Chickpea Noodle Soup with Parsley and Lemon

Vegan chickpea noodle soup with bright accents of parsley and lemon to lighten up this otherwise wintery soup. With carrots, peas, and whole wheat noodles for a healthy vegetarian spin on the classic – and just as good to eat when you’re sick or in need of comfort food.

Next time you feel a cold coming on, try having a bowl of this vegan chickpea noodle soup, with lots of flu-busting parsley and lemon.

This is one of those recipes that I’ve thought a lot about posting but never really got around to it. I wrote it down a couple of years ago (in one of my many scattered books/notes) and made it a few times, but never shared. A few days ago a friend was asking for soup recipes, and I looked in my archives and saw that the last soup recipe I shared was almost a year ago! We eat soup at least once or twice a week but according to this blog, recently at least, I only eat cookies and chocolate.

Chicken noodle soup was one of the first things I learned to make by myself, when I was nine or ten. It was always a total comfort food for me, and I had it whenever I felt like a cold was coming on. I don’t cook chicken anymore, and chickpeas seemed like a natural alternative.

Otherwise this recipe is very similar to the one I’ve been making for the last 15 years, with cozy noodles and broth, lots of vegetables, and parsley and lemon to brighten things up. Generally soups like this use celery, but I have an ongoing hatred toward celery, so I used kohlrabi instead. This is a great soup for the transition period between winter and spring.

Some of the ingredients in the soup can be changed to suit your preferences or based on what you have. Keep the onion, carrots, and peas, but try celery instead of kohlrabi, adding corn, leaving out the mushrooms, and so on. If you keep the base the same (don’t lose the lemon and parsley!) some of the add-ins can be changed around.

Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via facebook, pinterest, and bloglovin.

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Chickpea Noodle Soup with Parsley and Lemon

Vegan chickpea noodle soup with bright accents of parsley and lemon to lighten up this otherwise wintery soup. With carrots, peas, and whole wheat noodles.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Vegan

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 white onion chopped (1 cup)
• 1 1/2 cup brown button mushrooms cut into small pieces
• 6 carrots sliced (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 medium kohlrabi peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2.5 litres vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas or one can, rinsed
• 100 grams soup noodles*
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
• Zest of a lemon
• Juice of two lemons
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are browned.
2. Add the carrots and continue to cook for a few minutes over medium heat.
3. Add the kohlrabi and garlic, and cook for another minute, then stir in the cayenne pepper.
4. Pour the stock into the pot and add the chickpeas. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, covered, for around 40 minutes or until the carrots are soft but not mushy.
5. Bring the soup back up to a boil and add the noodles. Cook according to the package directions (the type I used only take 3 minutes). If you're using very small noodles, add the spinach and peas with the noodles. If your noodles will take 8-9 minutes, then add the frozen vegetables halfway in to the noodle cooking time.
6. Turn off the heat and add the lemon zest, juice, and parsley. Season the soup to your taste. Serve hot, topped with extra parsley and lemon if desired.

Notes

• If you're planning on storing the soup in the fridge for a day or two, I recommend cooking the noodles separately as they'll get soggy and overcooked if left sitting in the soup.
• The soup freezes well, but it's better if you add a little extra lemon juice when you reheat it. I prefer it fresh, unlike most soups that are better the next day!
• Be careful not to overcook your noodles - try to choose a small noodle type that will cook in the same time it takes the spinach to thaw (around three minutes). * Use your favourite gluten-free noodle, or substitute rice, to make the soup gluten free.