Romanian Green Bean Soup Recipe (vegan)
A comforting Romanian green bean soup recipe with paprika, lovage, and fresh herbs — straight from a Romanian kitchen.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil (or any other neutral tasting oil)
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika (sweet, Hungarian-style preferred, not smoked or hot)
- 600 g fresh green beans (frozen green beans work too)
- 1.5 liters of vegetable broth
- 4 sprigs of fresh lovage (OR 2 teaspoons dried lovage)
- ½ bunch fresh parsley, leaves only, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill, finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- If you’re using fresh green beans, wash them, trim them, and chop them into bite-size pieces. Prepare onion and garlic.
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until translucent.
- Add the finely chopped garlic. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant (avoid browning).
- Add the ground paprika and the green beans. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the paprika blooms and releases its aroma (but watch out not to brown the paprika or it will taste bitter).
- Pour in the vegetable broth and add the lovage (sprigs or dried amount). Bring the soup to a full boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid and simmer until the green beans are tender-crisp (about 10-15 minutes).
- Turn off the heat. Remove and discard the fresh lovage sprigs. Stir in the freshly chopped parsley and dill.
- Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm.