Greek Chickpea Soup

This Greek chickpea soup with lemon and herbs is cheap and easy to make. Packed with plant-based protein for a filling and hearty meal!

Jump to:

• Is revithosoupa difficult to make?
• How to cook dried chickpeas
• Ingredients
• How to make Greek chickpea soup
• Variations and substitutions
• FAQs
• Make ahead and storage tips
• How to serve Greek chickpea soup
• Greek Chickpea Soup

Is revithosoupa difficult to make?

Greek chickpea soup, also known as revithia or revithosoupa, is a naturally vegan rustic soup that’s easy to make and very economical.

Greece has a lot of interesting soup recipes and revithia along with this veganized lemon chickpea orzo soup (avgolemono) are two of the most well-known outside of Greece.

Revithosoupa is extremely easy to make. It’s just chickpeas simmered in water with a handful of vegetables and herbs.

Although cooking dried chickpeas seems like a pain in the ass due to how long it takes, this Greek chickpea soup is mostly hands-off. 

Once everything goes in the pot, just leave it for a couple hours to cook. A few finishing touches at the end and it’s ready to serve.

How to cook dried chickpeas

Dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are much cheaper than canned. If you’re a vegan on a budget, making the extra effort to cook beans from dried can save you a good amount of money.

Cooking dried chickpeas requires some planning ahead. For best results, soak the chickpeas in water overnight or for a least eight hours.

This softens them to reduce the cooking time and makes them more digestible.

When you’re ready to make your soup, drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas then add them to a pot and cover with water.

Now the beans need an initial boil. Chickpeas release protein that collects and foams on the top of the pot. 

This foam should be skimmed off to improve the texture of the beans and the soup.

Now the chickpeas can continue simmering until they are tender. 

You can choose to cover the pot for softer beans or leave the pot uncovered for firmer beans.

After about 1 ½ to 2 hours, your chickpeas should be cooked and ready to use! 

For this Greek chickpea soup recipe, we will simmer the chickpeas in water seasoned with onion, garlic, carrot and herbs.

To complete the soup, we blend a ladle-full of the chickpeas with lemon juice and olive oil to make the soup creamy and bright.

Finally, fresh herbs are added for flavor. See how easy it is?

Ingredients

All the ingredients for this Greek chickpea soup can be found in any supermarket and are super cheap. This makes and easy and economical winter soup.

Chickpeas: One package of dried chickpeas costs just a few dollars. Since chickpeas expand three times while they cook, you can make many, many meals from just one bag of dried chickpeas.

Water: The base of this soup is simply water. It is flavored with lemon, herbs and aromatic vegetables. Some other recipes call for vegetable stock instead of water. You can try that if you prefer.

Onion and garlic: Some fried onion and garlic get the flavor base of the soup started.

Carrot: One carrot, grated so that it melts into the soup, adds more flavor and sweetness to the soup stock.

Herbs: I like a combination of fresh and dried herbs in this soup. Two bay leaves and some dried thyme are added to the simmering chickpeas. To finish the soup, a good handful of fresh dill is added at the end and to garnish each bowl. You can substitute other herbs to your liking.

Seasoning: Salt can slow down the cooking process so it’s important to wait until the end to add salt. A good amount of salt is added since there is no other salt in this recipe.

Lemon: Lemon in an important ingredient in Greek chickpea soup. I add just one lemon because I don’t want the soup too sour but some Greek recipes call for two lemons. Your choice. 

Olive oil: Good quality olive oil adds flavor and also is emulsified to add creaminess. First it’s used to fry the onion, then it’s added as a seasoning at the end. I have a particularly strongly-flavored Spanish olive oil so I only use 2 tablespoons for seasoning, but I have seen Greek recipes that call for ¼ cup or more of olive oil.

How to make Greek chickpea soup

Greek chickpea soup is easy to make but takes a bit of time and planning ahead. The results are worth it, though!

Soak: Inspect your dried chickpeas and discard any broken ones or any small stones you happen to find.

Place them in a large bowl and cover with water. Leave them to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Now the need an initial boil to remove the foam.

Drain and transfer the chickpeas to a large pot or Dutch oven. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and skim off the foam that collects on the top of the water.

Drain the chickpeas, rinse out and dry your pot to make the soup.

Vegetables: Prep the vegetables by finely dicing one medium onion and one clove of garlic. Peel and grate one carrot with a box grater.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot and fry the onion until soft and transparent. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds to a minute.

Simmer: Add the chickpeas, grated carrot, bay leaves, dried thyme and enough water to cover everything - about 7 cups. 

Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot with the lid.

Simmer until the beans are tender, but not falling apart, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

You can check on it from time to time just to ensure that it’s not boiling too hard and running out of water.

If you need to add more water, add boiling water so that the cooking process is not stopped.

Season: Once the chickpeas are softened to your liking, add a couple teaspoons of salt and continue simmering for 10 more minutes.

Transfer one or two ladles of the chickpeas and some of the broth to a blender along with the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Blend until creamy. For a thinner consistency, blend just one ladle and for a thicker soup, blend two ladles. 

Add this cream back to your pot of soup along with a couple tablespoons of freshly chopped dill.

Ready to serve!

Variations and substitutions

Herbs: I looked through many Greek recipes and found that the herbs have a lot of variations. Some recipes use a combination of dried thyme, oregano or rosemary. Others only use fresh herbs added at the end. My preference is for a combination of dried thyme and fresh dill but you can experiment.

Olive oil: Greeks like olive oil. Most recipes I consulted use A LOT of olive oil. I have a strongly-flavored Spanish olive oil so I used a bit less than most Greek recipes. Feel free to add two or three more tablespoons to the blended chickpea mixture for more creaminess and flavor.

Lemon: I don’t like my soup too sour so I just add one lemon but you can add the juice of two lemons for more citrusy flavor.

Stock: Just water as the soup base is the cheapest and most-common way to make Greek chickpeas soup. You can substitute water for vegetable stock.

FAQs

Make ahead and storage tips

This Greek chickpea soup keeps well in the refrigerator  stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

It can also be frozen but I would recommend holding off on adding the fresh herbs until you are ready to serve it. 

Once cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Leftover soup can be reheated in the microwave or in a pot on the stove. 

How to serve Greek chickpea soup

This hearty soup is a full meal on its own served with crusty bread, garlic bread or toast and a side salad.

You could also serve it as part of a Greek-inspired meal alongside this vegan moussaka, Greek salad, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vegetables or gigantes.