This Napa cabbage and bean soup is a prime example of why I don’t mind going meatless on Mondays. It’s vegetarian comfort food!
Sometimes, I buy veggies without even knowing what I will do with them, but I have to say this is the first time I have ever purchased the wrong vegetable and did not know until long after eating the meal!
Yep, the soup recipe I was using called for escarole. Still, somehow, between my being oblivious to what escarole looked like and the mislabeled produced, I used Napa cabbage instead of the escarole.
Of course, I did not discover this until I sat down to write this post. I realized what had happened when I became curious to know more about escarole and its nutritional benefits. I noticed my pictures were completely different from the ones in my search. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to call a Napa cabbage “escarole”!
After laughing myself silly at what had happened, I realized that when it came down to it, it didn’t matter. This excellent soup became part of my simple, easy suppers rotation. I don’t know how it could get any better. David and I both loved this recipe and have fallen madly in love with this Chinese cabbage soup.
What is Napa Cabbage?
Napa cabbage is an oval-shaped, yellowish-green cabbage popular in Asian cooking. It’s much more delicate than a regular green cabbage, making it easy to eat the stem. Its flavor is delicious and becomes sweeter when cooked.
What to look for when purchasing a napa cabbage:
You don’t have to go to Asian supermarkets to find napa cabbage. Most supermarkets carry them on the produce aisle.
Look for light green leaves or yellowish-green in color, free of blemishes. The cabbage should be firm and compact, with bright white ribs tightly wrapped around the stem. Avoid cabbage with wilted leaves and brown spots.
Ingredients
The recipe card at the end of this post lists the complete ingredient list with measurements.
Oil: Any cooking oil will do. I always use extra virgin olive oil. Use your favorite oil.
Garlic: whole raw garlic cloves, smashed and peeled only.
Red Pepper Flakes: for heat (optional)
Napa Cabbage: leaves cut into 2-inch pieces. If you cannot find napa cabbage, bok choy or savoy cabbage would be a great substitute.
Red Kidney Beans: I make this a fast recipe and use canned beans. Make sure you drain and rinse the beans to control the sodium in the soup.
Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans): drained and rinsed canned beans.
Broth: To keep this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth.
Seasoning: Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
For Serving: lemon wedges and crusty bread
How To Make Napa Cabbage and Bean Soup
Ready in just 30 minutes, this delicious and simple soup is so flavorful you’ll be ladling more soup into your bowl before you know what hit you.
Here’s a basic overview of how to make this soup. The recipe card at the end of this post provides detailed instructions with times and temperatures.
Prepare the Napa Cabbage
Cut: Cut the bottom off the cabbage, then peel away the cabbage leaves; cut or tear into two-inch pieces. The whole cabbage is edible.
Rinse: Rinse the leaves with cold water and allow them to drain, or use a salad spinner to remove excess water. This will keep the oil from spattering when the cabbage is added.
Sauté
Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat; add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute, stirring, until the oil becomes fragrant (do not brown).
Add cabbage, toss to coat, and season with salt to taste. Cook until the cabbage is just wilted.
Toss the beans and chickpeas into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Then add the beans and broth to the cabbage pot; boil, then reduce and simmer.
Remove the garlic cloves—season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serving This Soup
Serve with crusty bread, lemon wedges, and red pepper flakes.
Recipe Tips
- Drying the cabbage leaves as much as possible is essential since they will go into hot oil.
- Although the entire head of cabbage is edible, I remove square stem pieces. It makes the soup more appetizing.
- Make sure you drain and rinse the beans to reduce and control sodium.
- Don’t forget to take out the garlic. Biting down on whole cloves of garlic is gross!
It is dishes like this that could easily turn me into a vegetarian. This soup is rich and flavorful, even if I used the wrong veggie…lol!
Napa Cabbage and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
- 1 pinch pinch of red pepper flakes + more for serving (optional)
- 1 small head Napa cabbage leaves torn into 2-inch pieces
- 15.5 ounce can red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 15.5 ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- lemon wedges and crusty bread for serving
Instructions
- Cut the bottom off the cabbage, then peel away the leaves; cut or tear into two-inch pieces. Rinse the leaves with cold water. Allow them to drain or use a salad spinner to remove excess water.
- Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat; add the garlic and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute, or until oil becomes fragrant (do not brown).
- Add cabbage, toss to coat, and season with salt, to taste. Cook until cabbage is just wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Toss the beans and chickpeas into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Shake out excess water and add it and the broth to the pot of cabbage; bring to a simmer.
- Cook until heated through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Remove garlic and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve with crusty bread, lemon wedges, and red pepper flakes.
Notes
-
-
- Drying the cabbage leaves as much as possible is essential since they will go into hot oil.
- Although the entire head of cabbage is edible, I remove square stem pieces. It makes the soup more appetizing.
- Make sure you drain and rinse the beans to reduce and control sodium.
- Don’t forget to take out the garlic. Biting down on whole cloves of garlic is gross!
-
Colleen says
Napa is my most favorite cabbage! Between the flavor and the texture, it has all the serious YUMS!!!
The Mountain Kitchen says
It is now my favorite too! A very happy mistake!! 🙂
Jenny says
This soup looks great, Debbie! I love napa cabbage too, though have not tried it in a soup. I will have to give this a try!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks Jenny. It is delicious! A very happy mistake. 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart says
I love everything about this soup! It’s delicious and virtually fat-free too! I use Napa cabbage and really like it.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks, Julie. It was delicious! I hope you’ll try it, you’ll love it. 🙂
Anonymous says
That’s funny about the napa cabbage – personally I would prefer it over escarole. That’s why I love to make soup – you can make it your own 🙂
The Mountain Kitchen says
It was a very happy mistake to say the least. Yes, soup is very forgiving, isn’t it?!?! 🙂
Stephanie says
Made this soup and loved it! I used my homemade chicken broth which was delicious on its own but adding these simple and tasty ingredients made it super yummy. I was Googling for soup to make with napa cabbage and beans and it led me here. So glad it did!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hi Stephanie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup. This soup is proof that even the most simple ingredients can come together to make something wonderful. I know your homemade chicken broth really set it off. Thanks for taking time to comment! 🙂
Patricia says
Made this exactly as the recipe said but used Better Than Broth veggie broth with water. Truly excellent! The flavor is great and the texture is really nice for a soup! Will make this again!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hey Patricia! I’m no glad you liked the soup. It’s one of our favorites! Thanks for commenting!
Diane says
I love easy peasy recipes! Looks really yummy too!! Hope you are having a wonderful summer.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hi Diane! I hope you will try this soup. It is one of my favorites and it is ready in just minutes. Just don’t forget that squeeze of lemon! Hope you are enjoying your summer too!
AsianCookingMom says
Nice recipe. I haven’t tried beans in my own version of napa pork bone soup, but it’s something I’ll definitely consider!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!
Lil’Mama says
Do you actually remove the garlic? (Step 6) I actually minced the garlic and obviously couldn’t remove it… also didn’t have kidney beans so used one can great northern one of pinto (doubled recipe)waiting for it to cook now.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hi there! Yes, I only smashed the garlic to give flavor. Mincing the garlic and leaving it in is perfectly fine too. Hope you enjoyed the soup!
Frank says
Grabbing a lot of Napa cabbage from Farmers market and need ideas – thanks for recipe!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Sure thing, Frank. Enjoy!