dill. This nourishing soup is perfect for cool nights when you want something simple and tasty.
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Great Mediterranean flavor
I love creating recipes that include the ingredients used in Greek and Mediterranean cuisine. Lemon, dill, garlic, and chickpeas, when combined, are a delicious combo already, but combine them all for my Chickpea Soup, add some tahini, carrots, celery, and onion, and you’ve got a nourishing soup that’s just perfect for cool nights.
This particular soup happens to be vegetarian and vegan, so it’s also great for those who can’t have dairy. This soup is great for almost anyone!
While my chickpea soup is hearty enough on its own, thanks to the chickpeas, I will often serve it in a cup alongside a full meal, such as my Greek lemon chicken and potatoes, pastitsio, moussaka, or chicken souvlaki with tzatziki.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chickpeas. I’m using canned chickpeas that are drained. You can use dried chickpeas but will need to prep them by cooking until tender before adding them to the soup.
- Tahini. The thing I love about tahini is that it adds a creamy texture and a slight nutty flavor to this chickpea soup. It pairs well with chickpeas and is one of the key ingredients in hummus.
- Stock. I’m using vegetable stock, but you could use chicken stock as well.
- Herbs. Fresh rosemary, parsley, and dill contribute great flavor and freshness to this soup. I do recommend using fresh here in place of dried.
- Lemon. I’m using a whole lemon and its zest for acidity and flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make Greek-Inspired chickpea soup
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Heat a large pot over medium heat with olive oil and add the celery, onion, and carrots with a pinch of salt. Cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft, then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the chickpeas, stock, and rosemary, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Use a wooden spoon to mash some of the beans, or for a thicker soup, use an immersion blender.
- Taste test and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the soup is too thick, add a touch of water to thin it to your liking. Add the dill, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and tahini, and serve.
Top tip
Chickpea Soup is a great foundational soup, meaning you can add other ingredients to it. Greens, such as spinach, escarole, or kale, would be excellent here, as would a sprinkle of feta cheese at the end. Greek yogurt would also be a nice addition.
More nourishing soup recipes
If you love simple, nourishing soups, give these other soup recipes a try.
If you’ve enjoyed this Greek-Inspired Chickpea Soup recipe, give it a 5-star rating.
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Greek-Inspired Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 ribs celery and leaves diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 4 15-ounce cans chickpeas drained
- 5 cups low sodium vegetable stock plus more for thinning
- 1 sprig rosemary
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup minced dill
- 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 3 tablespoons tahini
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Instructions
- Heat a large pot to medium with the olive oil. Next, add in the celery, onion, and carrots along with a pinch of salt and cook for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add the chickpeas, stock, and rosemary and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Mash the beans with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot to help thicken the soup. For a thicker soup use an immersion or regular blender.
- Taste test the soup and adjust salt and pepper levels to taste. If the soup is too thick, thin with a bit more stock or water.
- Mix in the dill, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and tahini. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Beans. I used 4 cans of chickpeas but you can use a 1 pound bag of chickpeas, cooked until tender, for this recipe.
- Greens. Escarole, spinach, or kale can be added to brighten up the soup.
- Serve with. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and some crumbled feta on top of the soup is a nice touch. Serve with a crusty bread.
- Leftovers. Greek-inspired chickpeas soup can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this last night and it was quite tasty! We didn’t have fresh herbs so I used dried and guessed at the amount. It would probably be even better with fresh herbs, but we still thought it was delicious. I didn’t blend it since we prefer chunkier soups. The lemon really makes the flavors pop…and i highly recommend adding a drizzle of olive oil before serving.
So glad you enjoyed!
Just made this for dinner tonight. I had an extra link of spicy Italian sausage so browned that first and cooked the mirepoix in the rendered fat and evoo. Had no tahini so used a dash of sesame oil. It was very good. Loved all the herbs but I may try more garlic and lemon juice next time.
So glad you enjoyed!
I love this soup. However, I did tweak it for my family – only 1 carrot as my daughter doesn’t like sweet soup, also listened to James and left out the dill as my son is not a fan of dill. I suggest using half a lemon to start and then adding a little at a time (my lemon was on the large size, I realized later). I also added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Yum! I had a small bowl to taste test, then went back for two more bowls.
I really enjoy your YouTube videos, and especially the family interaction
We’re so glad you enjoyed and tweaked it to suit your family’s needs.
This was super easy and super tasty! My wife and I love soups and stews, and this one really hit the spot. I didn’t add the dill as I didn’t have any on hand. I ground it with the hand blender a bit more that Jim did, but that was just my preference. Definitely going to keep this one in the meal rotation.
So happy you enjoyed, James!
This was excellent; so glad I made it! And it couldn’t have been much easier and faster. Will make again. I don’t cook as much as I used to, so I haven’t made a ton of your recipes (bought the book, though), but the ones I’ve made have been absolutely outstanding. Love you guys!
So happy you enjoyed, Rose, and thanks for buying the book!
I adapted this wonderful Greek chickpea soup into an Avgolemono-style soup, with egg and lemon juice.
Thanks James!
Sounds like a great adaptation, John!
Absolutely LOVE this soup!
So happy to hear that!
I loved this recipe!! I used chickpeas that I cooked in the instant pot first, then made the soup. Added potatoes since I had some that needed eating, used chicken buillion, and a whole head of garlic instead of cloves lol. I added a pinch of msg for umami, a little sugar, and 2 lemons instead of 1. It was omg good. Served with feta and home made bread and aome squash. Carby goodness!!
So happy you enjoyed!
I became very excited when I found 4 cans of chick peas in my pantry. I may throw a handful of black olives in at the end. Who doesn’t like a good greek olive.
Excellent, as usual :). I didn’t have to add anything else. I did freeze leftovers and they reheated beautifully.
So glad you enjoyed!
This recipe looks delicious. I’ll try it, but can you make a traditional chickpea soup stew
I haven’t tried this yet, but it looks sooo good. My problem is I HATE tahini. Is there anything else I could use instead? I’ve tried several of your recipes, I think that they were great. I truly want to try this one too.
You can omit the tahini and it will still be good.
This is high in fat. I would reduce or omit olive oil and tahini. Please give me suggestions.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! Absolutely delicious and very easy.
What size are the tins of chickpeas for this recipe?
Looks delicious
Sorry about that, Susan. We updated the recipe to include the size. We used 4 15-ounce cans.
Jim, Tara, I made this last night and it was delicious!
So glad to hear that, Lori!