Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup, is a thick, creamy, and tasty dish. A big bowl of this yummy soup will warm you up any day of the week.

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Sopa de Habas, or Mexican Lima Bean Soup, is thick and creamy.

This soup is usually made during Lent next to Capirotada and Sopa de Lentejas.

Lent is when Catholics do not eat a lot of meat, but it’s good all year long.

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!

Table of Contents

1 Do you need to soak lima beans before cooking?
2 Are lima beans good for you?
3 Storing Instructions
- 3.1 Hungry for More?
4 Sopa de Habas + VIDEO

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.

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.

Another vegetarian soup try this tasty White Bean and Kale Soup.

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.

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 were times in Mexico when meat is hard to find. For that reason, there are many, many vegetarian Mexican recipes.

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

Storing Instructions

In the fridge, the soup will last 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!