Chickpea noodle soup
Everything you love about chicken noodle soup, the herby golden broth, soft vegetables and noodles, with chickpeas instead of chicken, for about a dollar and a half a bowl.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $1.16 a serving
- 300 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 carrots, sliced into coins
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 4 vegetable bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1½ cups rotini
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- 8 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 300 calories, 13 g protein, 46 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $1.16 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the carrots and celery, the garlic, and and rinse the chickpeas.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion, carrots and celery, stirring now and then, for 7 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic, thyme and rosemary for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
Add the water, bouillon cubes, nutritional yeast, bay leaves and chickpeas and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Nutritional yeast gives the broth the savory, almost chicken-y depth. You’ll find it near the spices or in the health food aisle.Turn the heat to low and for 10 minutes so the flavors come together.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Turn the heat to medium, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until tender.
Medium heatTimer: 9 min
Pull out the bay leaves, squeeze in the lemon, taste for salt, and serve with parsley.
Dolly’s tip: The pasta keeps soaking up broth, so add a splash of water when you reheat leftovers.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
