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Chickpea Noodle Soup

This creamy chickpea noodle soup is the best vegan comfort food you’ll find on the internet! It’s filled with pantry ingredients and loaded with warm, cozy, flavors that will have your family cleaning their bowls and asking for seconds!

Overhead shot of a bowl of chickpea noodle soup garnished with chopped parsley


 

You’ll Love This

  • It’s SO quick and easy! Just a quick saute of classic mirepoix, then add the pasta along with broth, coconut milk, chickpeas, and a few key spices! Everything cooks right in one pot also – which means you’ll have fewer dishes to do! If you love one pot chickpea meals, be sure to check out my Vegan White Chickpea Chili and Vegan Olive Garden Gnocchi Soup!
  • The ingredient list is very pantry friendly! A majority of these ingredients are canned, which means you can stock up when there’s a sale and keep them on hand so you’ll have everything you need to make this soup whenever the mood strikes.
  • The flavors are outrageous! A subtle hint of curry and ginger enveloped in a perfectly creamy broth is what really makes this vegan chicken noodle soup a family favorite. It’s comforting in all the right ways but loaded with real ingredients so you can feel good about serving it to your family.
Overhead shot of a white pot of chickpea noodle soup garnished with chopped parsley

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Olive Oil – This is our family’s favorite brand of olive oil. For the best flavor, look for an olive oil that is cold-pressed and organic.
  • Carrot – Feel free to use matchstick carrots in place of the chopped carrots to save prep time.
  • Celery – If you don’t have celery on hand, just add a bit of extra carrot in it’s place or omit entirely.
  • Yellow Onion – You could also use white onion in place of the yellow onion if that’s all you have on hand.
  • Fresh Garlic – Freshly minced garlic will give you the best flavor in this soup, but if you don’t have any on hand you could use 1/2-1 teaspoon of garlic powder in it’s place.
  • Curry Powder – The curry powder is really what gives this chickpea soup it’s signature flavor. If you don’t have any on hand, you can omit it but I highly recommend keeping curry powder in the cupboard.
  • Ground Ginger – You could also use fresh ginger if you have some on hand. I’d recommend a 1/2-1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger in place of the ground ginger.
  • Turmeric – The turmeric in this recipe is going to give it that lovely yellow color but if you don’t have any on hand, feel free to omit it.
  • Vegetable Broth – Homemade or store-bought vegetable broth will work just fine in this recipe.
  • Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk – This is our family’s favorite brand of coconut milk. Make sure you grab a can of full-fat coconut milk – not the kind in a carton.
  • Rotini Pasta – You could use any type of pasta in this soup recipe. I prefer the size and shape of rotini but whatever’s in the cupboard will work.
  • Garbanzo Beans – Also known as chickpeas, garbanzo beans replace the traditional chicken in this classic noodle soup.
  • Bay Leaves – If you don’t have any on hand, you can certainly omit them. But bay leaves add a great depth of flavor to this soup.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar – This may sound like an odd ingredient for soup, but trust me here – the acidity from the vinegar elevates the other flavors of the soup and pairs perfectly with the rich broth. You could also use white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar in it’s place.

Instructions

Saute carrot, celery, and onion in olive oil.

Large white pot filed with sliced carrots celery and onion

Add garlic, curry powder, ginger and turmeric. Cook for another minute, stirring frequently. 

Large white pot filled with sauteed veggies and spices

Add a splash of veggie broth to deglaze the pan and scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom. 

Large white pot filled with sauteed veggies and broth

Add coconut milk, rotini pasta, and chickpeas

Large white pot filled with coconut milk chickpeas and pasta

Add remaining vegetable broth and bay leaves along with another couple large pinches of salt and pepper. Simmer until pasta is just al dente. 

Large white pot filled with ingredients to make chickpea noodle soup

Stir in apple cider vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

Large white pot filled with homemade creamy vegan chickpea noodle soup

Tips

  • You can use whatever noodles you have on hand in place of the rotini. Short cuts of pasta work best in this veggie noodle soup. Noodles like:
  • If you’re using other noodles be sure to check the cooking time. I’d recommend simmering the soup for about 1 minute less than the lowest recommended cook time. Then start (carefully) tasting the noodles and remove the soup from the heat as soon as the pasta is al dente.
  • If you don’t have coconut milk on hand you can substitute heavy cream, almond/oat milk or even just omit the creamy element entirely and enjoy a broth-based vegetable noodle soup.
  • This chickpea noodle soup will thicken as it cools. You can add more broth or additional coconut milk to loosen it up. Be sure to season to taste with salt again after adding more liquid.
  • To reheat this vegetarian chicken noodle soup, just place it in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add broth or coconut milk to loosen it up and season to taste with salt. Heat until everything is warmed through and enjoy!
Overhead shot of a bowl of chickpea noodle soup garnished with chopped parsley

FAQ

What is a vegan substitute for chicken broth?

Vegetable broth is the perfect substitute for chicken broth and is an ingredient that I utilize in many of my vegan soup recipes. The flavor is of course slightly different than chicken broth but an extra couple pinches of salt makes it taste pretty darn close to chicken broth. Mushroom broth is also another vegan option you could use in place of chicken broth.

