Place a 4 - 6 quart pot on stovetop set to moderate heat. Drizzle pan with oil. When it shimmers add onion, celery and garlic. Stir to combine, then cover and cook for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are soft and fragrant.
Next, sprinkle the vegetables with paprika, stir it in, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook with lid off, stirring frequently until tomatoes release their juices, about 5 minutes.
Add the carrots, potatoes and green beans. Stir to combine then add water or vegetable broth. Cover and cook for a few minutes until soup comes to a soft boil. Add herbs, taste then season with kosher salt and black pepper. Cook soup for 5 minutes more or until the veggies are tender.
Optional flavour boost: Using a 1 cup liquid measure, carefully scoop up a cup of broth from the pot. Transfer to a canister or bowl then add sour cream and flour. Zip with an immersion blender to blend, then return mixture to the soup pot. Stir in, cover the pot and cook the soup for 1 minute more.
Serve with a garnish of fresh dill or parsley.
Green Bean Soup
Ingredients
2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut in thirds
2 tablespoons vegetable or extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
3 yellow potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
4 cups water or vegetable broth
¼ cup fresh dill
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
kosher salt
black pepper
To finish, optional:
1 cup soup broth
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
Directions
Place a 4 - 6 quart pot on stovetop set to moderate heat. Drizzle pan with oil. When it shimmers add onion, celery and garlic. Stir to combine, then cover and cook for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are soft and fragrant.
Next, sprinkle the vegetables with paprika, stir it in, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook with lid off, stirring frequently until tomatoes release their juices, about 5 minutes.
Add the carrots, potatoes and green beans. Stir to combine then add water or vegetable broth. Cover and cook for a few minutes until soup comes to a soft boil. Add herbs, taste then season with kosher salt and black pepper. Cook soup for 5 minutes more or until the veggies are tender.
Optional flavour boost: Using a 1 cup liquid measure, carefully scoop up a cup of broth from the pot. Transfer to a canister or bowl then add sour cream and flour. Zip with an immersion blender to blend, then return mixture to the soup pot. Stir in, cover the pot and cook the soup for 1 minute more.
Serve with a garnish of fresh dill or parsley.
Green Bean Soup
4.7 / 5. 6
A flavourful soup made with green beans and other assorted vegetables, fresh herbs and a zesty sour cream finish…
My dear Aunt Liz’s GREEN BEAN SOUP RECIPE has been a favourite since I was a kid. I remember the pleasing flavours of the green beans and other colourful veggies. I also remember the squeak of the beans as I bit into them; eating this soup was always fun! Lastly, I never forgot the taste of the tangy tomato broth spotted with little flecks of sour cream and fresh dill. This soup, sometimes referred to as a CHORBA, is one for the books.
Aunt Liz (L) and my mom (R).
All these years later, I embarked on a quest to recreate the recipe. Since my Aunt Liz is sadly no longer with us, I turned to her daughters, my cousins Darlene and Linda, for the scoop on the soup. They happily obliged and between the three of us, we think we’ve finally achieved the soup of my dreams. More importantly, we’re thinking Aunt Liz would agree that this soup is the one to make.
Before we list some things to remember when making it, here are some of our favourite recipes that involve either beans or soup. If green or yellow string beans are your thing, try this EASY BEAN SIDE DISH and our BAKED GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, which is always a hit at family events and holiday meals. If soup is your thing, we have a curated collection of our best SOUP & STEWS. Included within are three of my favourite vegetarian soups: this ROASTED RED PEPPER SOUP, a glorious SPICED PUMPKIN SOUP, and this wonderful CREAMY CORN CHOWDER. Hope you enjoy all of them!
Now, back to this recipe. Here’s the soup-to-nuts rundown on making Aunt Liz’s GREEN BEAN SOUP RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS
If you’re new to Weekend at the Cottage, let me bring you up to speed: we love delicious food. Our mission is to make tasty food your reality. Over the years we discovered one key element that helps us do this right: quality ingredients. For this recipe, it’s all about gathering the finest, freshest vegetables and herbs. If you’re not growing your own, then ideally you’re purchasing them locally. Organic produce is always recommended; we believe you will taste the difference. Speaking of organic we also suggest using organic vegetable broth, even though water works too. We felt this broth was better suited to this recipe than chicken broth, beef broth or water mixed with a bouillon cube. Organic homemade or store-bought vegetable broth gives this soup lots and lots of flavour.
GREEN BEANS
The stars of this soup recipe are fresh green beans, also known as French beans, string beans and snap beans, or sometimes simply “snaps”. GREEN BEANS are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean. Green beans get top marks for their healthy attributes. This from Wiki: raw green beans contain vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6 and manganese. These beans are a good source of protein and fibre and may help fight inflammation and regulate blood pressure. Let’s hear it for the beans!
