This Mexican fava Bean soup or Sopa de Habas is another classic Lenten dish. The fava beans are cooked until tender then simmered with onion, jalapeño, tomato and cilantro. It is a comforting soup for a cold day or a perfect start to a Lenten meal.
Mexican Lent food is some of my favorite, because it’s when there are more vegetable dishes available like nopales, chicales, and lentejas. My family owns a restaurant in Mexico, which ironically is a steak house type of restaurant. There’s also a lunch buffet, and during Lent the buffet includes all sorts of veggie dishes.
I guess it’s kind of funny that I crave Lenten dishes, since now I don’t eat meat anyway. Some of my other favorite Lenten dishes that I’ve successfully veganized are capirotada, cauliflower fritters, vegan shrimp cocktail, cauliflower ceviche, and aguachile. What are some of your favorite Lent dishes?
The Recipe: Mexican Fava Bean Soup (Sopa de Habas)
- The consistency of this soup can be creamy or chunky. It’s up to you.
- The fava beans are dried favas, not fresh.
- You should be able to find them without a problem in your grocery store.
- You could also make this recipe with chickpeas.
- Adding nopales to this is another popular way to eat this soup
Mexican Fava Bean Soup (Sopa de Habas)
Ingredients
- ½ lb. Dried shelled fava beans, cleaned and rinsed
- 2 Sprigs of cilantro
- ½ Yellow Onion, peeled
- 1 cup Diced yellow onions
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 - 1 Jalapeño, minced
- 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
Garnish:
- 1 Toasted chile pasilla
- 1/2 cup Diced tomato
Preparation
- If possible soak the fava beans overnight.
- The following day, place fava beans in a large pot and cover with water. Add cilantro sprigs and half onion. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 50 min. to an hour or until fava beans are soft and falling apart. (Or cook in instant pot set to manual, high pressure for 20 min.)
- While the fava beans are cooking, set a large sauté pan to medium heat. Add ¼ cup of water and add diced onions. Let onion cook for 3-4 minutes until tender and translucent.
Add minced garlic and jalapeño and let cook for 2 more minutes. If onion begins to stick add a little more water or veg stock to the pan.
- Add diced tomatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes or until tomatoes have broken down.
- Once the fava beans are cooked, add the tomato mixture to the pot and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with diced tomatoes and toasted chile pasilla
Chef's Notes
You can puree the soup for a smoother texture or leave it chunky. Cooked nopales are a great addition to this soup.
