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Because beans can do more than just savory dishes! Introducing Sweet Mung Bean Soup!
This sweet soup makes the perfect afternoon snack. It’s creamy, sweet, and refreshing! Sweet soups are one of my favorite snacks to have in front of a good movie. Now, it is time to make it!
This 5-ingredient dessert is easy to prepare. You start by soaking the split yellow mung beans for about 2 hours. This will reduce the cooking time and make the beans easier to digest.
Next, drain and rinse them a few times under cold water. Transfer to a saucepan, cover with water, and add the sugar.
To sweeten, I went with maple syrup, which gives it a nice caramel flavor. However, if you want to get a more traditional flavor and taste the beans a bit more, feel free to use regular sugar.
Speaking of tradition, this recipe is inspired by “chè,” a Vietnamese dessert that comes in many shapes, colors, and flavors. It usually consists of sweet beans, rice, or jelly served chilled with coconut milk.
Back to the recipe, bring the beans to a boil and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the beans are super tender. Next, stir in the vanilla extract and add some tapioca starch to thicken the soup. The addition of tapioca makes this soup slightly sticky (in a good way!).
This soup is best served cold, in my opinion, but it’s also delicious at room temperature. Serve with coconut milk or coconut cream and toasted sesame seeds!
This sweet soup is thick, perfectly sweet, and infused with a nice vanilla flavor. Plus, it contains a good amount of protein from the mung beans. Stay tuned for more sweet soup recipes!
Let me know in the comments if you try this sweet recipe!
Vanilla Sweet Mung Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup split yellow mung beans
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or white sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp tapioca starch diluted in 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk*
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for topping
Instructions
- Place the split mung beans in a bowl and cover with water. Soak the beans for about 2 hours.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Wash them a couple of times under cold water. Transfer the beans to a medium saucepan. Add the maple syrup, water, and salt.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for about 25 minutes. Check regularly to make sure there is still some water remaining. Once the beans are soft, you should still have a little bit of water, but it should not be soupy. If no water remains, add about 1/4 cup of water.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, and pour in the tapioca diluted in water. Cook for one more minute.
- Remove from heat and let it cool at room temperature. You can enjoy at room temperature, or chilled (my favorite).
- Serve with chilled coconut milk on top and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds! This sweet soup will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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Such a great new soup idea. I always gravitate to familiar ones but I’m really inspired to try this now. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Tori!
Hi, I only gave green mung beans in the pantry. Do you think they might also work if soaked overnight? Thanks!
Hi Louiza,
The flavor and texture will be different, but it’s possible to make it with green mung beans.
I made this yesterday and it was delicious! I love sweet dishes made with savory ingredients. Do you think you could also make this using rice / lentils etc?
I’m glad to hear you liked this sweet soup Hannah! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Regarding the lentils, I’m not really sure but maybe red lentils?
Thank you for this recipe, what a beautiful sweet soup! Already made it twice and doubled up the ingredients but still didn’t last longer than a day. 😉 It became really thick at the end but we didn’t mind it at all, it was lovely on both occasions.
You’re welcome Maria 🙂 You can add a bit more water if you prefer it thinner.
I am going to try this with green beans, wondered besides the vanilla, what other spice combinations do you think would work with this? Cinnamon perhaps?
You could add a little bit of cinnamon and cardamom, or orange/lime zests!