NovelFoodie

Instant Pot Chickpea Soup, with Lemon & Oregano. It’s so Good and I’m so Excited that it’s Soup Season!!

Are you one of those people who always put a big scoop of chickpeas on their salads at a salad bar, or can’t get enough hummus? If you are, you will need to try this Instant Pot Chickpea Soup recipe A. S. A. P.!

The only bookish thing on this FoodieBook Friday about this post is that I joined an Instant Pot group on Facebook! I love seeing all the Instant Pot recipes and photos, especially soup recipes.

Jump to the recipe at the bottom of the post

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I posted pictures of this soup and a link to the recipe on Instagram and Facebook and people are loving it. I’m getting a lot of questions about the recipe so I wanted to post some of my tips for you to read.

If you love making soups with simple ingredients in your Instant Pot, this Instant Pot Chickpea Soup is for you! It does take some extra time after pressure cooking to finish cooking to incorporate the olive oil, however. But, it’s worth it! I just pull on the oven mitts and pull the pot out of the Instant Pot and put it right on the stove and let it simmer away until it’s thick and delicious.

Ingredients in Instant Pot Chickpea Soup

• 1 pound bag of dried chickpeas (Goya are my favorite, but store brand are good too)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 large onion – diced
• 2 garlic cloves – diced (I love garlic, but more would probably overwhelm this soup. Hate garlic? Leave it out.)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric – OPTIONAL. If you’ve never tried turmeric, skip it!
• 7-8 cups water
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp dried oregano – I add a little more…
• lemon – juice & zest (1/2 to 3/4 of the lemon juiced)
• salt & pepper to taste
• Garnish: A squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil & a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Fresh chopped herbs. I used a few pieces of fresh chopped basil and it was awesome. All optional!

NOTES & INSTRUCTIONS/SUGGESTIONS

1. Soak your beans. OPTIONAL – For soft creamy chickpeas, perfect for this recipe, I soak my 1 lb bag of chickpeas in a 2-quart bowl with a 1/4 tsp of baking soda. (The bowl needs to be large because these guys will double in size and the water will overflow! (Don’t ask me how I know that…) I start to soak them in the morning so that when I came home from work, they are ready to rinse and cook. You can soak them overnight, drain and rinse and store them in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
   • Even if I only have ten minutes to soak them, I’ll soak them with a little baking soda and rinse them before making this soup!
   • WHAT’S UP WITH THE BAKING SODA? I heard that baking soda added to beans during soaking makes them “more easily digestible.” If it’s true or not, I don’t know, but I felt like the skins may have been more, tummy-friendly. I’m no doctor, but I think it makes them a bit more gut-friendly. Just my opinion!
   • I tried Goya dried chickpeas and store brands. I must say the Goya did win my taste test, but both are very good! Goya are creamier in my opinion.
   • Why soak dried beans when you are using the Instant Pot? I’ve been asked this a few times. It helps them cook faster and more tender than just cooking in the Instant Pot.

Now that your chickpeas are ready, grab the Instant Pot!

• Turn the Instant Pot (IP) to sauté. Add a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the diced onion and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir.
• When the onions are soft, I add the minced garlic and, if desired and you know you like it, add 1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric. (Because I put that stuff in everything. I’ve read it helps with inflammation, that’s why.)
• Add 1 tbsp dried oregano. I used the Private Selection brand Mediterranean Oregano Leaves. Honestly, I can’t find much difference between that and regular oregano. I will say that the Private Selection brand is a bit twiggy between the teeth, even if I cook the oregano in the soup for a while. Too many stem bits were in that brand for my liking.
• Zest some of that lemon into the IP. I ALWAYS zest my lemons. Trust me, ALWAYS zest your lemons. Add some zest to the onions and garlic. *Zest the rest, cover it, or store it in a baggie so it doesn’t dry out. Garnish with some, and save the rest in your freezer as a flavor bomb for another recipe!
• Toss in your soaked, rinsed chickpeas and 7-8 cups of water. You can totally use broth instead, but using chicken stock or a strong veggie stock/broth would probably be too overwhelming for the chickpeas.
• Seal the Instant Pot and set it to pressure-cook on HIGH for 20 minutes. I always turn OFF the keep warm setting.

Beans are cooked and it’s time to prepare the soup!

• When it’s done pressure-cooking, if using Goya beans, allow it to sit for five minutes then do a quick release. *If you use generic or store-brand chickpeas, just let it do a natural release. My generic beans seemed a bit firm. When I cooked the Goya, they cooked up very soft and creamy, almost like a puree, so a quicker release might keep them from breaking down too much.
• At this point, I recommend pulling the pot (using oven mitts) out of the IP and putting it onto the stove to simmer. Instant Pot fanatics may recommend against it. If you don’t want to put your IP pot directly on the stove, then grab a thick-bottomed Dutch oven or soup pot and carefully pour or ladle your soup from the IP pot into the new pot.
• Pour in about 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt to taste and a little pepper.
• Simmer on low – med-low stirring often. stir because as the chickpeas break down they can stick to the bottom of the pan if your heat gets too high.
• My experience is that it’s going to take at least an hour to simmer until the extra virgin olive oil starts to magically disappear into the soup. I honestly thought she was nuts adding so much olive oil, but it really does incorporate into the soup and thicken. It also doesn’t separate even if frozen and reheated! Taste and add more salt and a little more pepper if needed. I probably added 1 1/2 tsp salt total including what I sautéed the onions with.
• When the soup is nice and creamy and the olive oil is incorporated, add 1 tbsp oregano, some lemon zest if you want, and about 1/2 of the freshly squeezed lemon juice. Yum!

Garnish and serve

When you serve, garnish with lemon zest, fresh herbs, and a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt!

This soup freezes well and is wonderful reheated as leftovers!

Jump to Recipe

This Instant Pot Chickpea Soup recipe is so simple. I stick to this recipe by RealGreekRecipes Greek Chickpea Soup with Lemon & Oregano pretty closely, except for a couple of MINOR additions and changes. If you love this recipe, try my Sopa Tarasca Black Bean Soup!