Smoky Tomato Chickpea Soup
This delicious tomato chickpea soup takes just 15 minutes to make in a high-speed blender, and has a rich, smoky flavor and chunky texture for an amazing quick, easy, and filling dinner. (You can make this tomato soup in a regular blender and heat it on the stove. See the recipe card for instructions on how to modify this recipe.)
I get a ton of requests for quick, easy soups that can be made and cooked from raw ingredients in a high-speed blender, and this tomato chickpea soup is one of my all-time favorite blender soups. Not only is this soup ridiculously easy (child’d play really), but it has a really incredible flavor, AND it has an amazing chunky and filling texture.
Not every soup you make in your blender has to be completely pureed. You can blend and have texture at the same time! And, this smoky tomato chickpea soup delivers on both!
My dad and I are constantly engaging in a friendly war about soup. He prefers chunky soups, and I prefer blended soups. (Well, we both enjoy both chunky and blended soups, but if we each had to choose just one, we would both stand firm in our respective soup camps.) But, we don’t need to choose, and we can blend our soup, and eat it, too.
Honestly, I will take soup any way, any day. I just love it. It is so simple and so comforting, and oh, so easy. And, when you let your blender do all of the work for you, soup is even easier.
How To Make Amazing Tomato Soup In A High-Speed Blender
When you’re making tomato soup from raw or cooked ingredients in a high-speed blender you combine the ingredients differently than you do when you make a traditional tomato soup.
For example, with a more traditional cooked tomato soup that you simmer on the stove, you might sauté some onions and garlic with a bit of oil or your mirepoix with celery and carrots, and then add your fresh raw tomatoes or roasted tomatoes with perhaps some canned tomatoes and tomato paste. You might add some roasted bell pepper, some herbs, and then some broth and seasoning, and then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. The point being, with a traditional stove top tomato soup, you cook the ingredients to allow the flavors to mesh and develop which gives you a beautiful rich tomato flavor.
When you’re making tomato soup in a high-speed blender, you’re not cooking the soup in the same way or for nearly the same amount of time. The friction heat of the blades heats the ingredients to a piping hot temperature in about five minutes (sometimes less than 5 minutes, read below), but doesn’t simmer the ingredients for 30 to 40 minutes like a traditional tomato soup. So, you don’t get a lot of time for the flavors to mesh and develop in the way that they do with heat on the stove.
So, here’s some tips for making amazing tomato soup in a high-speed blender:
- Add your broth first, to help the blender liquefy the base ingredients.
- With onion and garlic, less is more. Start with a very small clove of garlic and a small slither of onion, and add more to taste. That way, you get a nice middle note without a sharp overpowering flavor. Alternatively, use 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of raw garlic and onion in a blender-load of soup.
- Use a combination of several different kinds of tomatoes in order to get a deep, rich tomato flavor: fresh, canned, sun-dried, and tomato paste all work well together.
- Fortify the nutrient density and flavor with one raw or roasted bell pepper, and some fresh or dried herbs such as basil, thyme, and oregano. Start small, and add to taste. OR add them at the end for texture.
- 1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, black pepper, or a small amount of fresh chile adds an amazing back-end kick.
- Smoked paprika adds a lovely smoky quality like in this recipe I’m sharing in this post.
- Add a creamy element with 2 tablespoons of blanched slivered almonds or raw unsalted cashews, or 1/8 to 1/4 avocado. Or, 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower. Note: raw cauliflower does not taste good when added raw to tomato soup made in a high-speed blender. It is just too pungent and overpowering in the raw state, and tastes absolutely disgusting no matter what you do. (Believe me, I’ve tried everything.) So, steam your cauliflower before adding it to your tomato soup if you choose that option.
- If you’re adding chunky elements like cooked veggies, beans (like the chickpeas in this recipe), fresh herbs, chopped green onion, tortilla strips, and other garnishes, place them in either right after the soup is finished or when you serve. But, you do want these elements to be warm. If you want the chunky elements to get chopped a little bit, lower the speed of your blender to variable speed 1 to 3, and just process for a second or two, and then check the texture.
What Is The Best High-Speed Blender For Soup?
I get a ton of emails and messages and posts in social media every week (particularly in the cold weather) asking me, “What is the best high-speed blender for soup?”
I own almost every blender on the market (true dat, if you saw my blender room of machines you might faint), and hands down, the best high-speed blender for making soup is either the KitchenAid Pro Line® Series Blender or the High Performance Blender.
Why? Here’s the lowdown.
First, for making soup in a high-speed blender, I want a machine that is really powerful, and will pulverize nuts, seeds, and fibrous vegetables and other ingredients into silky smooth textures, and heat the soup as quickly as possible. When my team and I test recipes with machines at the same price point side by side, both of those KitchenAid models heat the soup faster than other high-speed machines, and deliver a silky smooth texture.
If you want an added bonus, the upgraded model of the Pro Line® Series Blender comes with an insulated thermal control jar. This dual-wall container enables the blender to heat the soup even faster, in less than 5 minutes. Some other high-speed blenders heat ingredients in 5 to 7 minutes. Furthermore, the thermal control container keeps the soup hot. So, if you’re preparing a salad, toast or grains to go with the soup, or other courses for your dinner, just keep the lid secured on the container, and the soup will stay hot. It is just amazing. The insulated container works in much the same way as an insulated to-go cup.
Another really important feature when making soups in a high-speed blender is the lid. This is really important for safety and clean up. Read on….
Most high-speed blenders have malleable lids that have a lot of give. After regular usage (especially if you throw the lid into the dishwasher repeatedly) the lids can warp. I see this over and over and over again with so many blenders. When the lid warps, it compromising the seal. So, I have seen lids wobble, spin, and even pop off mid-way through blending a hot soup. Yep. you guessed it, soup all over the kitchen walls, and maybe even a nasty burn. Ah….no thanks.
Both KitchenAid models come with reinforced lids that are not malleable and don’t move. So, they enable a really firm and complete seal so the lid doesn’t move, spin, or pop off. This is the way I like to roll. Spinning and wobbly lids make me nervous when I’m blending really hot liquids at high speed.
Yes, I worked on these blenders and am the global ambassador for KitchenAid blenders. But, I have to be using the best blender in the world, and I wouldn’t promote these blenders if I didn’t genuinely believe that they were better. It’s a new world in blenders now, and there’s a new sheriff in town! And I am on board. How about you?
*I am a paid ambassador for KitchenAid blenders. But, my opinions are my own.
Other Amazing 10-Minute Soups For Your Blender
Coconut Curry Soup
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Cream Of Mushroom Soup
Pea Mint Soup
Carrot Ginger Soup
Creamy Zucchini Soup
Please let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments!
Your feedback is really important to me, and it helps me decide which recipes to post next for you.
