Southwest Garbanzo Bean Soup with White Beans and Chicken

Garbanzo Beans and Chicken soup with white beans.

Southwest Garbanzo Bean Soup with White Beans and Chicken

This hearty chickpea soup is Fall and Winter comfort food at its best. With chicken, white beans, and your favorite Southwestern spices, you'll find this recipe very rewarding ... in a feisty sort of way.

Course Soup, Stews and Chilis

Cuisine Southwestern

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 15

Servings

Calories 302kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

½ cup dried chickpeas or one 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
½ cup dried navy beans or one 15-ounce can navy beans, drained and rinsed.
1 heaping Tablespoon lard
1 bay leaf
4 Tablespoons Neutral oil canola or vegetable work well here.
2 pounds Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts or both, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ teaspoon Kosher
1 medium Wweet onion chopped
2 Tablespoons Dried onion flakes
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 medium Green bell pepper chopped
1 medium Jalapeno seeds and veins removed, chopped
1 Tablespoons Chili Seasoning
1 Tablespoon New Mexico Red Chile Powder Chimayo preferred
½ Tablespoon Mexican Oregano dried
3 ½ cups Chicken broth
1 Tablespoon Fresh lime juice
Garnishes: sour cream, cooked chopped bacon, diced cherry tomatoes, sliced green onion, cilantro

Instructions

Rinse and pick through beans and chickpeas and remove any misfits. Place beans and chickpeas in a crockpot. Cover with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Soak beans overnight.
The next morning, add a tablespoon of lard (or vegetable oil) and the bay leaves. Cook on low until beans are tender. Depending on how fresh the beans are, this could take anywhere from 5 - 7 hours.
Remove bay leaves.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in 6-quart soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Pat the chicken dry, and season with salt. Cook chicken until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Once the chicken is almost cooked, add the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the chili seasoning, chile powder, mexican oregano. Stir until spices have bloomed (become fragrant) This will take less than a minute.
Add the dried onion and chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
Turn the heat down to medium low. Add beans and chickpeas. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. If the soup gets too thick, thin it with a little water.
Stir in the lime juice, and add more salt if necessary.
Serve with the garnishes.

Notes

You can use canned chickpeas and beans for this recipe, add them at the same time you add the broth.

Tips For Success:

Don't skip adding lime at the end. As with most Southwestern recipes, a squeeze of lime at the end brightens the flavors.
If using canned beans, drain and rinse them before adding to the soup. Rinsing removed any unnecessary sodium, removed the thick starchy film, and can wash away any metallic flavor left from the can.

Culinary School Tip:

Blooming Spices: I first made this soup by adding everything at once. It was good—but the flavors tasted flat. After testing several batches, I found sautéing the onions until lightly caramelized and briefly cooking the cumin, oregano, chile powder and chili seasoning before adding the liquid transformed the broth from ordinary into deeply savory.

Nutrition