Garbanzo Bean Soup can be made in the slow cooker or on the stove, and this soup is flavored with garlic, Sumac, Olive Oil, and Lemon! And chickpeas are loaded with fiber, so this soup might be lower in carbs than you might think!
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Ever since I rediscovered it when I made Fattoush, I’ve been loving the flavor of Sumac, the maroon-colored spice you see sprinkled on top of this soup, but if you don’t have any Sumac, don’t let that stop you from making this amazing Garbanzo Bean Soup, especially if you like hummus, falafel, or any of the other tasty things made with chickpeas. This soup is so flavorful from the garlic, Sumac, olive oil, and lemon!
I started with dried beans and a bit of skepticism as I added onions, garlic, and chicken stock to the crockpot with cumin and a few bay leaves, but after cooking all day on low, the beans were softened and smelling great. The Garbanzo Bean Soup did remind me of the Greek Chickpea soup called Revithia, but the addition of cumin and the use of Sumac made the flavor of this quite different. Both these soups are wonderfully comforting for a soup with so few ingredients, and this soup is great for the budget, and perfect to make for the freezer when winter is coming.
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- dried Garbanzo Beans
- chicken stock or canned chicken broth (affiliate link)
- water
- onion
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Bay Leaves (affiliate link)
- ground cumin (affiliate link)
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- Olive Oil (affiliate link), for drizzling on finished soup
- Sumac (affiliate link), optional, but tasty for sprinkling on finished soup
- lemons, optional, for squeezing on finished soup
Do you need to soak the beans?
One of the most popular posts on this site is one where I compare the cooking times of soaked and unsoaked beans in the slow cooker. And although it doesn’t make a huge difference in the time, soaked beans are much less likely to cause gastric distress that some people experience with eating large amounts of dried beans. Your choice on that, but I prefer soaking the beans when I remember to plan ahead.
What is Sumac?
I’m a huge fan of Sumac, a reddish-purple ground spice that’s common in middle eastern cooking. It has a lemony flavor that’s good on so many foods and I’ve used Sumac on hummus, in Fattoush Lebanese Salad, in salad dressing, on eggs, and even on Cauliflower Rice. It’s often used on dishes with garbanzo beans, and it adds a nice flavor to this soup. Sumac also one of the components of Za’atar, a middle eastern blend of spices. Read more about Sumac if you’re not familiar with it.
What if you don’t have any Sumac?
If you don’t have Sumac and don’t want to buy it for this recipe, you can get a good result using Smoked Paprika (affiliate link) for this recipe.
What size Slow Cooker did I use?
I used a Crock-Pot 3 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) for this recipe. If you only have a larger size I’d simply double the recipe and stash some soup in the freezer!
How to Make Garbanzo Bean Soup in the Slow Cooker:
- I started with 2 cups of dried chickpeas, but if you sometimes have issues with dried beans, I’d recommend soaking the beans in the crockpot overnight, then discarding that water before you start cooking the soup. You can also soak the beans all day while you’re at work and then make this soup on the stove in a few hours. If you use a crockpot, remember that you need to allow room for the beans to expand as they cook.
- Put beans, chicken broth or stock, 2 cups water, finely chopped onion, minced garlic, bay leaves, cumin, salt, and pepper in crockpot.
- Here’s how the mixture looked after cooking for 7 hours on low. At this point I added 1 cup more water and cooked for another hour.
- I used my Immersion Blender (affiliate link), which makes it so easy to puree soups. You can also use a food processor or regular blender, but be careful with the hot liquid if you do it that way.
- I blended the soup right in the crockpot, and I thought the consistency of the soup was just perfect, with the amount of liquid I used, but if you’d like a thinner soup, add a bit more hot water.
- I ate some right away and froze the rest, and it was just as good after being frozen.
More Soups You Might Like:
Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Soups Index ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
Tomato Chickpea Soup
Red Lentil and Chickpea Soup
Chicken Chickpea Soup
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried Garbanzo Beans
- 4 cups chicken broth (see notes)
- 2 cups + 1 cup water
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 T minced garlic
- 2 large bay leaves
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- olive oil, for drizzling on finished soup
- powdered Sumac (optional, for sprinkling on finished soup, or use paprika)
- 1 lemon (optional, for squeezing on finished soup)
Instructions
Crockpot Recipe:
- Put beans, chicken broth or stock, 2 cups water, finely chopped onion, minced garlic, bay leaves, cumin, salt, and pepper in crockpot.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until beans are very soft. (If you start with soaked beans, they will get softer more quickly, but it won’t hurt if you cook them all day if you’re not home to check.)
- After 7-8 hours, check the amount of liquid in the crockpot and see if you want to add more. (I cooked for 7 hours, added 1 cup hot water, and cooked 1 hour more.)
- When beans are very soft, remove bay leaves, then puree the soup either using an immersion blender, or in batches using a food process or blender. (If you use a food processor or blender, be careful not to overfill so the hot liquid doesn’t spill out.) You can puree completely like I did, or leave the soup a bit chunky.
- Serve hot. I drizzled each bowl of soup with olive oil, sprinkled on Ground Sumac (affiliate link), and squeezed on fresh lemon juice.
Stovetop Recipe:
- Put beans, chicken stock, 2 cups water, finely chopped onion, minced garlic, bay leaves, cumin, salt, and pepper in large soup pot. (For stovetop cooking, I would definitely soak the beans.)
- Bring to a low simmer and cook until beans are well-softened, checking the beans every 30 minutes or so and adding more water as needed. (Cooking time for dried beans depends on how fresh the beans are, so if you have beans which have been stored for a while it could take 2-3 hours for them to get soft, even with pre-soaked beans.)
- When beans are well-softened, check the amount of liquid and see if you want to add a bit more hot water before pureeing soup. (Stovetop cooking will probably take at least twice as much water as crockpot cooking.)
- Puree soup and serve with olive oil, Ground Sumac (affiliate link), and lemon juice as described above.
Notes
Use chicken broth or homemade chicken stock. You can also use vegetable stock for a vegan version of this recipe.
Whether cooking in crockpot or on stove, pre-soaking the beans is recommended if you have trouble digesting dried beans. Soak for 8 hours, then discard the soaking water and rinse beans before proceeding with recipe. Cooking time for either version of the recipe will be shorter if you use soaked beans.
Recipe inspired by Chickpea Soup from The Pink Peppercorn, who used smoked Paprika and made the soup on the stove.
This recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 148Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 878mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Beans aren’t low in carbs, but they have lots of fiber so this soup might be lower in net carbs than you think; check nutritional information! All types of dried beans are wonderful low-glycemic foods, so Garbanzo Bean Soup is perfect for any phase of the original South Beach Diet or other low-glycemic eating plans.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was posted in 2009. It was last updated with more information in 2021.
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