Traditional Spanish Bean Soup

Traditional recipe for Spanish bean soup with a base of soaked legumes, vegetables, and meat stock perfectly blended with chopped chorizo.

A local hotspot in my hometown to enjoy traditional food is the Tampa Bay History Center.

The museum cafe is a mini version of the hugely famous Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

Ybor City is the historical Spanish neighborhood just north of downtown Tampa that is home to many shops and restaurants along with at least one remaining cigar factory.

It’s also where I shop every week at an urban farm to obtain locally-grown, seasonal produce.

The recipe below for Spanish bean soup on the cafe placemats immediately caught my eye while enjoying a quick lunch on a family outing.

Everything about it was traditional from soaking the beans overnight to using beef and ham bones to make the soup broth. Alternatively, you can use meat stock as the base.

Even lard is used to fry the onion and bacon!

I thought I would share this recipe with you as it is simple and fast to make and one of the most delicious blends of meats, beans, and broth you will ever try.

If you live in Tampa or will be visiting soon, go and check this place out! 

If you are in a hurry, it doesn’t seem that you need to gain entrance to the museum itself to sit down and enjoy a quick lunch.

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Traditional Spanish Bean Soup Recipe

Traditional recipe for Spanish bean soup that nourishes with properly prepared legumes, vegetables, and a meat stock base blended with chopped chorizo.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Spanish

Keyword gluten free, healthy, nourishing, traditional

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Soak Time 8 hours

Total Time 9 hours 5 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 361 kcal

Author Sarah Pope

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• filtered water
• 1 pound potatoes preferably organic
• 4 ounces bacon preferably grassfed
• 4 links chorizo Spanish sausage
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 beef bone
• 1 ham bone
• 2 Tbsp lard preferably pastured
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 Tbsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Soak dried chickpeas overnight in a large bowl or pot with a tablespoon of sea salt dissolved in sufficient filtered water to cover. Use 2 cups of these presoaked chickpeas if preferred.

2. Drain the water from the chickpeas and rinse in clean filtered water. Place chickpeas and bones in a large pot with 2 quarts of fresh, filtered water (or meat stock if omitting the bones). Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes on low heat.

3. Immediately after starting to cook the chickpeas, fry the bacon and onion in lard until the onion is caramelized. Add the bacon, onion, potatoes, and saffron to the pot with the simmering beans and bones.

4. When the potatoes are soft, remove the pot of soup from the heat and add chorizo cut into 1/2-inch thick medallions.

5. Remove the bones from the soup, add sea salt to taste, and serve at the table with an optional dollop of homemade creme fraiche.

Recipe Notes

Substitute lentils for the chickpeas for a GAPS diet friendly version.

 

Nutrition Facts

Traditional Spanish Bean Soup Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 cup)

Calories 361 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Fat 21g32%

Saturated Fat 9g45%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 10g

Cholesterol 56mg19%

Potassium 564mg16%

Carbohydrates 26g9%

Fiber 5g20%

Protein 17g34%

Vitamin C 5mg6%

Calcium 43mg4%

Iron 5mg28%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.