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Broad Bean and Cactus Soup

Name: Broad Bean and Cactus Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 300 g peeled dried broad beans; 3 sprigs epazote; 3 pencas cactus paddles (nopales); 2 cloves garlic; 1 to taste salt; 0.5 white onion; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 pinch bicarbonate of soda; 1200 ml vegetable stock; 2 árbol chilli

60 min (15 prep + 45 cook) Easy 4 servings Centro

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 27 Mar 2026 · Updated: 30 Mar 2026

Dried broad bean soup with cactus paddle strips and epazote, nourishing and ideal for Lent.

About this recipe

A robust, nourishing soup combining peeled dried broad beans - with their Arab-Spanish heritage - with pre-Columbian Mexican cactus paddles. The result is an earthy, slightly viscous broth (thanks to the cactus) with the creaminess of the beans and the fragrance of epazote. This is Lent made into soup: hearty, meatless and with a depth of flavour that wants for nothing.

History & Origin

Broad bean and cactus soup is the perfect expression of the syncretic cooking that flourishes in central Mexico during Lent, when the Catholic Church prohibits meat on Fridays. The broad bean, a legume originating in the Middle East, arrived in Mexico with the Spanish in the sixteenth century and found an ideal climate in the central valleys. Franciscan missionaries introduced it as a protein alternative during Lent, and indigenous cooks immediately combined it with the nopal cactus - an ingredient that appears on the national coat of arms - creating this unique partnership. In the markets of Tlaxcala, Puebla and Hidalgo, broad bean soup is the quintessential Friday dish, sold in clay pots by women who begin preparing it before dawn. The cactus also contributes natural mucilage that lightly thickens the broth, giving it a characteristic and inimitable texture.

Estimated cost

£11.00

Total cost

£2.75

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

180

Calories

10g

Protein

22g

Carbohydrates

Fat

Fibre

400mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Soak the dried broad beans in cold water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.
💡 If using pre-peeled (skinned) broad beans, skip the soaking and proceed directly to cooking.
2
Clean the cactus paddles, remove the spines with a knife and cut into 1 cm strips. Boil in salted water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well to reduce the sliminess.
3
In a pot, sweat the onion and garlic in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the soaked broad beans and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil.
4
Cook over medium heat for 30–35 minutes until the broad beans are very tender. Add the drained cactus strips and epazote. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
5
Season with salt. Serve in bowls with toasted árbol chilli and a drizzle of olive oil. Accompany with warm tortillas.