Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup, is a healthy and tasty dish. A bowl of this Mexican food favorite is the perfect meal for chilly days. Check out the video or the step-by-step photos to make this classic recipe at home.
I love a big bowl of Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup. This soup is something we normally eat during Lent when we don’t eat a lot of meat, but it’s good all year long. Healthy and perfect for the fall and winter.
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!
From here, rinse them and cover them with water. Overnight is best. I’ve heard people say that you don’t need to soak them more than 30 minutes. If this is you, your Sopa de Habas will need to cook longer.
Look at how plump the lima beans are! They’re so cute. You could just pinch ’em! The water they were soaking in is no longer good. Drain the water. Some people will 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. This step might be unnecessary, but I bought these lima beans in Mexico. Mexican food standards are not as high as in the US. I want to make sure they are extra clean. Just call me Mrs. Clean. Even though I wayyyy more hair than the Mr.
Put the lima 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. You will need 2 extra cups of water.
The lima beans will cook for 40 minutes to an hour. Test them after 40 minutes to see if they need more water or more time. 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. I like the flavor of olive oil, but you can also use grapeseed oil or avocado oil. And for my Jewish friends, you can you Oil of Oy Vey! lol.
Next step in making Sopa de Habas is cooking all the tomatoes, diced jalapeño, onion, and garlic. Add 1 cup of water to the skillet. 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!
Notice how I have not used any salt? I flavor the Sopa de Habas with a cube of chicken bouillon. 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.
Before adding the tomato mixture, test the lima beans. Are they mushy? If so, then you’re good to go. Add the tomato mixture to the cooked lima beans. Let the tomato mixture and the lima beans cook for 20 minutes. You want the flavors to really absorb. Again, if you did not soak overnight, you will need to cook for 30 minutes instead.
Sopa de Habas, or Lima Bean Soup, 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!
Don’t forget to Check out the Sopa de Habas Video!
Sopa de Habas + VIDEO
Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup, is a healthy and tasty dish. A bowl of this Mexican food favorite is the perfect meal for chilly days.
Ingredients
- 1 package 16-ounce of Lima Beans
- 12 cups water (divided)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- ¼ onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 1 jalapeño, finely diced
- 1 cube of chicken bouillon
Instructions
Rinse the lima beans.
In a large container, add the lima beans and cover with water.
About 4 cups water.
Let sit overnight.
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!
Notes
Vegan option: Swap the chicken bouillon and 1 cup of water for 1 cup of vegetable broth.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
More Mexican Soups and Stews
Birria de Res, or Mexican Beef Stew
Mexican Fish Soup, or Caldo de Pescado
Pozole Rojo
Roasted Poblano Corn Soup
Mexican Lentil Soup, or Sopa de Lentejas
Mexican Star Soup, or Sopa de Estrellitas
Sopa de Letras, or Mexican Alphabet Soup
Caldo de Verduras, or Mexican Vegetable Soup
Caldo de Pollo, or Mexican Chicken Soup
Caldo de Camarón – Mexican Shrimp Soup
Caldillo Durangueño, a Traditional Beef Stew from Durango, Mexico
Sopa de Conchas
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.