Protein-Packed Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk

Cozy up with our creamy, protein-packed Mung Bean Soup with coconut milk, loaded with fresh veggies, sweet potatoes, and digestion - friendly spices. Yin nourishing and gut friendly, it’s a perfectly balanced bowl of comfort and wellness.

Unlike the Chinese version of “sweet” mung bean soup or our mung bean daifuku mochi, this Filipino version is “savory”! The chunks of sweet potato and whole mung beans break down into a thick and creamy, rich soup. This comforting soup was just what we were craving!  After about 3 bowls later (smiling), we decided to leave the rest for the family to enjoy. (smiling)

Basic Ingredients

The beauty of this hearty mung bean soup is that your preferred options for vegetable additions are endless. It’s a delicious and frugal way to clean out the refrigerator of those little bits and bobs of vegetables. Feel free to change it up and add what is in your crisper inventory. Next to each ingredient we have noted the food’s energy as warming, cooling or neutral according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

• Whole Mung Beans (cooling) – These magical dried green beans are part of the legume family. They make this soup creamy, comforting, and packed with plant-based protein! This nutrient dense food is sometimes also referred to as green gram, moong, mongo, monggo, mash bean or  绿豆 (lǜ dòu) in Chinese. You can purchase whole dried mung beans at major grocery stores like Whole Foods, Walmart in the International food section or online at Amazon. Mung beans are usually available at most Asian markets in the dried foods section.
• Onion and Garlic (warming) – flavorful aromatics
• Cumin (warming) – gives this soup with mung beans an earthy and delicious flavor.
• Carrots and Celery (neutral and cooling) – or veggies of choice.
• Tomato (cooling) – fresh or canned gives this protein soup a pop of flavor.
• Spinach – (cooling) – or any quick cooking green like Swiss chard or baby kale are delicious for a pop of color and extra nutrients.
• coconut milk - (cooling) – adds a rich creamy flavor to the soup. In TCM, coconut milk is considered a yin food that may help with the cooling, moistening and help tonify yin.

Gut Healthy Ingredients

Bone Broth (warming)– Have you ever had a savory Chinese soup without bones? I know right? Grandmas know best because they are healers. We made homemade bone broth from our leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones. You can substitute with store bought bone broth (we won’t tell a soul), beef bone broth, chicken broth, or even vegetable broth to keep this recipe vegan. Bone both adds between 64 to 84 grams of protein per 8 cups bone broth and is a gut friendly addition to the soup. (1)

Ginger (warming) - We used a one-inch knob freshly grated ginger, but you can substitute with ½ teaspoon of dried ginger. Ginger helps wake up your digestive fire by speeding up gastric emptying and promotes smooth muscle contraction in the intestines. This helps get things moving along and a delicious addition to this TCM-inspired soup. (2)

Fennel seeds (warming) – can be found down the spice isle at your local grocery store. Not only does this herb have a mildly sweet anise flavor, like in our balsamic roasted fennel and carrots, but it a powerhouse when it comes to helping digestion. Fennel seeds or ground fennel may help digest food and reduce gas and bloating. (3)

Sweet Potato (neutral or lightly cooling) – lightly sweet and nourishing. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may help strengthen the spleen and nourish yin.

bay leaves (warming) – is one of our favorite additions to curried ham and lentil  and chicken and rice soup. This dried herb adds a subtle flavor of clove, tea and almost an earthy flavor. It’s hard to explain but it makes legumes pop. However, the reason you are going to love it even more is because according to TCM, bay leaf (yue gui shu ye) may help aid in digestion and help ease bloating.

How To Prepare Mung Beans Quickly?

Try our quick boiled water method to soften the mung beans quickly. It reduces the cooking time and more importantly it makes the mungs beans easier to digest. 

• Rinse Beans: Place mungs beans in a colander and rinse. Discard any broken or discolored beans and pitch.
• Boil Water: Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to a boil.
• Soak: Place the whole dried mung beans into a heat safe bowl and pour the boiled water over the mung beans. Cover lightly and let them soak at room temperature for about 2 hours or until they have a little give when you press on a bean.

• Drain and Rinse: After soaking, drain and rinse the beans.

If you do not plan on making the soup until the next day, you can soak the beans in cool water overnight for 8 to 12 hours and rinse them thoroughly.

How to Make Soup with Mung Beans?

• Soak, rinse and drain mung beans
• Sauté the digestive friendly spices and aromatics in the soup pot.

• Add vegetables like carrots, celery and sweet potatoes into the soup pot with the spices.
• Pour in the prepared mung beans into the pot.

• Add bone broth, chicken or vegetable broth to the pot along with bay leaves.
• Toss in the chopped tomatoes.

• Cover and cook over medium high heat for about 50 minutes to an hour until the mung beans start to break apart and are completely tender.

• Season to taste and add the coconut broth.
• Turn off the burner and add the quick cooking spinach or leafy vegetable of choice.
• Enjoy

Recipe Tips

• Chop vegetables the same size so they all cook down together at the same time.
• Soaking the mung beans in hot water for 2 hours or overnight with cool water will help the beans cook faster. In addition, it makes the mung beans easier to digest. 
• If you don't have time to soak the mung beans, you can still make the soup, but it may take longer to cook. 
• Choose good quality coconut milk and vigorously shake the can or heat it up BEFORE adding it to the soup so it does not curdle. Coconut milk without added emulsifiers is prone to a natural separation of the coconut fat from the soup liquid because of the difference in temperature. Don’t sweat it if this happens to you. It does not affect the flavor. If you wish, you can blend the soup and the problem will be resolved.
• Add more bone broth or water during the cooking process as the soup cooks and thickens.
• Do not season the mung bean soup with salt until AFTER it is done cooking or it can make the mung beans tough.
• We found it takes over 30 minutes for our Instant Pot or pressure cooker to come to pressure, if you choose this method.
• Stove Top is just as simple but compared to the Instant Pot but it needs to be monitored during the cooking process.

Topping Ideas

• Air fryer tofu croutons – easy recipe instruction in the recipe notes.
• Toasted black sesame seeds
• Fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley.

What to serve with Soup?

1. Rice or quinoa
2. Naan bread, roti, gluten-free crackers or Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread
3. Salads
4. Sandwiches or chicken Caesar lettuce wrap sandwiches
5. Fresh fruit
6. Refrigerator pickles

Benefits of Mung Beans

Did you know? Mung beans feed the good bacteria in your gut, helping keep digestion smooth and your microbiome happy. (4, 5)

Not only that, but this magical green bean is yin nourishing and it’s energy is cooling in nature and it may even help reduce menopausal symptoms. Mung beans are a source of phytoestrogens. These special compounds may help balance the changes in estrogen in the body to reduce hot flashes and more. So, it has that going for it! (6, 7)

How to Make Mung Beans Easier to Digest?

Mung beans are one of the easiest legumes to digest and are hidden powerhouses of protein, fiber, iron, B vitamins and folate.  If you suffer from bloating and gas after eating legumes, here are some suggestions to make them even easier to digest…

1. Soak your beans before cooking!
2. Cook the mung beans completely until they are soft and start to break down in the soup.
3. Adding spices like fennel, ginger, cumin and bay leaves to your recipes can help you digest the legumes so they can nourish your body.
4. Start out with a smaller portion of mung beans, if you are new to them. Gradually, increase the amount so your gut has time to adjust.
5. Drink plenty of water as you increase the fiber in your diet to prevent constipation and improve gut health.
6. Pressure cook the mung bean soup. This can help expedite the breakdown of difficulty digesting sugars in legumes.
7. Consider digestive enzyme supplements.