Greek Black Eyed Peas Soup

Beans and legumes are an important part of the Mediterranean diet and you’ll often find them used in soup dishes, salad recipes, stews and casseroles. The reason is that they are full of goodness, providing lots of nutrients and protein, they can fill you up and are also relatively cheap to buy.

This Mediterranean black-eyed peas soup, or ‘fasolada me mauromatika’ as we call it in Greek, has only a few simple ingredients and it’s made with dried beans and veggies. Black-eyed peas, same as lentils, do NOT need to be soaked overnight in water, so you don’t need to plan ahead from the day before.

If you are looking for more soups with legumes that are easy to prepare and ready in less than an hour, check out my traditional Greek lentil soup or my red lentils and kale soup.

Why you should try my recipe

• Perfect comfort food for those cold winter days.
• Easy to make and with simple, cheap ingredients.
• Enough to feed a big family.
• Vegan and suitable for the Lenten period.
• Very healthy, full of nutrients, fiber and protein.

Ingredients & How-to

The ingredients you will need for this black-eyed peas soup are dried black-eyed peas, a carrot, an onion, garlic, celery, olive oil, chopped tomatoes or passata, tomato paste, fresh dill, salt and pepper. So let’s get started!

01. To start, I’m placing the black eyed peas in a bowl filled with water. I leave them in water for 10-15 minutes while I prepare the vegetables for the soup.

02. To prepare the veggies, I’m cutting the onion into cubes and coarsely chop the garlic cloves. I cut the carrot and celery sticks into slices. That’s it, simple and easy.

03. Moving to the pot, I start by sauteing the chopped onion with some olive oil for 2-3 minutes. This will bring out the onion’s sweetness and adds more flavor to the beans soup. Then I add the garlic and the tomato paste and cook it for a minute while I stir with a wooden spatula. Cooking the tomato paste helps to get more taste out and minimize any bitterness.

04. Next, I’m adding the carrot and celery slices to the pot. I drain the black eyed peas and give them a little rinse and add them also to the pot. I mix everything well before adding the remaining ingredients.

05. I add the chopped tomatoes or passata and season with some salt and freshly ground pepper. You could also use some fresh tomatoes instead of canned, which you blend in a food processor or grate before adding to the soup. For the seasoning, I keep it simple but if you like spicy flavors you could also add some chilli flakes.

06. Before I cover the pot and let it simmer, I add the water. I start with half a litre, that’s about 2 cups and I add some more later on if needed. I leave the soup to cook on low heat for 45 minutes and then add the chopped fresh dill and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the beans are soft and cooked.

Tips

• If you need to add more water to the pot, make sure it’s warm, so you don’t stop the cooking process by bringing the temperature down. Add one cup at a time and wait to see if more is needed.
• When the soup is ready, add some extra virgin olive oil to the pot or drizzle some on your plate for extra flavor and goodness.
• Some people like to cook the beans first in water for 10-15 minutes and then throw the brown water and start cooking the soup. This way you lose many of the nutrients that the legumes have so I prefer not to.

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Substitutions

• Instead of celery sticks, you could add celery greens, kale or collard greens.
• Instead of fresh dill, you could use some fresh parsley.
• You could add some chili flakes for an extra spicy black eyed peas soup.

Serving suggestions

We usually have this vegan black eyed peas soup as a main with a slice of crusty bread to soak up the juices and some feta cheese and olives on the side. If you like to pair it with a salad then I would keep it simple with some boiled greens with lemon juice and olive oil or a beet salad.

Storage

If you have any leftovers of the Greek mauromatika soup, you could store it in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. Simply, put some in a bowl and warm it up in the microwave or the stove until piping hot.

Black-eyed peas soup is also freezable for up to 3 months! You could put it into individual containers and store it in the freezer, so it’s easier to take out one or two portions to thaw overnight.

FAQ

• *Do you have to soak black-eyed peas before cooking? * You don’t have to soak black-eyed peas before cooking like with other types of beans. Simply add the dried beans with the rest of the ingredients in a pot and cook until soft.

• Can black-eyed pea soup be frozen? Black-eyed pea soup can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Store it in individual containers to be easier to thaw and warm up till piping hot before serving.