Our red bean soup with greens is served with diced bacon, halloumi, and red wine vinegar. It is delicious, hearty, and satisfying. Bright, thick, and packed with greens, it is a one-pot meal perfect for fall or winter.
If you love this Classic Chess Pie, you will also love this hearty lentil sausage soup, lentil spinach soup with lemon or lemon chicken soup!
Why this recipe sings
This is not a typical red bean soup. The combination of ingredients creates a complex flavor profile. The pasta, bacon, and especially the vinegar give an exciting and unexpected flavor.
You can reduce or increase the amount of the stock for a red bean stew or a more brothy soup.
Here is what you need
- Extra virgin olive oil. A must in most of my recipes,
- Onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. A classic soup base.
- Spinach. You can substitute with other greens such as chicory, or kale
- Tomato paste. It gives an intense savory flavor.
- Chicken stock. Vegetable or beef stock will work just as well.
- Dry red beans.
- Short-cut pasta such as orecchiette, farfalle, penne
- Fresh herbs. My go-to’s are fresh basil and parsley.
- Sea salt, pepper, ground cumin, chili flakes, and dried oregano.
What you need for serving
- Red wine vinegar. This is an essential ingredient, not to be missed. As my husband says, “it makes the soup”.
- Thick-cut bacon or pancetta. I just love a little bit of bacon on top. You can substitute it with prosciutto, ham, or whatever you fancy.
- Halloumi cheese. The Cypriot cheese is similar to mozzarella. It is semi-hard with a slightly spongy texture. Its high melting point makes it ideal for grilling or frying. It transforms from plain and rubbery to beautifully crispy and savory on the outside and creamy on the inside.
How to make it
Rinse beans in a colander using cold water, check for broken or cracked pieces and discard them. Place them in plenty of water and soak them overnight. Rinse and drain beans when you are ready for cooking.
Soaking your beans helps them cook faster and more evenly, making them easier to digest. See recipe notes for a speedy version of soaking beans in case you forgot or don’t have much time.
Meanwhile, rinse the greens and pull the leaves off the stems. Chop into bite-size pieces and set aside.
Cut the halloumi cheese into thick slices, about 5 mm each (3/16 inch). Dice the thick bacon.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan—Fry the bacon. Transfer to a plate, and using the bacon fat, fry the halloumi cheese. Season with plenty of fresh ground pepper and a pinch of dried oregano. Fry each slice for one to two minutes until they have a nice golden color at the edges.
Serve the soup in bowls with a drizzle of red wine vinegar, chili pepper flakes, diced bacon, and halloumi cheese.
You may also like
Check out my Greek pantry staples
Cooked this? Rate this recipe! You can also leave a comment below. I love hearing from you!
WANT TO EAT LIKE A GREEK? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Red Bean Soup With Greens
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3-4 cloves of garlic smashed
- 2 cups chopped greens such as spinach, chicory, or kale. Packed.
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 quart chicken stock plus more in case you need it.
- 16 oz red beans 500 grams
- 1 cup orecchiette pasta
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- sea salt plus more to taste
- freshly ground pepper
For serving
- 8 oz Halloumi cheese
- 3 oz diced thick bacon
- red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Rinse beans in a colander using cold water. Check for broken or cracked pieces and discard them. Place them in plenty of water and soak them overnight. Rinse and drain beans when you are ready for cooking. See recipe notes for a speedy version for soaking beans.
- Rinse the greens and pull the leaves off the stems. Chop into bite-size pieces and set aside.
- Heat a large pot over medium-high for a minute or so to warm it up. Add the olive oil and diced onion, and sauté for one to two minutes. Add the garlic, celery, carrot, and sauté until very soft and brown at the edges for five minutes.
- Add tomato paste, cumin, oregano and chili flakes, and sauté until the paste darkens for about one minute.
- Add beans and sauté two to three minutes.
- Add the stock and bring it to a simmer. Let soup simmer until it is thick and flavorful for sixty to ninety minutes.
- Stir in the greens and simmer for five to ten minutes. Add a little water or broth if the liquid gets too reduced.
- Stir pasta into the pot, taste, and simmer for ten more minutes or until pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and add sea salt to taste.
Prepare the serving ingredients
- Cut the halloumi cheese into thick slices, about 5 mm each (almost ¼ inch). Dice the thick bacon.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive in a frying pan. Fry the diced bacon. Transfer to a plate and using the bacon fat, fry the halloumi cheese. Season with plenty of fresh ground pepper and a pinch of dried oregano. Fry each slice for one to two minutes, until they have a nice golden color at the edges.
- Serve soup in bowls with a drizzle of red wine vinegar, chili pepper flakes, diced bacon, and pieces of halloumi cheese.
Notes
Speedy method for soaking the beans
Rinse the beans in a colander with cool water. Add the beans to a large stock pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Add two tablespoons of sea salt. Bring to a boil for two minutes. Turn the heat off, cover the pot and let them soak for one hour. Drain the water and rinse the beans well before cooking. Nutritional Info – Please remember that the nutritional information provided is only estimated and can vary based on the products used.Nutrition
I’m in the UK and can’t get these beans. What else could I use?
Hi Maggie! You can try black or red dry beans. You might be able to find a dry bean soup mix at your local store. If you have access to a Greek market they have a variety of dry beans for soups. This particular recipe would work for many varieties of beans, it’s not exclusive to the kind I used. Good luck, let me know what you come up with!
An extraordinary mixture of flavors and textures. I have never tasted such delicious chard. Can not wait to make it again.
Thank you so much Alex!
We love beans but don’t often eat them in soups. This was a delicious way to enjoy them for supper and I’ll definitely be making it again soon.
We can’t have cheese but we added a little apple cider vinegar and really enjoyed it.
That’s awesome Kali! What a great idea!
I absolutely love the topping ideas here, I really like halloumi cheese but couldn’t really think of different ways to eat it other than with a salad or sandwich. I also appreciate the speedy directions for soaking the beans since I never manage to plan ahead!
I love trying new soup recipes for the fall season. This bean soup sounds delicious! Excited to give it a try! Thanks for the recipe share!
Oh my goodness! This was super tasty! I loved every bite! Filling and the perfect dinner recipe for these cold nights! Loved the flavor!
I struggle to eat more beans but with halloumi and bacon, I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t have this every week!
First of all, this is such a colorful dish that makes it so appealing! Second, this looks delicious and yummy! Lastly, I’ll definitely make this for the whole family to enjoy!
It’s freezing outside, and this was the perfect soup to warm us up. Rich and so delicious!
Oh my gosh, this looks like a good soup to prepare for tonight’s dinner. It looks delicious!
I just moved and I had to leave my slow cooker behind 🙁 I am thinking of buying another one just to make this soup. It looks amazing!! 🙂
This was such a delicious soup! I love a good bean soup and your recipe was one of the best bean soups I’ve ever made
Such an amazing soup! The bacon added a nice smoky touch and I love any soup with some pasta. I’ll be making this again soon.
This soup is so good! It is my new favourite recipe for the colder months. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe 🙂
This soup is the best representation for Mediterranean diet! It’s made with nutritious ingredients that are filling. Making this without bacon and subbing with veggie stock.
We love beans in curry, but recently started using them in the soup too. I was looking for more soup recipes with beans, and this one is perfect for me to try so soon as temeprature is dipping slowly here.
Oh I absolutely loved the addition of the orecchiette and halloumi in this soup! The chunky texture is fantastic and so full of flavour!
I love adding beans in a soup, they add a lovely texture and flavour and I can’t wait to try them out with this recipe! Thank you for sharing this!