This isn’t the recipe I had planned to post today, but when I made this Tuscan Kale and Chickpea Soup yesterday morning and posted the photo on Instagram, a handful of folks asked for the recipe. I guess this is what we’re all craving after weeks of indulgence: hearty beans and greens in a healing broth. This soup hit all the right notes, made even more flavorful with homemade stock from our Christmas turkey and filled out nicely with pearl couscous. Andy and I each had two helpings. I’ll be making this recipe (and variations of it) all winter long.
Tuscan Kale and Chickpea Soup
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 onion, cut into medium dice
- 1 carrot, cut into medium dice
- 1 large celery stalk, cut into medium dice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, stemmed, rinsed, and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 6 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
- ⅔ cup pearl couscous
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or soup kettle. Add onion, carrot, and celery; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, chili flakes, thyme, and a sprinkling of salt, and pepper; sauté until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add chickpeas and kale; stir to wilt. Add stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add couscous; simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Serve.
Notes
This soup can be made and enjoyed in less than 30 minutes, but it's even better when left to simmer and sit for a while, allowing the flavors to marry.
What a great, hearty recipe for this crisp January weather! This is a good recipe to get the new year starting on a healthy note!
Oh man, this looks absolutely perfect for tonight!
What a fabulous recipe! Looks delicious…I am definitely making this soon!
This is very similar to the Black Eye Pea and Kale soup I made a few weeks ago which was delicious, so I can only imagine that this was the same. I hope your New Year is going well.
looks like perfect soup for the weather!
Making this tonight, didn’t have pearl couscous but had regular couscous and used it. Wonderl if barley would work too! Made the Kale and blackeye pea soup New Year’s it was a hit. Love all Pam receipes!!
Hey Vicki, I think I orzo would have been a good substitute–similar size and cooking time to pearl couscous. Cheers!
Love this soup! I do a similar version but finish with a squeeze of lemon or sherry vinegar. Toasting a big chunk of crusty bread and serving the soup over it is also amazing if you’re feeling a bit more decadent.
Delcious!! This is now one of our family’s favorite soups. I was a little worried about my 11 and 13 year old boys with kale, but to my pleasant surprise, they BOTH enjoyed it! Thank you–you all are gifted!
Hi Pam- I made this soup yesterday and it was fantastic! Very flavorful. I had cannellini beans that I needed to use, so I used them instead of chick peas and they worked well. I think I’ll cut back on the red pepper flakes next time because it had a tad too much heat for me (although it cleared my sinuses-lol).
I teach cooking lessons to friends, so I posted your recipe on Facebook and it was well received. I’m definitely going to add it to my rotation.
I look forward to visiting your site again soon.
Best Regards,
Pamela
If making this in a slow cooker, would I still need to sautée? Also could I sub quinoa for couscous? Thank you!
I always think it’s preferable to sauté.
Thanks for a great recipe. It is flavorful, healthy, inexpensive, and simple to make.
I prepared the garbanzo beans in a pressure cooker to make hummus separately
and reserved a couple of cups for this soup. I used Bob’s Red Mill Tricolor Pearl Couscous.
This soup recipe is a keeper!
Soups sounds great. What’s the calorie count?