Quick Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers

Canned chickpeas and tomatoes are spiced with the Cuban flavours of cumin and oregano in this Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers.

Jump to:

• 🍅 Ingredients for Chickpea and Tomato Soup
• 🍽 Useful Equipment
• 🔪 How to Make Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers
• More Soup Recipes using Pulses
• 📋 Recipe Card

🍅 Ingredients for Chickpea and Tomato Soup

• Onion.
• Oil. A suitable oil for frying the onions. I use either olive oil or sunflower oil.
• Sweet Pepper. I usually use bell peppers, but other sweet peppers will work well. I prefer green bell peppers for some colour contrast, but for more sweetness use red bell peppers.
• Ground Cumin. Ground cumin with oregano is a classic Cuban spice combination and gives this soup a delicious earthy and sweet spiciness.
• Canned Tomatoes. This recipe uses tinned tomatoes for speed. If you have very ripe fresh tomatoes these can be substituted for the tinned tomatoes.
• Tomato Paste (optional). Sometimes, to give extra tomato richness and a slightly thicker consistency to the soup, I will add a teaspoon of tomato paste.
• Oregano. Dried or fresh. If using fresh oregano double the quantity given for dried oregano.
• Canned chickpeas. Tinned chickpeas make this a truly speedy soup to put together. If you plan ahead, you can use dried chickpeas, soaking and cooking them before you start this recipe. The fully cooked chickpeas may then be substituted for the canned chickpeas.
• Salt and Black Pepper.

See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.

🍽 Useful Equipment

No special equipment is needed for this Chickpea and Tomato Soup recipe. I have listed the key useful items below.

• chopping board
• chopping knives suitable for chopping the onion and pepper
• potato masher and mixing bowl (useful if using tinned whole tomatoes rather than ready-chopped tomatoes)
• large saucepan
• spoon for mixing

🔪 How to Make Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Peppers

Bring out the cans of chickpeas and tomatoes! Here's how to make this easy Chickpea and Tomato Soup.

• Prepare the onion and pepper. Finely chop 1 medium-sized onion and 1 green bell pepper.

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• Fry the onion. Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil, such as sunflower or olive oil in a saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion, together with a pinch of salt, and over a medium heat gently fry the onion for about 5 minutes until it has softened.

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• Fry the green peppers with the onion and cumin. Add the chopped green pepper and 1 teaspoon of cumin to the fried onion.

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• Mash the tinned tomatoes. If you using finely chopped canned tomatoes, you may skip this step. Otherwise, a good way to quickly cut whole tinned tomatoes into small pieces is to use a hand held potato masher. Put the tin of tomatoes into a small mixing bowl and mash with the potato masher until completely crushed.

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• Combine all remaining ingredients and cook. Add the canned chickpeas, crushed canned tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano to the fried onions and peppers in the saucepan. Add enough cold water to generously cover all the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down the heat and so that the soup comes to a gentle simmer.

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• Simmer and Season. Gently simmer the soup for about 20 to 25 minutes. Check the seasoning during the cooking and add salt and pepper to taste. Add extra water if needed towards the end of the cooking time to give your preferred consistency and volume of soup. Check again the seasoning at the end of the cooking time, and add more salt and pepper if needed.

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• Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy!

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More Soup Recipes using Pulses

Pulses, such as beans, peas and lentils, are perfect for protein-rich meals that can be put together in a hurry.

Lentil soups are particularly good for last minute dishes, since lentils require no soaking beforehand. Both this Simple Hungarian Lentil Soup and Simple French Green Lentil Soup with Bacon use green lentils which hold their shape when cooked.

Red lentils break down on cooking to create delicious creamy soups such as this Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup.

📋 Recipe Card