How do you make vegetable soup taste better?

In this recipe, we bump up the flavors of a simple noodle vegetable soup by adding curry powder, ginger, and coconut milk. The spices add deep flavor and the coconut milk creates a rich, luxurious broth which takes this chickpea noodle soup to another level.

Do you cook noodles before adding to soup?

The best part about this chickpea noodle soup is that everything cooks in one pot! The uncooked noodles are added right to the soup and will simmer along with the other ingredients until they are al dente. This also allows the starch from the pasta to thicken the soup as well, adding to the rich creamy texture.

Try these easy soup recipes next!

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Chickpea Noodle Soup

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5 from 64 reviews

This creamy chickpea noodle soup is the best vegan comfort food you’ll find on the internet! It’s filled with pantry ingredients and loaded with warm, cozy, flavors that will have your family cleaning their bowls and asking for seconds!

  • Author: Kylie
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 810 servings 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Units Scale

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. 
  2. Add carrot, celery, and onion along with a couple large pinches of salt and pepper. 
  3. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
  4. Add garlic, curry powder, ginger and turmeric. Cook for another minute, stirring frequently. 
  5. Add a splash of veggie broth to deglaze the pan and scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom. 
  6. Add coconut milk, rotini pasta, and chickpeas
  7. Add remaining vegetable broth and bay leaves along with another couple large pinches of salt and pepper.
  8. With heat on medium high, bring soup to a simmer. 
  9. Cover and turn heat to low. 
  10. Simmer for 6-10 minutes or until pasta is just al dente. 
  11. Stir in apple cider vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. 
  12. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

Notes

You can use whatever noodles you have on hand in place of the rotini. Short cuts of pasta work best in this soup. Noodles like: elbow macaroni, rigatoni, fusilli, penne, cavatappi, or farfalle.

If you’re using other noodles be sure to check the cooking time. I’d recommend simmering the soup for about 1 minute less than the lowest recommended cook time. Then start (carefully) tasting the noodles and remove the soup from the heat as soon as the pasta is al dente.

If you don’t have coconut milk on hand you can substitute heavy cream, almond/oat milk or even just omit the creamy element entirely and enjoy a broth-based soup.

This chickpea noodle soup will thicken as it cools. You can add more broth or additional coconut milk to loosen it up. Be sure to season to taste with salt again after adding more liquid.

To reheat this soup, just place it in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add broth or coconut milk to loosen it up and season to taste with salt. Heat until everything is warmed through and enjoy!

133 Comments

  1. Amazing!! And easy. I kept the pasta and soup separate so that the pasta would stay al dente since some family members couldn’t eat it until later. This worked great. My husband wasn’t very excited when I told him what I was making, but after eating it he said it was a 10 out of 10 and one we should keep in mind the next time we have company over.






    1. I love it when they’re skeptical and then end up loving the meal! Best feeling ever 🙂 SO glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Kara. Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it!

  2. Made this for a sick vegan family member and it was very good. I used Banza chickpea noodles for extra protein. It does need lots of salt due to how sweet the coconut milk is i guess. A little bit of spice would be good as well. We added cayenne after the fact.






    1. This is by far my favorite soup. It has so much flavor. I add a couple tbs of nutritional yeast and sometimes I put Tvp in mine but it really doesn’t need it. I do add chicken to my husband’s.






  3. I made this for a potluck (breaking my cardinal rule of never making a new recipe for a group), and everyone LOVED it! There was one vegetarian and one vegan in the group, and EVERYONE raved about this soup. One woman (unbeknownst to me) hates curry, but even she had seconds! I will 100% be making this again.






  4. So good! I ended up blending the soup after day 2 to make a “new” soup, tasted amazing! Highly recommend making a purée out of the ingredients if you end up with a lot of leftovers.






    1. That’s such a great idea, Jessica! I love repurposing leftovers and that’s such a unique way to do it. Thanks for leaving a review – I really appreciate it!

  5. Always looking for vegan and gluten-free soup recipes. This was so easy to make, came together fast and is super yummy!! I used red lentil pasta. It’s a keeper.






    1. Honestly, I don’t measure out serving sizes into cups. I would prefer not to include nutrition facts at all but I have to do it for Google/SEO purposes. I’d imagine a serving size would be between 3/4-1 cup for this soup.

  6. The fresh parsley in this soup really it all together! I put half a small yellow onion and no garlic and this soup still came out amazing! Thank you!






  7. Best Vegan soup I’ve had in a long time! The creaminess and flavor is so good! And to top that it’s easy to make. Thank you for sharing it with us.






  8. Made this for lunch today and it was amazing! even my toddlers enjoyed it. I used a different shape pasta which was fine (Also was brown rice pasta as I am gluten free) and then didn’t add the apple cider vinegar or use oil. But it was amazing! Will be keeping this recipe.






      1. I think you could definitely give it a try! My only concern would be then noodles overcooking, so I might try cooking everything for a few hours and then adding the noodles for the last part of the cooking process. I haven’t tested this in the crockpot so I can’t say for sure though!

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