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Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup, is something you see made during Lent. That’s when Catholics do not eat a lot of meat. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good all year long.
Thick, creamy, and full of flavor. Quick to make, healthy, and freezes extremely well. Just add tortillas and enjoy!
Lima beans are dried and need to be sorted. If you see any that are broken or don’t look good, throw them away. They get voted off your cooking island!
More Mexican Vegetarian Soups:
Sopa de Lentejas, Sopa de Conchas, Sopa de Letras
Do you need to soak lima beans before cooking?
If they are dried lima beans, yes, they need to soaked. At least 8 hours. Overnight is best. Fresh beans, you just need to pop them out of the pod, rinse, and cook.
You will see beans in many of our authentic Mexican recipes like Charro Beans, Carne en Su Jugo, Enfrijoladas.
- Drain the water.
- Reserve the lima beans.
Look at how plump the lima beans are! They’re so cute. You could just pinch ’em!
Note for Gardeners: Some people save the water and give it to their thirsty plants. There are nutrients in the water, but I drain it just in case there is any dirt.
- Then rinse them.
- And rinse them again.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Beans grow underground and sometimes carry dirt.
Are lima beans good for you?
Yes! They are loaded with nutrients. Folate, B Vitamin, and it helps produce red blood cells.
- Put the beans in a large stock pot.
- Cover them with water.
These babies like to swim. You might need more water depending on if you soaked them overnight or not.
If you did not soak them overnight, they might need more water. Add 2 extra cups of water.
- Cook for 40 minutes to an hour.
- Test them after 40 minutes to see if they need more water or more time.
It can take up to an hour to cook.
If they are crunchy or hard at all, they need more time. More time for these lime – a – beans.
In the meantime, chop the tomatoes, dice the jalapeño, dice the onion, and finely mince the garlic. Get to it! Chop! Chop!
- In a small skillet, add olive oil.
- Heat for 1 minute.
You can also use grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
- Add the tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, and garlic.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Add 1 cup of water to the skillet.
This savory and rich tomato sauce will help thicken the soup.
Use your spatula to scrape the sides and the bottom of the pan. There are bits that get stuck, and they’re delicious. Naughty bits! haha!
This recipe is totally vegan up to this point. If you don’t want to use chicken bouillon, you can use salt instead or vegetable bouillon.
There are areas in Mexico where meat is rare. For that reason, there are many, many vegetarian and vegan Mexican recipes.
Vegan Pozole, Ensalada de Nopales, Hojarascas
- Add the tomato mixture to the cooked lima beans.
- Let the tomato mixture and the lima beans cook for 20 minutes.
Before adding the tomato mixture, test the lima beans. Are they mushy? If so, then you’re good to go. You want the flavors to really absorb.
If you did not soak overnight, you will need to cook for 30 minutes instead.
You Might Also Like These Mexican Soups:
Caldo de Camarón
Caldo de Pollo
Caldo de Verduras
How Long Does It Last?
In the fridge, Sopa de Habas lasts up to 5 days. In the freezer, up to 5 months in a sealable bag with the air removed.
Sopa de Habas warms your soul and takes away the chill of any fall or winter day. Delicious, nutritious, but not fictitious. This is the real deal for any meal. Hope you enjoy!
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Sopa de Habas + VIDEO
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce Lima Beans package
- 12 cups water divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tomatoes diced
- ¼ onion diced
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 jalapeño finely diced
- 1 cube chicken bouillon (or 1 tbsp salt)
Instructions
- Rinse the lima beans.
- In a large container, add the lima beans and cover with water.
- About 4 cups water.
- Let sit overnight. Or minimum 8 hours.
- Drain and rinse the lima beans again.
- Place the lima beans in a large stock pot.
- Add 7 cups of water.
- Cover and cook for 40-60 minutes, or until the lima beans are tender.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet.
- Add the tomato, onion, garlic, and jalapeño to the skillet.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of water to the skillet.
- Gently scrape the bottom of the pan to remove the bits of tomato.
- Check the lima beans.
- If the lima beans are mushy, you’re ready for the next step.
- Add the tomato mixture and chicken bouillon to the lima beans pot.
- Stir and cover.
- Cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Those are the best soup to make it at home!!
Yes! I agree. Love soup season. 🙂
This looks really good to me. I cook lima bean soup every now and then and I really like it. I will make this version and let you know how I like it. I like dried lima beans, the white ones, but not so much the green ones frozen or canned. I like my lima beans very soft, not crunchy. Maybe that is why I like the dried beans. With most frozen vegetables you can pop them into boiling water for a few minutes and they are done, but with limas I find I have to let them cook a while to try to get them soft. Good looking recipe.
With frozen peas and carrots in your Sopa de Habas. That sounds really good.
Made tonight for dinner. Delicious and comforting.
That makes me so happy to hear. This is delicious!