I make Vegan No-Chicken Noodle Soup when I’m cold or tired and I want something warm and cozy. It’s the perfect comfort food.
I don’t miss the pieces of chicken usually found in chicken noodle soup. Before going vegan, I used to avoid the chicken bits, leave them behind in the bowl, and then give them to the cat.
If you would like something vegan to take the place of the chicken, you could prepare some pan-seared tofu or your favorite vegan chick’n product to serve with the soup.
Enjoy Vegan No-Chicken Noodle Soup with
- Bread
- Toast
- Saltines or soup crackers
- Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons
- High-Altitude Homemade Oil-Free Vegan Cornbread
- Pan-seared tofu
- Your favorite vegan chick’n product
Vegan no-chicken broth options
I recommend using a no-chicken or vegan-chicken-flavor broth for this soup. I’ve made soups with regular veggie broth and not liked them. I like to use a mix of the broths and bases pictured below. The low sodium broth is good to mix in if you are watching your sodium intake.
Noodles
You can use whichever noodles you want for this soup. I’ve used thin Mrs. Grass-style noodles, rotini, and thick noodles. Just make sure you don’t end up with egg noodles if you want this to be this vegan. I usually cook the noodles for the cook time listed on the package, plus 5 – 10 extra minutes directly in the soup.
My two favorite thick noodles for this soup
This Bella Italia Campani Scialatielli contains Organic Durum Wheat Semolina as its only listed ingredient. However, this pasta is processed on equipment that processes eggs, fish, milk, and soy. This may be an issue for people who have food allergies or concerns about cross-contamination.
The cook time on this pasta is 19 minutes. When I use this pasta in the soup, I simmer for around 30 minutes.
Like the above pasta, this Seggiano Tagliatelle Organic Pasta contains Organic Durum Wheat Semolina as its listed ingredient. This pasta is processed in a facility that also processes eggs and soy. This may be an issue for people who have food allergies or concerns about cross-contamination.
Since this pasta is really long, I break it into shorter pieces for this recipe.
The cook time on this pasta is 8 – 10 minutes. When I use this pasta in the soup, I simmer for around 20 minutes.
To make this gluten-free
Gluten-free broth base
This broth base is delicious, vegan, and gluten-free certified.
Gluten-free noodles
Use gluten-free noodles and be careful not to overcook the noodles because sometimes gluten-free noodles disintegrate. If your noodles are rice you may want to cook them separately, drain and add them to the soup when serving.
Nooch
I always use and recommend unfortified nutritional yeast. This adds nice umami and depth of flavor to the soup.
The fortified stuff can taste synthetic or vitamin-y. Fortified nutritional yeast can lose potency when stored, so there is no reason to suffer through the artificial taste when there is a chance of not receiving the benefits of the vitamins.
These two are my favorite unfortified nooches:
B12
I take this cherry flavored vegan B12 supplement instead of getting it through nooch. This supplement is sublingual, which aids absorption. Additionally, this supplement’s B12 is from methylcobalamin as opposed to cyanocobalamin. Methylcobalamin composed B12 has been shown to have better body retention than cyanocobalamin composed B12. Please consult a health professional if you need medical or dietary advice. I am not a health professional. You can read more about B12’s bioavailability here.
Both vegans and non-vegans may have difficulty getting enough B12.
Most of the B12 that we consume is made in a lab.
Here’s an excerpt from an article by Michael Greger M.D. FACLM at Nutritionfacts.org:
“It’s true, plants don’t make B12. Animals don’t make it either. B12 is made by microbes that blanket the earth. These bacteria grow in the guts of animals, which is why their bodies and products can be a source of this vitamin. Our herbivore primate cousins get all they need ingesting bugs, dirt, and feces, and we may once have gotten all we needed by drinking out of mountain streams or well water. But now we chlorinate our water supply to kill off any bugs. So we don’t get a lot of B12 in our water anymore, but we don’t get a lot of cholera either—that’s a good thing!”
Nutritional yeast is typically gluten-free, check labels. The ones I have linked to are gluten-free.
Let’s make Vegan No-Chicken Noodle Soup!
Melt Earth Balance over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes over medium to medium high heat.
Then add carrots, celery, red pepper, and garlic. Stir and sauté for 3 minutes or until onions and veggies are starting to brown. Add parsley, oregano, bay leaves, celery salt and black pepper. Stir and sauté for 2 more minutes.
Pour in broth and add unfortified nutritional yeast to the pot.
Place a handful of pasta in the pot if using regular wheat pasta. This will help release starch into the broth to thicken it. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add pasta/noodles to the pot and cook for amount listed on the package instructions plus 5 – 10 minutes. Check noodles for doneness, cook longer if needed.
Taste broth and add water if it tastes too salty or concentrated. If you’ve used low sodium broth or you want it saltier, add salt. Remove and discard bay leaves.
Serve, enjoy, and have a cozy day! Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.
Vegan No-Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- stovetop
- 5 quart or larger pot
Ingredients
- 2 TBSPs Earth Balance or neutral oil for sautéing
- 285 grams chopped yellow onion ~half a large onion
- 200 grams chopped carrots ~2 carrots or use baby carrots
- 100 grams chopped celery ~2 sticks of celery
- 80 grams chopped red bell pepper ~half a red bell pepper
- 4 – 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 TBSP dried parsley
- 1 TBSP dried oregano
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 10 cups vegan no-chicken broth link goes to gluten-free certified, other vegan/no-chicken options in post
- 3/4 cup unfortified nutritional yeast see notes below if using fortified
- 6 – 8 oz pasta/noodles see notes below if using gluten-free
- 1/2 – 1 cup water
- salt, to taste, might not need
Instructions
- Melt Earth Balance over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes over medium to medium high heat.
- Then add carrots, celery, red pepper, and garlic. Stir and sauté for 3 minutes or until onions and veggies are starting to brown. Add parsley, oregano, bay leaves, celery salt and black pepper. Stir and sauté for 2 more minutes.
- Pour in broth and add unfortified nutritional yeast to the pot. Place a handful of pasta in the pot if using regular wheat pasta. This will help release starch into the broth to thicken it. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add pasta/noodles to the pot and cook for amount listed on the package instructions plus 5 – 10 minutes. Check noodles for doneness, cook longer if needed. Taste broth and add water if it tastes too salty or concentrated. If you’ve used low sodium broth or you want it saltier, add salt. Remove and discard bay leaves.
- Serve and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
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If you enjoyed this recipe you might also enjoy
- Amazing No-Chicken Vegan Gravy
- Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup
- Vegan Noodle House Ramen with Tofu
- Miso Rice Cake Soup
- Instant Pot Turkish Red Lentil Soup
Did you make No-Chicken Noodle Soup?
How was it? Will you make it again? Tell me about it in the comments sections below.
This turned out amazing and I will definitely be making it again! The broth turned out really hearty and flavorful. I put some extra celery in it because I love it too. Thank you for posting this up.