This super hearty Beans and Kale Soup is plant-based comfort food at its finest. This Autumn recipe is chock full of veggies with kabocha squash, celery, carrots, kale, and green peas. Then orzo pasta, chickpeas and butter beans make it extra filling and satisfying. With only about 30 minutes of cooking time, this totally vegan soup is a true Fall and winter warmer that will level up the cozy factor of any day.
What is Kabocha Squash?
Also known as Japanese pumpkin, Kabocha is a pumpkin-shaped winter squash with a hard, knobby skin featuring green and white stripes. It shares the flavor profile and texture of sweet potato and pumpkin with vibrant yellow-orange flesh. It's has a slightly more sweet flavor than butternut squash and is a bit starchier.
When you use Kabocha in a soup or stew, it adds a rich depth of flavor that other squashes can't replicate. The texture is amazing - it's starchy like potatoes and it breaks down as it cooks, which can thicken a soup without a slurry or roux.
Why you'll love this Autumn Bean and Kale Soup
- Chock full of autumn vegetables
- Easy and beginner friendly recipe
- Relatively quick cooking time for a soup
- Filling and nutritious, full of plant-based protein and fiber
- Super cozy soup recipe, perfect for Fall and Winter
- This is kind of a "kitchen sink" or "fridge clean" kind of recipe that can easily be customized according to what you have hanging around
Soup Tip
When you make soup, adjust the water to your preferences. Some people like a brothy soup and others like it thick and hearty with hardly any broth at all. Once your soup ingredients are tender, add a little water and adjust the salt to taste if you want more broth. It's easy!
Bean and Kale Soup Recipe Ingredients
This ingredient list is a bit longer than some of my recipes but all these incredible Fall veggies make this soup taste incredible. Feel free to leave out a couple of the veggies or substitute some for what you have on hand.
- Orzo Pasta – A small, rice-shaped pasta with a pleasant texture
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – For sautéing
- Onion, Garlic, Celery, Carrots- these four soup essentials set the stage for major flavor
- Kabocha Squash – This sweet and starchy squash infuses so much flavor
- Kale- Dark leafy greens are a great soup ingredient adding nutrition, color and texture
- Butter Beans and Chickpeas- These two add fiber, protein and make this soup super filling
- Green peas- For a pop of color and sweetness
- Tomatoes- To infuse the broth with a tang of acidity
- Dried Spices-Salt and pepper, smoked paprika and Italian seasoning make this soup recipe flavorful and optional red pepper flakes bring a little heat
Squash tip: If you cannot find kabocha squash, substitute butternut squash or sweet potato. The flavors and textures will be similar enough to make an amazing Fall soup.
How to Make Autumn Bean and Kale Soup
Soup is the perfect cooking lesson since it's easy to improvise, substitute, and adapt to your own tastes and ingredients. If you follow my recipe, you will be very happy with your steaming bowl of comforting soup. But when you veer off the recipe course onto your own path, making your own choices according to your own preferences, THAT is when you are truly cooking!
- Cook the orzo according to the package instructions. Set it aside for later.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, sauté onions and garlic in a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil until fragrant, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add celery, carrots, and kabocha squash to the pot. Season with salt and cook for an additional 5 minutes until the vegetables soften.
- Add chopped tomatoes to the pot and cook until they release their juices, approximately 2 minutes.
- Pour in 10 cups of water and add butter beans, chickpeas, kale, green peas, and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- When serving, add cooked orzo to each bowl to prevent swelling. Garnish with black pepper, crushed red pepper, and optionally, vegan parmesan.
Tips for Making the Best Bean and Kale Soup
- Make it gluten free, substitute quinoa or wild rice for the orzo.
- Get creative with the ingredients: Sub frozen corn for the peas or add lentils instead of butter beans. This is truly a mix and match recipe.
- Make your own vegan parmesan to sprinkle on top by combining nutritional yeast with hemp seeds. It will add texture, protein and that cheesey flavor.
- Leave out the oil and throw it all in one pot instead of sauteeing and adding water. Use vegetable broth to cook the veggies until tender.
- Use fresh herbs instead of dry spices. Mint, parsley, basil and oregano are great choices
- Make the prep easy by using a small can of crushed tomatoes instead of chopping your own.
- Add more protein! Make it meaty by adding vegan sausages, crumbled to fu or tempeh or vegan meatballs.
FAQs
Yes, this will make it more flavorful. However, it will also add sodium so be careful. I would recommend adding less salt and tasting at the end.
The reason I always keep the pasta separate until serving soup is I don't like how the pasta swells and blows up when cooked in the soup. One of my favorite things about making soup is that it tastes better the next day. Leftovers are the best! But if the pasta is in the soup overnight, it gets really mushy and soaks up all the broth.
When stored properly soup is at its best quality for 4-5 days. Be sure to let the soup cool down before covering tightly and storing in the refrigerator. If your soup needs to be refrigerated before it is totally cooled, put it in the fridge with the cover askew to vent the steam. This will prevent the steam from keeping the food in the temperature danger zone which would cause it to spoil quicker.
That being said, some soups will last longer than 4-5 days. Keep your eyes open for signs of spoiling like a sour smell, visible mold, bubbling when cold or the sealed container swelling which would indicate growth of bacteria and spoilage. When in doubt, throw it out.
Yes! Absolutely freeze this beans and kale soup for up to 3 months! However, I recommend freezing it without the pasta. It will get too mushy.
Other Delicious Vegan Soup Recipes
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Hearty Beans and Kale Soup with Kabocha Squash and Orzo
Ingredients
- ½ pound orzo pasta
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 celery stalk diced
- 2 cups kabocha squash peeled and cubed
- ½ bunch kale stemmed and chopped
- 15 oz butter beans canned, drained
- 15 oz chickpeas canned, drained
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- ½ cup green peas frozen
- 3 tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch Crushed red pepper and black pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp Vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Cook the orzo according to package and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large soup pot or dutch oven cook the onions and garlic until fragrant 2-3 minutes. Then add celery, carrots and kabocha, season with salt and cook for 5 minutes
- Add tomatoes and cook until they begin to release their juices 2 minutes-
- Add in 10 cups water, butter beans, chickpeas, kale, green peas and spices
- Bring to a boil then simmer for 15-20 minutes until everything is fork tender
- Add orzo when serving to avoid the pasta swelling and getting soggy
- Garnish with pepper, crushed red pepper and vegan parmesan
Nutrition
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Lisa
Hi Sara! Is it ok to use frozen peas?
Sara Tercero
Yes please do!
Lisa
It was delish! Thank you for a yummy and very hardy dinner!
Sara Tercero
So glad you liked it!
Suzanne C Keller
It was -10 here this morning and I made this today for dinner. It's amazing!! So healthy and delicious. I will be putting this with my favorite recipes !
Sara Tercero
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the feedback. Stay cozy!