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Mung Bean Soup

Mung Bean Soup is a super nutritious and easy soup to make. Just sauté and simmer. The combination of spices and fresh ingredients will make this vegetarian soup one of your favorites. This soup cooks up fast enough for a weeknight family meal.

Mung beans are a member of the legume family. It is very common in Asian cuisine and has a wide array of practical uses in cooking.

You may know mung beans by its more common use in western cuisine by the name of bean sprouts. Mung beans are soaked in water until they sprout then used for making stir-fry, egg rolls, garnishes for soups and wraps.

Mung beans go by different names depending on the region. In the Philippines, it is known as the monggo bean where it is commonly cooked into a stew with added prawns, a common dish during Lent. In India, the outer green hull is stripped away and is known as mung dal. In Bangladesh this is known as Moog dal. Chances are you have already had mung beans in some form so don’t be afraid of this bright, green bean. You already love this, you just didn’t know it.

If you are vegetarian inclined, incorporating more legumes like mung beans into your diet can yield really good nutritional value. They are high in B vitamins, protein, folate, thiamin and minerals. Even if you aren’t vegetarian, expanding your culinary horizons to include this superfood can improve your nutritional intake.

If you really like soup that is healthy, try Norwegian Lamb and Cabbage stew. With just a few ingredients, you can enjoy Norways national dish.


You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this soup made with fresh ingredients. If you make this, tag us on Instagram #FusionCraftiness so that we may see. Bon Appetit!

Did you make this recipe?  Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below!  Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)

If you are making your own broth, you will need to check out this post on How to Make Broth. It also gives you clues as to when homemade broth is a must or if you can get away with store bought broth.

A bowl of soup.

Mung Bean Soup

Yield: 6 bowls
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 32 minutes
Total Time: 52 minutes

Mung Bean Soup is a super nutritious and easy soup to make. Just sauté and simmer. The combination of spices and fresh ingredients will make this vegetarian soup one of your favorites. This soup cooks up fast enough for a weeknight family meal.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of mung beans
  • 1 tsp of baking soda
  • 3 tbs cooking oil
  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1 Tbs minced ginger
  • 1 serrano, seeded and diced small
  • 1 Tbs turmeric
  • 1 tsp Chile powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 lemons, quartered

Instructions

  1. Place beans in a medium bowl, add baking soda and enough water to cover by an inch.  Soak at least 1  hour or overnight.  Drain and rinse beans well.  Set aside.
  2. In a dutch oven or large soup pot, add oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cinnamon stick, cook until onions are translucent, stirring frequently, about five minutes.
  3. Add garlic, ginger, serrano, turmeric, Chile powder, cumin, corriander and cook 2 minutes.
  4. Add tomatoes undrained and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Add mung beans, water and 1 tsp salt, simmer for 20 minutes.  Add more water if necessary for desired consistency.  
  6. When beans are soft, serve with desired garnish and lemon wedges.

Notes

  • A great addition to this soup is asafetida or fenugreek leaves.  These ingredients can be a little hard to find in a regular market.  If you do have these ingredients, add when you add the other spices.
  • Serve with crusty bread.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 bowl
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 687mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 6gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g

Did you make this recipe?

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Dawn

Saturday 11th of April 2020

This recipe is delicious. It’s interesting with ginger, cinnamon with Mexican spices. I added carrots, zucchini and ground turkey. Made homemade organic sourdough. Perfect combo.

Tina

Monday 13th of April 2020

So glad this worked out for you! I love all soups and mung beans are not only easy to work with but I really like the texture. It has a good 'bite'. Happy souping Dawn!

Trish Bozeman

Tuesday 21st of May 2019

We eat mostly vegetarian meals and usually use lentils, but I'm so excited to try mung beans! This is gorgeous and just what we need to switch things up.

Debra

Monday 20th of May 2019

I buy mung beans all the time to sprout, but I never considered cooking them into soup. Great idea. I'd like to use more of them because they are so nutritious.

Sean@Diversivore

Monday 20th of May 2019

Lovely soup, with wonderful spices. I like pretty much every pulse out there, but I don't cook mung beans often enough (I do use the husked mung daal a little more regularly though). With a recipe like this to fall back on I think I'll have to start using them a bit more regularly. Cheers!

Dana

Monday 20th of May 2019

Perfect for rainy days and meatless Mondays! I love effortless weeknight dinners. Even though I work from home, sometimes I just don't have the energy to whip something up in the evening. Something like this is simple, perfect, and light.

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