This healthy chickpea soup recipe (Khimsa in Assyrian) is low-calorie, vegan-friendly, and loaded with nutrition! It's a hearty flavorful soup filled with veggies, chickpeas, and dumplings. Who said vegetarian dishes have to be boring?
A reader recently asked if I could share a Khimsa (chickpea soup) recipe. Since mom never cooked this dish, I reached out to my sis, Beni, whose mother-in-law, Maria, used to prepare this dish. Luckily, Maria had shared her recipe with Beni.
I would describe this soup as a cross between meatless Kubba hamouth and falafel. Of course, I took the liberty of making a few changes like adding fresh garlic, crushed red pepper, and zucchini instead of celery. Beni loved my twist on Maria's chickpea soup recipe and I hope you do too!
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🧐Why This Recipe Works
- Chickpea soup is healthy and high in fiber which means it's filling!
- The recipe can be modified to your liking by adding your favorite veggies.
- Chickpea soup freezes well which means you can freeze some for later!
- Although it's a vegetarian recipe, it still contains a decent amount of protein.
🛒What You Need For This Recipe
🔖Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chickpeas: You can use canned chickpeas or dried garbanzo beans. If you choose the latter, they will need to be soaked overnight.
- Barley: Since barley takes a long time to cook, it will need to be soaked overnight. If you prefer the soup less hearty, don't add the barley.
- Swiss Chard: The original recipe called for Swiss chard. If you don't have Swiss chard, spinach would be even better! Kale is another option.
- Semolina: Semolina is a coarse flour made with durum wheat. Although it's one of the dumpling ingredients, it also helps to thicken the chickpea soup.
- Bulgur: Bulgur comes in various sizes all the way from fine #1 (used to make tabouli) to coarse #4 (used to make bulgur pilaf). For this recipe, you'll need fine bulgur.
- Veggies: The original recipe called for a few celery stalks. I substituted zucchini for celery because I'm not a fan of celery and I had an abundance of zucchini in my garden. Have a favorite vegetable? Feel free to add it! Carrots or sweet potatoes would be great additions.
- Fresh Herbs: If you don't have fresh parsley, substitute basil, oregano, or thyme.
- Citric Acid: Citric acid is added to give the chickpea soup its sour flavor. If you don't have it, you can use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice instead.
- Spices: You'll need salt, black pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy).
🥘How to Make Chickpea Soup
STEP 1: If you plan on adding barley, soak it in cold water overnight.
Prepare the Dumplings
STEP 2: Add 1 cup chickpeas, onion, garlic, Italian parsley, semolina, bulgur, and spices to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are ground and come together. Use walnut-sized portions to form football-shaped dumplings.
Prepare the Soup
STEP 3: Heat oil in a medium-sized pot. Add chopped onions and zucchini and saute for a few minutes. Dissolve tomato paste into 7 cups of hot water and stir in salt, paprika, crushed red pepper, and citric acid. Pour liquid into the pot.
STEP 4: Add the remaining chickpeas along with their liquid and barley (if using). Top with chopped Swiss chard (or spinach), Italian parsley, and garlic. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil.
STEP 5: Stir in dumplings then cover the pot with its lid and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, until thickened.
Recipe Variations
Assyrian Chickpea Soup or Khimsa, is sometimes prepared with tahini paste instead of tomato paste. To make this version, don't add paprika or citric acid to the soup. You'll want to replace the tomato paste with about ⅓ cup of tahini. Also, substitute the Swiss chard with spinach.
Obviously, adding that much tahini paste will increase the calories of the soup since tahini is made with sesame seeds and oil. Try both versions and let me know which one you prefer!
🤷🏻♀️Recipe FAQs
It is not necessary to peel chickpeas when making soup. There are times when chickpeas should be peeled, for example when grinding the chicken and desiring a smooth texture.
Garbanzo bean soup can easily be thickened by adding aquafaba, the liquid from canned garbanzo beans. Another option is to puree additional chickpeas and mix them into the soup. You can also whisk in rice flour, or add other grains like semolina or rice.
You can either drain the chickpeas or add the liquid (aquafaba) to the soup which will add additional flavor and thicken the soup. Since aquafaba is salty, you may want to reduce the salt in the soup by ¼ teaspoon.
Chickpea soup freezes well. The soup can be divided into quart-sized freezer bags to make serving-sized portions. The frozen soup can be easily thawed and reheated.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- For a thinner soup, leave out the barley and don't add the aquafaba.
- I like the soup spicy, but for a milder chickpea soup don't add the crushed red pepper.
- The Swiss chard gives the soup an earthy flavor. You may want to substitute with spinach instead.
- To add even more flavor, you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water.
- I recommend sprinkling some parmesan cheese on top if you're not worried about keeping this dish vegan.
- Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Reheating leftovers couldn't be easier! Choose from reheating the chickpea soup on the stovetop or the microwave.
🥙Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Chickpea Soup with Dumplings (Khimsa)
Ingredients
Dumplings
- ⅔ 16 oz canned chickpeas (1 cup)
- 1 small onion (roughly chopped)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 cup Italian parsley (roughly chopped)
- ⅓ cup semolina
- ⅓ cup bulgur
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 1 medium zucchini (chopped)
- 1 6 oz canned tomato paste
- 7 cups hot water
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (or black pepper)
- 1 teaspoon citric acid (or 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
- ⅓ 16 oz canned chickpeas (½ cup)
- ⅓ cup soaked and drained barley (optional)
- 2 cups Swiss chard (chopped)
- ½ cup Italian parsley (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
Instructions
Prepare the Dumplings
- If you plan on adding barley, soak it in cold water overnight.
- Add 1 cup chickpeas, onion, garlic, Italian parsley, semolina, bulgur, and spices to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are ground and come together. Use walnut-sized portions to form football-shaped dumplings.
Prepare the Soup
- Heat oil in a medium-sized pot. Add chopped onions and zucchini and saute for a few minutes. Dissolve tomato paste into 7 cups of hot water and stir in salt, paprika, crushed red pepper, and citric acid. Pour liquid into the pot.
- Add the remaining chickpeas and their liquid and barley (if using). Top with chopped Swiss chard (or spinach), Italian parsley, and garlic. Stir to combine, then bring to a boil.
- Stir in dumplings then cover the pot with its lid and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, until thickened.
Notes
- For a thinner soup, leave out the barley and don't add the aquafaba.
- I like the soup spicy, but for a milder chickpea soup don't add the crushed red pepper.
- The Swiss chard gives the soup an earthy flavor. You may want to substitute with spinach instead.
- To add even more flavor, you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water.
- I recommend sprinkling some parmesan cheese on top if you're not worried about keeping this dish vegan.
- Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Reheating leftovers couldn't be easier! Choose from reheating the chickpea soup on the stovetop or the microwave.
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