Creamy and healthy green string bean soup recipe of Romanian origin that is also plant-based, vegan and insanely delicious with tons of flavor from carrot, garlic and dill.
Green Bean Soup
An easy, simple vegetable soup recipe I picked up from my Transylvanian grandma many moons ago. She used to make it during the summertime from scratch of course, with the tender yellow wax beans variety she grew herself and a handful of fresh heirloom tomatoes from the garden.
That being said, green beans, string beans, snap beans or yellow beans, whatever you have will work here!
Lots of fresh dill and garlic are an absolute must for that authentic old world flavor we are after in this cream of string bean soup. Don’t skimp on either one!
In order to achieve a perfect tenderness of the beans I often opt for steaming them instead of boiling, a step you can even do ahead of time and refrigerate until needed. Magical texture and beautiful green color every time! This could also be done in one pot, just take good care not to overcook your beans.
You’ll notice I veganized the recipe using plain, unsweetened good for you plant milk. Almond, cashew milk, coconut and even hemp milk are great choices, so whatever you have on hand friends. Serve it with fresh dill on top, potato flatbread or a piece of this vegan crusty bread on the side. I really hope you give this soup a try. It’s:
- clean & healthy
- protein loaded
- good for you
- without sugar
- fast & easy to make
- lusciously creamy without the cream
- cruelty-free vegan.
Storage:
This creamy soup keeps well in the refrigerator up to 5 days, since it is dairy-free it also freezes great up to 5 months in freezer proof containers.
Did you know that 1 cup of this soup contains 6 grams protein? Plant-powered all day, every day! Let’s do this!
Green Bean Recipes to Try:
P.S. As always, If you make this recipe remember to come back here to rate it, snap a photo and tag it with #VeggieSociety on Instagram.
how to make vegan green bean soup:
Green String Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb green or yellow string beans (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp water (or a drizzle of olive oil)
- 13 cloves garlic
- 2.5 cups cashew milk (plain, unsweetened)
- 3.5 cups vegetable stock (low sodium)
- 1 carrot - sliced into thin rounds
- 4 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose organic flour)
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 leaves bay
- 5 sprigs fresh dill
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes - chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh dill - roughly chopped
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes + more to taste
- sea salt to taste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Rinse the beans, discard the ends and snap them in half or smaller pieces to your liking.
- If desired you can steam the beans in advance. Prepare a double boiler with 2 inches of water in the bottom pot. Bring to a simmer and then place the green string beans in the top basket. Cover with a lid and steam for 10 to 15 minutes or until desired tenderness is achieved. Check after 10 minutes to make sure you don’t overcook the beans. Remove from the steam and transfer to a bowl. Rinse with ice cold water to stop the cooking process at this point. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Alternatively you can use the 1- pot method below but take good care not to overcook them).
1-Pot Method:
- Carefully smash the garlic cloves with the side of a chef’s knife and discard the paper.
- Heat up a soup pot over medium low flame. Add a light drizzle of olive oil (or a splash of water for WFPB & Plantricious diets) and saute the garlic until golden in color and soft. Take good care not to burn it or it will turn bitter. Add a splash of veggie stock if needed to create extra steam. Once cooked transfer the garlic to a small bowl and set aside.
- Add the carrots and red pepper flakes to the pot and give them a good stir. Sautee for about 5 minutes or so until the carrots begin to soften.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour with the cashew milk ,vegetable stock, onion powder and nutritional yeast until combined and there are no lumps. Add the mixture to the soup pot and bring to a simmer. Add the bay leaves, dill sprigs and reserved garlic and cook together for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir often making sure nothing sticks.
- Taste the soup and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Add the green beans and simmer an additional 10 minutes or so until the beans are al dente. Check often making sure not to overcook them. If using steamed green beans just add them to the soup and simmer only a couple of minutes or until warmed through. Remove from heat and discard the bay and dill sprigs.
- Stir in the chopped fresh tomatoes, taste and adjust seasonings again. Serve with lots of fresh dill, red pepper flakes and freshly cracked black pepper on top. Great served hot or cold.
Notes
- If desired you can make this a 1-Pot soup and cook the beans in the soup broth instead of steaming them. I find I can achieve the perfect al dente texture in the steamer but it's ultimately up to whatever method you prefer.
- Traditionally this soup was served with a drizzle of sour cream that gives it a little tanginess, you can use some store bought vegan sour cream here or just give the soup a squeeze of lemon.
Nutrition
Environmental Information
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Just a small thing please. I love your recipes but I am unable to save them on my phone and I cannot pin it. If you can be so kind as to make your recipes pinnable on Pinterest it will be much appreciated. Thank you ?
Antoinette, there is red PIN IT button that shows up as you scroll by each photo so you can easily pin the. I’ll look into that to make sure there isn’t a glitch. Also make sure to follow the board on Pinterest, I pin everything there as well 🙂 https://www.pinterest.com/veggiesociety/veggie-society/
Hi Florentina!
Can you please explain what the purpose of the flour is? Is it to thicken ? Thankyou!:-)
K
That is correct Karmen, The goal was to achieve a creamy texture as the classic version while keeping it vegan and plan-based. You could also use Tapioca flour If you prefer! Florentina Xo’s
He about making this in a crockpot?
Haven’t tried it in the crockpot yet, I’m sure it will be fine 🙂
13 cloves of garlic, or 1-3?
13 aka Thirteen for sure but you could do even more. 😉
This looks great, I think I want to put potatoes in also…
You could, I would dice them small or similar size with the green beans.
This reminds me of a simple green bean soup I had at a small farm years ago, in their little cafe.
Could you sub almond milk for cashew milk?
Can you use arrowroot as the thickener?
Thank you!
Yes you can use any plain plant milk of your choosing and arrowroot or cornstarch instead of flour.
I squeezed the juice from half a lemon at the end and the flavor was wonderful. A keeper!