Easy Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup

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Hi everyone! Today’s recipe is Easy Vegan ‘Chicken’ Noodle Soup! It’s yummy, super easy, and it’s every bit as comforting as the one you grew up on, but so much healthier! It has loads of veggies, it’s cholesterol free, low in fat, and instead of chicken, you can use tofu or your fav vegan chicken substitute (recommendations coming). My whole family loves this soup, and my oldest son has even been known to request it for his birthday… in August!! It’s really that good. The recipe is definitely family sized, it makes almost 6 Qts., but I find that it never lasts more than 2 days with our family of 4! You can reduce the size if needed or you can even freeze the leftovers. The best part is that this hearty, healthy soup is really easy to make. I promise it will become a favorite with your family too!

Just like the traditional version, I use carrots, peas and celery (all organic of course!), but I also like to throw some zucchini in there. The bouillon cubes do almost all of the heavy lifting, flavor-wise, so you’ll only need just a little onion and garlic powder to round it out. You don’t even have to have any additional oil! For the ‘Chicken’ I use extra-firm vacuum sealed tofu most of the time. I like the vacuum sealed tofu because it’s more firm and dry than tofu that comes packed in water. The brand that I use is Wildwood. It’s organic and sprouted, and high protein.  However, you can use any vacuum sealed tofu, or you can press tub tofu (with a tofu press) if you can’t find vacuum sealed tofu. Another option that is quite yummy, and easy, is Beyond Meat lightly seasoned chicken strips. Just cut it into cubes, or tear it into strips, and put it in towards the end with the zucchini. It’s already flavored, and it will retain more texture if you throw it in last. If you’re using tofu, you’ll put in it first, with the bouillon, so it soaks up the flavors.

You can use any pasta you want for this soup. I am gluten free, so I use gluten free pasta. Most of the time I use one made out of corn and rice because it is the sturdiest one that I’ve found. (Usually Barilla gluten free pasta – sometimes Simply Balanced from Target. They aren’t organic, but Barilla states on their website that they only use non-GMO ingredients and they confirmed with me that their GF pasta is vegan.) I’ve also used the new pastas made out of lentils (that’s the only ingredient! So cool!). It makes this soup even heartier and more filling. That pasta does fall apart a lot more though, in a soup situation,  so I usually use the corn-rice pasta, and definitely if I’m serving it for company. 😉

With plenty of veggies, pasta, and chunky cubes of tofu or soy chicken, this savory soup will fill your tummy with nutrition and all of the warm, cozy soup feelings that you crave! Just like it’s meaty inspiration, this vegan ‘chicken’ noodle soup is also great if you are under the weather!  It’s easy on the stomach so if your tummy is acting up this soup is easy to digest. If you feel the need to eat something even more mild, you can also just make the broth (not a full sized batch, just a medium sized sauce pot full), put in the veggies, and skip the pasta and the tofu all together. I find it soothing and filling, but light. If it’s a cold that has you (or someone you love!) down, you could use fresh garlic in the soup, and kick that cold to the curb! For regular, no one is sick, but you just want to get-your-soup-on days, the onion and garlic powders in this soup are a great way to round out the flavor and keep it simple!

My guys like to eat crusty bread with this soup, and I like the gluten free table crackers from Glutino. I also love to top it with some freshly ground black pepper and some nutritional yeast, because that’s how I roll! However you eat it, I hope you really enjoy it, and tuck this recipe into your rotation for years to come! While you’re here, you might want to check out some of my other yummy soup recipes, and if you’d like to receive vegan and gluten free recipes, delivered right to your inbox, please sign up for our email newsletter in the box below, and never miss a post! Of course, I’m always on social media too, so stop by and say Hi sometime!