lemon chickpea soup

This bright and fresh yet indulgent Lemon Chickpea Soup is like chicken noodle soup’s fun, hip cousin! With fresh lemon juice and dill plus a creamy chickpea puree, it’s comforting and rich yet also packed with plant protein and fiber to keep you full!

Lemony Chickpea Soup

⅓ cup (65 to 70 grams) long-grain white rice

(56 grams) extra virgin olive oil

carrots,

onion

salt and black pepper

(15-ounce / 425 grams) cans chickpeas, (divided)

garlic, (finely chopped)

tomato paste

oregano

coriander

turmeric

red pepper flakes ((½

vegetable broth

(85 grams) baby spinach

(120 mL) creamy unsweetened plant-based milk, (such as full-fat oat milk

lemon (zested + 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided)

(20 grams) nutritional yeast

white miso

Add the rice to a fine-mesh sieve and rinse a few times until almost clear, then drain.

Drain and rinse one can of chickpeas and put it aside for step 5. Drain and rinse the other can of chickpeas and transfer to a food processor or small-capacity blender for step 8.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the carrots and onion. Season with a few pinches of salt. Stir occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, deglazing the pot with a splash of broth if a lot of food sticks.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomato paste plus spices (oregano, coriander, turmeric, and red pepper flakes). Stir almost constantly for 1 to 2 minutes until the tomato paste is a darker red brick color.

Add the rinsed rice and toss to coat for 1 minute, deglazing with a splash of broth as needed. Add one can of drained chickpeas, plus ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Pour in the broth, followed by half of the chopped dill. Bring to a boil.

Cover the pan, and reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is soft.

While the soup simmers, roughly chop the spinach and make the chickpea puree.

Chickpea Puree: To the chickpeas in the food processor or blender, add the milk, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, nutritional yeast, miso, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Blend until pureed and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt as needed.

Stir the Chickpea Puree into the soup, then add the chopped spinach. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the soup thickens and greens slightly wilt.

Off the heat, stir in the remaining dill and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste, adding salt/pepper or more lemon juice as desired. Transfer to bowls and drizzle each bowl with a bit of good-quality olive oil for richness.

Loved it, loved the creaminess of chickpeas and vegetables combined with the tartness of lemon and fresh hebs👌🏻💚

Wow wow wowwww!!! I love this soup recipe! I love the high protein content of this soup with the chickpeas and also the heartiness with the addition of the rice. Thank you Nisha for a bright and beautiful recipe! I topped it with fresh parsley, and it was amazing! Slam dunk!

I will say this is a very flavorful soup. Awakens your taste buds but I am hoping I like the flavor a bit better as it sits for a while. Believe me, I will eat all of it....it just may not be my favorite soup- a bit on the salty side and I was conservative on the salt.  This soup is a bit more involved to make - it requires quite a few steps, and I was careful to follow the recipe as written. I do have to say I love Nisha's recipes - they are creative and always very tasty. 
After I have the first bowl tonight I will update my opinion on the flavor.
Thanks!

I am rarely a recipe reviewer but this was so good I had to share! One of my favorite dishes before going veggie was a chicken and wild rice soup. I never found a good substitute for it, but this was an excellent swap (maybe even better)! The two uses of the chickpeas plus the rice makes it feel hearty and rice while the lemon provides a great brightness and lightness. Overall, it felt filling and satisfying while also being wholesome. This will be added to my rotation.

I cannot lie. When I took my first sip of this soup, I audibly gasped by how good it was. The flavor is absolutely insane for how simple this was to make. I think it's the chickpea puree that brings this soup to the next level. This is an absolute write-down recipe for me — so worth keeping.
Nisha and RPL team, thank you for this delicious recipe! I can't wait to make it again.

I made this soup and now I am spoiled for all future soups. My son loved it too. He kept saying "holy moly" after taking a bite. Gonna try it next time with white beans and basil for a twist.

Just made this, and it’s SO good, per usual for RPL recipes.  Always strong with the flavors and texture, Nisha! I added the baked tofu (recommend for even more protein and textures) along with some olive bread. Subbed lime juice and a 3:1 ratio of the dill for dried as it was all I had on hand. Still turned out wonderfully! Thanks for sharing 😊

Love this recipe!!! Tried your suggestions of adding celery and swapping a can of chickpeas for canellini beans. Great lemon and dill flabour 🥰

Delicious soup! The chickpea puree made the dish!

This lemony chickpea soup is so simple to make and relies on 10 main ingredients--plenty of them from the pantry! