Classic vegan chicken noodle soup with an incredibly flavoursome broth, delicate pasta noodles and shredded vegan chicken.
Let me sit you down for a minute and tell you about this vegan chicken noodle soup. Some people use chicken noodle soup as a cure-all, which is ideal for when you're feeling low or under the weather. But MY vegan chicken noodle soup is practically a magic potion. I can give you anecdotal evidence of seven times it's actually resurrected someone from the dead. Literally, a spoonful and BLOOP they're fighting their way out of the coffin.
OK that's an exaggeration and google will probably penalise me massively for mentioning dead people on a food blog, but I kinda mean it - this stuff is wonderful and I plan on eating it every day for six months.
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🧈 Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
For this vegan chicken noodle soup I suggest you use pulled oyster mushrooms as your chicken substitute. The way they shred and cook up nice and tender is SO reminiscent of the real deal. Here's a breakdown of everything You'll need to get started on this recipe.
For the Broth
- Olive oil
- Onions (quartered but not peeled)
- Celery (roughly chopped)
- Carrot (roughly chopped)
- Garlic (peeled and gently crushed with the side of a knife)
- Black peppercorns
- Sea salt (or Mitani chicken salt)
- Stock cube (or 1 tablespoon Massel vegan chicken stock powder)
- Parsley (roughly chopped)
- Boiling water
For the Broth
- Pasta (use a small soup variety)
- King oyster mushrooms (around 400g worth)
- Carrots (peeled and sliced into semicircles)
- Celery (sliced into crescents)
- Fresh dill (roughly chopped)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
🥣 Method
It's surprisingly simple to make a delicious vegan chicken noodle soup from scratch! Just watch! I'll prove it! Full recipe, as always, at the bottom of the page!
1. Make the broth. For this recipe we make our own broth. Trust me, it's WAY worth the extra step. Not only because the flavour is far superior to store bought, but also because the golden hue of properly prepared veggie broth makes my heart soar!
2. Boil the noodles. Once you've got a delicious, strained broth, it's time to boil your pasta. Make sure you're using a small soup variety which will cook nice and quickly. I use tiny shells or even macaroni. This should take about 5 mins.
3. Shred your mushrooms! Yep - these are your chicken substitute! King oyster mushrooms are a must for this recipe. They have a mild mushroomy flavour which won't turn this into a "mushroom soup" and they also shred like real chicken! Use a fork and pull it down the length of the stem again and again until shredded.
4. Finish the vegan chicken noodle soup. You're just going to add all your veggies, including the vegan chicken AKA shredded mushrooms and boil for another 5-6 mins, or until the carrot is nicely tender but not mushy. And there you have it. Season to taste and you're good to go!
🧞♂️ Hint
I love my vegan chicken noodle soup SUPER herby, but weirdly I find that parsley dominates the flavour if added fresh at the end. Instead, I use parsley in the making of the broth and dill for the final herby addition. It makes it beautifully fragrant and herbaceous without being overpowering!
🔄 Substitutions
This is possibly the easiest vegan chicken noodle soup out there, but it's also super friendly to a whole bunch of dietary requirements! This recipe is easy to make:
- Gluten Free - Yup!! No seitan or soy sauce means that all you need to do is swap out the pasta for a gluten free variety and you're good to go! I like brown rice pasta but use any you trust and love.
- Soy Free - Some vegan stock cubes contain soy, but most don't! Double check this ingredient for soy, otherwise this recipe is entirely soy free.
Let me know via instagram if you make any swaps or subs. I love to see my recipes take on a life of their own!
🥞 Variations of Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
Here are some ideas for switching up this recipe and taking things up an extra step!
- Use my seitan for the chicken! This adds some protein to the dish, plus a little extra bite! You can also use store-bought vegan chicken instead. I love this variety from the vegetarian butcher. It is soy-based though, so keep that in mind if you're planning to serve to anyone with an allergy.
- Sweetcorn! This is a contentious one! Some people add it, some don't! I decided to leave it out of my recipe (because my husband hates sweetcorn) but you do you!
- Switch up the noodles! Some people use spaghetti, some people use tagliatelle! Use whatever you like but pay attention to the cooking time - it should be around 10 mins. Anything which takes longer than this might affect the way the veggies cook.
🔪 Equipment
Just two essential bits of kit for my vegan chicken noodle soup:
- 2 large pots
- 1 Sieve for straining
You'll obvs also need a ladle for serving and a decent knife for chopping up the veggies. Oh and a fork for shredding your mushrooms!
🤷♀️ Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup FAQs
A: Most dried pasta is actually made without egg and are therefore vegan AND perfect for people with an egg allergy. Try to pick a soup variety.
A: All broths take most of their flavour from veggies anyway, so a good, flavoursome vegetable broth makes a wonderful vegan substitute to chicken broth. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to replicate the mouthfeel of chicken broth more closely.
A: There are many brands of vegan stock cubes. Oxo make beef and chicken flavour stock cubes which are vegan. In the US you can find vegan stock cubes from Knorr. In Australia Massel brand are also vegan.
Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- 2 large pots
- 1 Sieve for straining
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions (quartered but not peeled)
- 1 stick celery (roughly chopped)
- 1 carrot (roughly chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled and gently crushed with the side of a knife)
- 2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (or Mitani chicken salt)
- 1 stock cube (I use OXO vegan chicken stock cubes or 1 tablespoon Massel vegan chicken stock powder)
- small bunch of parsley (roughly chopped)
- 2 litres boiling water
For the Soup
- 120 g pasta (use a small soup variety)
- 4 king oyster mushrooms (around 400g worth)
- 2 carrots (peeled and sliced into semicircles)
- 2 sticks celery (sliced into crescents)
- small bunch of fresh dill (roughly chopped)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
To Make the Broth
- Place a large pot over medium heat and add the broth ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Alternatively, complete this step in an instant pot using the "Soup" setting.2 onions, 1 stick celery, 1 carrot, 4 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 stock cube, small bunch of parsley, 2 litres boiling water
- Remove the lid and strain the broth into another pan or a bowl, so you have a smooth golden liquid.
To Make the Soup
- Return the large pot to a medium heat and add the strained broth.
- Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. While the pasta cooks, use a fork to shred the king oyster mushrooms and finely chop the caps.120 g pasta, 4 king oyster mushrooms
- Add the carrot, celery and shredded mushrooms to the broth and simmer until the vegetables and pasta are just cooked (around 5-6 minutes).2 carrots, 2 sticks celery
- Add the dill then season to taste with salt and fresh pepper before serving.small bunch of fresh dill, salt and pepper
Lillie Pierce
Jesus H Christ I’ve always wanted to know how replicate chicken stock and olive oil!!!! This is insanely good