Revithada

By: Eleni Saltas

Revithada (garbanzo bean/chickpea soup) is a popular dish from the island of Sifnos that’s traditionally served on Sundays. Instead of long baking in the oven, I found a way to make this dish quickly from canned beans and slowly cooked to perfection for you to enjoy and not have to wait for a Sunday in Sifnos.

Prep Time:

5min

Total Time:

90 min

Servings:

2-4

Good For:

Dinner/Lent

Ingredients

45 ounces (in the can) of garbanzo beans*
1 cup of water
½ yellow onion, roughly chopped (I like big pieces here)
2 shallots, sliced
3 bay leaves
2 small garlic cloves, minced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of two lemons, or more to taste
Zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

In a medium sized pot, pour garbanzo beans plus their liquid into the pot. This is my quick method as I use the liquid from the cans. Add water, onions, shallots, garlic, bay leaves, and half of the olive oil. Make sure the beans are covered, so add more liquid if needed. Season well with pepper.

Step 2

Bring ingredients to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until beans are soft and onions fully cooked, about 1 ½ hours. Occasionally check for flavor and stir.

Step 3

If you like the texture as is, proceed to the last step. If you prefer a thicker soup, ladle about 1 cup worth of the soup into a separate bowl. Using an immersion blender (or you can use a food processor), blend the ingredients around until smooth. Pour the contents back into the pot with the soup.
4. Remove

Step 4

Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest and remaining olive oil. Serve warm with additional pepper and enjoy.

Recipe Notes

*Also called chickpeas.
If using dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans, use 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) of dried beans soak overnight with a heaping tablespoon of salt to soften them. When cooking, use about 8 cups of liquid.

8 Comments

Denise Vilven on March 16, 2023 at 12:18 pm

Thank you Eleni. I love chickpeas.♡
Denise Vilven
- elenisaltas on March 16, 2023 at 1:24 pm
  
  ooh yay! this one is great. enjoy
Catherine Sharpsteen on March 16, 2023 at 2:35 pm

I love this recipe! Thanks for including instructions for using dry garbanzos. What quantity of dry garbanzos do you recommend?
- elenisaltas on March 21, 2023 at 12:35 am
  
  You’d just need about 1.5 cups of dried beans! When cooking, cover the beans with liquid.
Masha on March 20, 2023 at 2:27 pm

Is the omission of salt intentional? I’ve got this simmering now and wanted to check. Thanks!
- elenisaltas on March 21, 2023 at 12:19 am
  
  So sorry I just saw this! If using canned beans, I don’t typically add salt! But i’ll add It in my ingredients to taste. Thank you!
  - Masha on April 5, 2023 at 8:49 pm
    
    It was delicious! I made it with dry chickpeas. My daughter couldn’t believe it was Lenten. I’m making it again today with canned chickpeas.
  - elenisaltas on April 8, 2023 at 2:22 am
    
    Love to hear that! Thanks so much for trying the recipe 🙂 I hope you like It just the same with the canned chickpeas. I am often in a hurry and love the ease they bring!