FRESH VEGETABLES
In testing this recipe, we looked at an assortment of fresh veggies, taking a cue from my cousins who knew the various veggies Aunt Liz would use. We included onion, celery, garlic cloves, potatoes, carrots and plum tomatoes. Linda explained that field or plum tomatoes work best in this recipe since they have so much flavour and colour. All of these vegetables helped create a lovely, hearty soup yet we know other vegetables can be added too. If you’re so inclined, feel free to try this recipe using cauliflower, rutabaga and kohlrabi. Let’s face it, we’ve never met a fresh vegetable we didn’t like!
HERBS AND SEASONING
The seasoning for this soup recipe is easy: kosher salt, black pepper and sweet paprika. We discussed testing the recipe with smoked paprika but agreed the flavour would overpower the vegetables. Sweet paprika imparts a subtle flavour and a bold reddish colour to the soup when added to the onion, celery, garlic and tomatoes sautéed in olive oil (not butter). The other flavour boost to this recipe comes from the chopped mixture of fresh dill and flat-leaf parsley. These herbs also contribute to the heady, appetizing aromas of the soup. Your home or cottage will smell delicious.
LARGE SOUP POT
We suggest using a 4- to 6-quart soup pot for this recipe. In a perfect world, that soup pot is also of the thick-bottomed variety. A thick-bottomed soup or stock pot, as well as a Dutch oven, always works best when a recipe begins with a sauté of ingredients. This type of cooking pot ensures the heat is distributed evenly across the cooking surface, even when the ingredients within are brought to a boil. This greatly reduces the chance for soups and stews to burn as they cook. Pro tip: stirring the pot also prevents soups and stews from burning, just saying!
FLAVOUR ENHANCERS
And now, time for this recipe’s game changer. While testing the recipe with cousin Linda, we discussed a step that we’re now listing as optional. So, for our vegan readers or others who enjoy a dairy-free diet, you can skip this step or just add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice or white vinegar. Everyone else, let’s make a flavour enhancer that’s akin to an uncooked roux. You’ll need some broth from the soup, sour cream and unbleached, all-purpose flour.
Creating this flavour boost is easy – simply add a cup of the soup broth into a container or bowl along with sour cream and flour. Then stir everything together before zipping it up with an immersion blender and returning it to the soup pot to stir in, leaving it to simmer for a minute more. If you don’t have a blender, just use a whisk to combine. Not only does this give the soup a noticeable tanginess from the sour cream, the flour acts as a thickening agent giving this GREEN BEAN SOUP a lovely, silky texture.
ENJOY
Once the soup is finished and the beans and veggies are a bit tender, we’re ready to enjoy as a light lunch or as a main. Simply ladle into soup bowls or soup plates, garnish with some chopped fresh herbs and enjoy. We suggest serving it with freshly baked bread, whether something like our MENNONITE DINNER ROLLS, these flaky TEA BISCUITS or our amazing SOURDOUGH BREAD. This is important: second helpings aren’t just allowed, they’re recommended. So good!
This homemade soup or chorba recipe is so tasty, we suggest you PIN the recipe to a favourite soup or weeknight dinner idea board on PINTEREST, or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can make them too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the delicious dishes you’re making these days. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post those pics on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!
Aunt Liz’s GREEN BEAN SOUP RECIPE is the best. Enjoy!
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Ingredients
2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut in thirds
2 tablespoons vegetable or extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
3 yellow potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
4 cups water or vegetable broth
¼ cup fresh dill
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
kosher salt
black pepper
To finish, optional:
1 cup soup broth
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
Directions
Place a 4 - 6 quart pot on stovetop set to moderate heat. Drizzle pan with oil. When it shimmers add onion, celery and garlic. Stir to combine, then cover and cook for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are soft and fragrant.
Next, sprinkle the vegetables with paprika, stir it in, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook with lid off, stirring frequently until tomatoes release their juices, about 5 minutes.
Add the carrots, potatoes and green beans. Stir to combine then add water or vegetable broth. Cover and cook for a few minutes until soup comes to a soft boil. Add herbs, taste then season with kosher salt and black pepper. Cook soup for 5 minutes more or until the veggies are tender.
Optional flavour boost: Using a 1 cup liquid measure, carefully scoop up a cup of broth from the pot. Transfer to a canister or bowl then add sour cream and flour. Zip with an immersion blender to blend, then return mixture to the soup pot. Stir in, cover the pot and cook the soup for 1 minute more.
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