Sausage and Garbanzo Bean Soup
A hearty, budget-friendly soup with just four main ingredients: Italian sausage, onion, chicken broth, and garbanzo beans (chickpeas). About 10 minutes of hands-on prep, then it simmers in one pot.
Ingredients
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage or hot Italian sausage for more heat
- 1 onion medium, diced
- olive oil a drizzle
- 4 cups chicken broth 1 quart, divided
- 1 cup water
- 3 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed
- Tabasco sauce 2 small splashes, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/4 teaspoon salt heaping, or to taste
- crushed red pepper optional, for more heat
Instructions
- Dice the onion. A vegetable chopper makes this quick.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until translucent.
- While the onion cooks, drain and rinse the garbanzo beans.
- Add the sausage to the pot. Break it up as it cooks and brown completely, 5 to 7 minutes, until no pink remains.
- Pour in about 1 cup of the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the browned bits.
- Add the remaining chicken broth, the water, and the garbanzo beans.
- Stir in the Tabasco and black pepper.
- Pull the cilantro leaves from the stems, roughly chop, and stir into the pot.
- Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer about 45 minutes.
- Taste and add salt as needed (we used a heaping 1/4 teaspoon). Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- Salt last: The broth, sausage, and canned beans are already seasoned. Taste before adding salt.
- More heat: Use hot Italian sausage, add crushed red pepper, or add an extra splash of Tabasco.
- Cilantro is optional: Leave it out of the pot and let everyone add their own if you prefer.
- Slow cooker: Brown the onion and sausage first, then cook everything on low 4 to 6 hours.
- Storage: Keeps 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and freezes well for up to 3 months.
- Serve it with bread: Warm, crusty bread is perfect for soaking up the broth.