Galician Broth (Caldo Gallego)
A deeply comforting Galician soup of white beans, potatoes and leafy greens simmered slowly with salted pork and chorizo until the broth turns rich and golden. The kind of pot that feeds a whole family on a cold day.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Soak the beans
The night before, cover the dried white beans with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak at room temperature. Drain and rinse before cooking.
- 300 g dried white beans
✅ Done when: the beans have swelled up and feel soft when you squeeze one between your fingers
Cook the beans and pork
In a large, heavy pot, combine the drained beans, water, salted pork, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, skim off the grey foam that rises to the top, then lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered, for about 1 hour.
- 300 g soaked beans
- 3 litres water
- 300 g salted pork
- 50 g
- 1 bay leaf
✅ Done when: the beans are tender but still hold their shape, and the pork is almost fully cooked
Add potatoes and chorizo
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Add the greens
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Shred the meats and season
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Serve
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Soak the beans
The night before, cover the dried white beans with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak at room temperature. Drain and rinse before cooking.
- 300 g dried white beans
✅ Done when: the beans have swelled up and feel soft when you squeeze one between your fingers
Cook the beans and pork
In a large, heavy pot, combine the drained beans, water, salted pork, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, skim off the grey foam that rises to the top, then lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered, for about 1 hour.
- 300 g soaked beans
- 3 litres water
- 300 g salted pork
- 50 g
- 1 bay leaf
✅ Done when: the beans are tender but still hold their shape, and the pork is almost fully cooked
Add potatoes and chorizo
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Add the greens
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Shred the meats and season
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Serve
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
The Story Behind the Dish
Caldo gallego grew out of the humble, hard-working kitchens of inland Galicia, where a good pot of beans, greens and salted pork could stretch across a whole family and several meals. It belongs to the same family of one-pot farmhouse soups found across rural Spain, built from whatever the land and the pantry gave: dried beans, potatoes once they arrived from the Americas, and the greens grown in nearly every garden.
The salted pork and the small piece of unto, saved from the yearly pig slaughter, were what turned a plain vegetable broth into something rich and warming enough to get through the wet, cold Galician winters.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It is the dish most Galicians think of first when the weather turns cold, prized for its deep, savoury broth and the way the greens and beans soak up the flavour of the cured pork.
💡 Fun Fact
Grelos, the turnip greens that give the soup its slightly bitter edge, are so tied to Galician identity that the region holds dedicated grelo festivals in late winter and early spring.
Galicia, northwestern Spain
42.88°N, -8.54°W
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