Chase away the sniffles with this nourishing, healing, and spicy vegan chickpea noodle soup. It’s chock full of good stuff: broth, vegetables, chickpeas, noodles, turmeric, cayenne, miso, and lemon.
There aren’t many occasions when I feel left out as a vegetarian, what with all the delicious and nourishing plant-based recipes and foods out there. The one exception? When I am sick, often the only thing that appeals is a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. So what’s an ethical vegetarian or vegan to do? To answer this question, I set about creating a vegan healing chickpea noodle soup recipe full of immunity-boosting vegetables–onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and kale, spices like turmeric, ginger, and cayenne, and healthful seasonings like chickpea miso and lemon juice. Chickpeas and noodles add a hearty quality as well as protein and carbohydrates: nourishment is essential when you are sick, as your body is expending a lot of energy fighting off the virus.
I’ve intentionally kept the soup preparation quite simple, because I know that when you are under the weather, the last thing that you feel like doing is slaving over a hot stove for hours on end. In all, this soup takes just 10 minutes of active prep time, and 20-30 minutes of simmering, before it is ready. It makes a generous batch, too–at least six big servings worth.
Simplicity doesn’t always equate to blandness, however, and this soup is a veritable flavour bomb. Even if you have a cold and your taste buds have been dulled, some flavour will still come through.
Full disclosure here: I had become rather cocky about my great health for most of 2019, and I made the mistake of voicing it to a friend. I believe the universe was listening, as December saw me sidelined by not one, but two colds. This healing chickpea noodle soup certainly helped me recover, and if you are in the same boat… well, I think it will help you return to health, too.
how to make healing chickpea noodle soup
To make this soup, you’ll saute onions, garlic, fresh ginger, spices, salt, and pepper in a bit of olive oil or coconut oil. Add carrots and celery and cook until somewhat tender. Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a low boil. Then, add uncooked noodles to the broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove ½ cup of the broth from the pot, place it in a small bowl, and whisk it with the miso. Add the miso back to the pot, along with 2-3 cups of cooked chickpeas (the amount depends on how hearty you want your soup to be). Finally, add a bit of filtered water if the soup now seems too thick, and add lemon juice to the pot right before serving.
serving and menu ideas
If you’re under the weather and you don’t have a huge appetite, this soup might be all that you need. However, under normal circumstances, soup never feels like a full meal (to me, at least). I love serving this chickpea noodle soup with avocado toast or simple bread and butter.
If you’re looking for more soup recipes, you are welcome to try my Winter Glow Cauliflower, Turmeric, and Potato Soup, Fennel, Apple, and Cauliflower Soup, and Nourishing Beet, Cabbage, and Bean Borscht as well. 🙂
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I hope that you love this soup. If you make it, leave a comment and review below this recipe, and share a photo to Instagram using @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen.
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Healing Chickpea Noodle Soup
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Chase away the sniffles, or simply the winter blues, with this nourishing, spicy, and brightly flavoured chickpea noodle soup.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium yellow onions, diced
- 5 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tbsp minced ginger root
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 3 ribs of celery, diced
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 4 servings of noodles (I used linguine, but you can substitute 1 ½ cups dry chunky pasta like penne or rotini)
- 2 tbsp chickpea miso or mellow white miso
- 2–3 cups cooked chickpeas (depending on how hearty you like your soup)
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1 large bunch green kale, chopped into ribbons
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the salt, pepper, turmeric, and cayenne, followed by the carrots and celery. Cook for 2 more minutes, then add the vegetable broth.
- Turn up heat and bring the soup to a boil. Add the noodles and cook for 10 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low.
- Using a ladle, scoop out about ½ cup of the broth and place it in a small bowl. Add the miso and whisk together. Add the chickpeas to the soup, followed by the broth/miso mixture.
- If the soup seems too thick, you can add additional water at this point (I added 2 cups).
- Finally, add the chopped kale to the soup and cook just until bright green.
- Finally, add the lemon juice right before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
I hope that 2020 has been good to you so far. A dear friend of mine shared a beautiful quote the other day, and I’m signing off with it here. Fitting, I think, given some of the events that have already happened in the first weeks of the year.
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”
? L.R. Knost
Shelly says
The flavours and colour in this soup are remarkable. Perfect winter soup!