Egyptian Inspired Vegan Bean Soup

Here's a hearty, creamy, soul-satisfying vegan bean stew that’s made perfect when eaten with a traditional Egyptian Vegan Flatbread slathered with Za’atar seasoning. Mmmmm. 

It’s a simply seasoned soup our adventurous boys loved so much that they had three helpings at dinner last night!

This cassoulet and lima bean recipe makes a high protein vegan meal with 14 gms of complete protein per serving! Add another 5 gm with the flatbread! The mixed dark leafy greens add another dimension of healthy goodness to this vegan bean stew. You even get a dose of B12 when you serve it sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

It’s a simply seasoned soup our adventurous boys loved so much that they had three helpings at dinner last night!

The traditional Egyptian recipe called for fava beans. That sounded great to us, but we didn't have any. Being adaptable vegans, we used the beans we had on hand- Lima and Cassoulet. Mix it up and use what you have in your pantry too!

About our Instant Pot

There are a few pieces of kitchen equipment that we use at least weekly and our Instant Pot is one of them. As whole-foods, plant-based eaters who are mindful of our health, we tend to make a lot of bean and lentil recipes. The Instant Pot lets us make a vegan bean stew in less than an hour, start to finish. No soaking beans overnight! It saves so much time! 

If you’re making this on the stovetop, plan ahead and soak the beans overnight. It's all good!

Jump to Egyptian Bean Soup Grocery List

Jump to Egyptian Bean Soup Nutritional Analysis

Egyptian Bean Soup Recipe

Prep

• 1 hour prep
• Serves 8
• Suggested equipment: pressure cooker, sauté pan, blender or immersion blender.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry Lima Beans
• 2 cups dry Cassoulet Beans
• 8 cups water
  
  
• Olive oil
• 2 onions, one yellow and one white, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
  
  
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
  
  
• 2 cups chopped and tightly packed greens (kale, Swiss chard, spinach)

Instructions

Instant Pot

1. Place beans and water in your pressure cooker and set on high for 20 minutes.
2. While the beans cook, sauté the onions and garlic until they’re translucent.
3. Add cumin, salt and pepper, and onion mixture to the beans.
4. Pressure cook on high for 10 more minutes. If you have time, let the pressure release naturally. You don’t need to add the greens until about 10 minutes before serving.
5. Add chopped greens and simmer until they’re wilted.
6. Place half the soup in a blender and blend until creamy or use an immersion blender in the pot. Be careful not to blend up all those delicious beans!

Stove Top

1. Soak beans in 5 cups of water overnight, or for 8+ hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent. Add cumin, salt and pepper.
3. Add beans, 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Add chopped fresh greens. Cook a few minutes more. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place half the soup in a blender and blend until creamy or use an immersion blender in the pot. Be careful not to blend up all those delicious beans!

Serving

1. Serve when ready. It’s delicious the next day and freezes well too.
2. Serve with bread. We enjoy a whole wheat Egyptian Vegan Flatbread with Zatar spices mixed with olive oil slathered over it. This adds a flavor intensity to the meal that’s decidedly Egyptian.

Make your own Za’atar

Mix together:

• 1 Tbsp thyme
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ tsp salt
• a pinch of red pepper

Mix with 1 Tbsp of olive oil to make a thick paste.

Chef's Notes 

We like to add 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast to each bowl of soup just before eating. It gives us a dose of vitamin B-12  and adds a cheesy dimension to the flavor! You can also add some heat with a hot sauce. 

Feel free to add more vegetables or use alternate beans in this recipe. It's a great base recipe. Recently we added carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli and used an heirloom speckled bean. 

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you have an article or recipe requests, let us know on our Facebook page: Your Vegan Family. While you're there, please like our page and share our posts!

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Written by Your Vegan Family 

Stacy and Markus live an adventurous vegan lifestyle and write articles about their experiences cooking global vegan cuisine, creating businesses, raising vegan kids, and traveling through more than 65 countries. They earned degrees in molecular biology and acupuncture, consulted over decades for healthcare companies and individuals, created businesses in Asian medicine, eco-tourism, cultural immersion, and taught yoga in myriad venues.

We’ve learned a lot from eating a plant-based diet for 25 years and are eager to share more with you. Learn more on our About Us page.

Vegan Egyptian Bean Soup Recipe Grocery List: 

• Lima Beans
• Cassoulet Beans
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• onions
• garlic

Optional Za'atar: 

• thyme
• sumac
• sesame seeds
• salt
• red pepper

Egyptian Bean Soup Recipe Nutritional Analysis

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutritional calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. When exact ingredients are not available in this database, the closest substitution is made. 

Percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie daily diet for an adult.

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