No-Chicken Noodle Soup (Vegan or Vegetarian)
Are you craving hearty, brothy, delicious noodle soup - but want to keep it vegan or vegetarian? Then come try our easy veggie no-chicken noodle soup recipe. It's full of the comforting and nostalgic flavors of classic chicken noodle soup, but with special vegan flair.
Servings: 6 servings
Equipment
- Stock pot or large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 large onion - yellow, sweet, or white
- 4 large celery stalks
- 4 large carrots
- 3 Tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 3 cups chopped hearty greens such as kale, green cabbage, Swiss chard, or collard greens
- 8 cups no-chicken broth or vegetable broth (low sodium, 2 quart containers)
- 1 can beans of choice, such as white beans, chickpeas, or pinto beans (approximately 15 ounces)
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- salt and pepper, to taste
- up to one 12 oz package of noodles of choice (*see noodle notes below)
Optional, but highly recommended
- 1 Tbsp fresh sage, about 8 to 12 leaves, finely minced (or 1 tsp dry)
- 2 or 3 bay leaves, fresh or dry
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp miso paste (dissolved in 1/2 to 1 cup water before adding to soup)
- chopped fresh parsley to top/serve
- bread or crackers, for serving
Instructions
- Add olive oil or butter to the bottom of your stockpot or sauce pan and turn it on over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onions, celery, and carrots, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Saute until the onions become translucent, and the carrots and celery are just fork-tender (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally.
- Next, add the herbs (minced if fresh) and minced garlic along with the chopped leafy greens. Add optional sage and whole bay leaves now. Cook about five minutes, stirring on occasion.
- Add all of the other called-for ingredients except the noodles: the no-chicken broth or vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, dissolved miso paste , ground cloves, and beans. (Drain and rinse canned beans before adding them).
- Bring to a boil before adding noodles.
- Add noodles. Break long spaghetti-like noodles in half first. Follow the recommended time on your particular noodle package, but remove from heat when the noodles are just about done but ever-so-slightly el dente still. They’ll continue to cook a bit once you turn off the heat. Stir on occasion while cooking. (*See noodle notes below for alternative option)
- Serve and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator and enjoy within one week.
- Freeze extras in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months.
Notes
Noodle notes: Use only half or two-thirds of the 12-ounce package as a lower carb option. We used an 8 ounce package in this particular batch, and it was plenty! Egg noodles are a chicken noodle soup classic, but you can use any type or long or short noodles that you wish. As a gluten-free option, I highly suggest these organic brown rice spaghetti noodles.
We always cook our noodles right in the same pot as the soup. However, you can also cook them in a separate pot of water and add them to the soup at the end, or add noodles to each bowl of soup upon serving.