My vegan cream of chicken soup is a healthy & light take on a classic feel-good dish. Flavoursome and packed with good-for-you veggies. You’ll need simple, staple ingredients and just 1 pot.
Why Make This Dish
- Packed full of hidden veggies for the ultimate good-for-you factor
- A super light take on traditional cream of chicken soup
- Undetectably vegan
- No fancy ingredients or equipment required
- Cheap, staple ingredients used
- Easy to customise with your own veggies of choice
- Can be made with or without mock (vegan) chicken
- The perfect festive starter or main
Before we begin, time for an important disclaimer. This is a super light and healthy take on cream of chicken soup.
If you’re looking for a similar but heavier main, you might want to check out my vegan stew & dumplings.
Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this delicious vegan cream of chicken soup:
Ingredient Notes:
Carrots – I recommend thin, medium-sized carrots as they cook much quicker.
Unsweetened plant milk - such as almond, soy, or oat. Avoid coconut milk because it might have an overpowering flavour.
Cornstarch - sometimes referred to as cornflour. Can be substituted for plain white flour.
Nutritional yeast – Sometimes referred to as ‘nooch’ or ‘yeast flakes’. It can be left out, but gives it an extra flavour punch.
Vegetable stock: I used a vegetable stock cube and dissolved it in 500 ml (around 2 cups) water.
Thyme - I used dried thyme. Can be substituted for fresh.
Step-by-step Instructions
Grab your quick visual instructions to this recipe below. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients are waiting for you at the bottom of this post.
- Cut all your vegetables. Add oil to pan, fry your vegetables for 5 minutes.
- Add a splash of water and fry for another 12-15 minutes.
- When the veggies have softened, add milk, cornstarch, stock, nutritional yeast, and seasoning.
- Bring to boil. If you want your veggies even softer, boil for some longer. Add pasta to your soup pan and simmer until your pasta is cooked.
- If your soup is getting too thick add more stock.
- Optional - In the meantime, fry your vegan chicken in a non-stick pan for 4-5 minutes (feel free to substitute for tofu, seitan, etc. or leave out).
Serve immediately – this dish doesn’t keep well so make sure to enjoy it fresh.
Expert Tips
- Avoid whole-wheat pasta
Whole-wheat pasta will soak up any water much quicker, meaning you will be left with practically no soup.
Choose white pasta instead. If you're determined to use whole-wheat pasta, make sure to halve the amount stated in the recipe card below.
2. Cut your veggies small
Cut your veggies small (particularly carrots) - the smaller they are, the quicker they will cook.
3. Use unsweetened plant milk
If you get this step wrong, your dish will be a disappointment. Make sure you use completely unsweetened plant milk. Check the nutritional label on the back to make sure the sugar levels are 0g.
4. Wait until your veggies have softened
To get the most out of this dish, you’ll want the veggies to be tender. Make sure to wait with adding the pasta until your veggies (particularly carrots as they need the longest) have softened.
5. Don’t overcook the pasta
This might go without saying, but I needed to point it out just in case. It’s so easy to get distracted and forget about your dish.
Overcooking the pasta is a sure-fire way to turn this dish into a failure. To avoid this, make sure to stay alert or set a timer on your phone.
FAQ
Yes, but you will need to be careful when selecting your plant-based milk and replace regular pasta with a gluten-free version. Make sure to choose gluten-free plant milks such as soya & almond.
Absolutely not! Leaving out the vegan chicken will not affect the flavour of your soup at all. I’ve included the vegan chicken to add some crispy texture, but there’s definitely no need for it. You could substitute it for tofu, tempeh, seitan, soy chunks or just leave it out altogether.
Yes! Feel free to use white onions, scallions or shallots instead of red onion. You could also add celery, potatoes or mushrooms if desired.
You can substitute the cornstarch in this recipe for plain white flour (or plain gluten free flour).
First, use a non-stick pan. Second, add a good splash of water or more oil. Third, remember to stir the veggies regularly.
You technically can store this soup, but I would strongly advise against it. It’s by far the best when eaten fresh. The pasta pieces are likely to soak up much of the moisture from your soup even when using white pasta.
No problem! Simply just fry the vegetables in water instead of oil. Remember that your vegetable stock might contain some oil or vegetable fat so your dish won't be entirely oil-free.
Enjoyed my vegan cream of chicken soup? Discover my favourites vegan mains:
As always, thank you so much for being here! If you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the comments section below. Remade this recipe? Make sure to share and tag @myveganminimalist.
I absolutely love to see your recipe remakes!
Vegan Cream of Chicken Soup
Equipment
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Measuring cups or kitchen scale
Ingredients
- 2 carrots
- 1 leek
- 1 red onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil or other light vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 300 ml plant milk unsweetened
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 90 g soup pasta
- vegan chicken, tofu, seitan, soy chunks, etc optional
Instructions
- Wash and scrub carrots and leek well. Cut onion, garlic, carrots & leek into small chunks.
- Add olive oil to a hot medium-sized pan.
- Then add onion, garlic, carrots and leek. Fry on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add a splash of water and fry for 12-15 more minutes until the veggies have softened. Stir regularly and add more water if required.
- Dissolve cornstarch in plant milk. Mix well to ensure no clumps remain.
- Add cornstarch and plant milk mixture, stock, thyme, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to your pan. Bring to boil. If your want your veggies to soften further, simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
- Optional step: In the meantime, heat up a tsp of oil in a separate pan and fry vegan chicken for 4-5 minutes (or longer if needed). Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Return to your soup pan. Once the soup is boiling, add pasta.
- Simmer until your pasta is cooked (usually around 8-9 minutes depending on the pasta shape). If the soup is becoming too thick, add more stock.
- Serve immediately and add vegan chicken if desired.
Notes
- Pay particular attention to washing leek. Make sure to open leek layer by layer and let it stand under cold water to remove the soil, especially near the root part. Scrub it well before cutting.
- Cut your veggies small (particularly carrots) - the smaller they are, the quicker they will cook.
- Avoid using wholemeal pasta. It will soak up any water much quicker, meaning you will be left with practically no soup.
- Make sure you use completely unsweetened plant milk. Check the nutritional label on the back to make sure the sugar levels are 0g.
- To make it gluten-free, use gluten free pasta.
- There's a chance you will need to add more stock than the amount stated in the recipe. This depends on the size of your pan, the heat of your stove, your personal taste etc. Feel free to add more stock if desired.
- You technically can store this soup, but I would strongly advise against it. It’s by far the best when eaten fresh. The pasta pieces are likely to soak up much of the moisture from your soup even when using white pasta.
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