Greek lemon chickpea soup (revithosoupa)
Chickpeas simmered with onion, rosemary and plenty of olive oil, then mashed a little and brightened with lemon, a creamy, filling soup from almost nothing.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $2.42 a serving
- 680 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leave
- 3 cups water
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 680 calories, 27 g protein, 81 g carbs and 29 g fat, and costs about $2.42 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No feta cheese? Goat cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, and and the chickpeas.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a medium pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 6 minutes, until soft and golden. Stir in the garlic and rosemary for 30 seconds.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min 30 sec
Add the chickpeas, bay leaf, water and bouillon cube and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 15 minutes.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Pull out the bay leaf and mash about half the chickpeas against the side of the pot with a potato masher until the soup turns thick and creamy.
Dolly’s tip: Mash more for a thicker soup, less if you like it brothy with whole chickpeas.Stir in the lemon juice, oregano, pepper and the rest of the olive oil, taste for salt, and serve with feta over.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Dolly’s tip: Be generous with the lemon. It’s what makes this soup taste Greek.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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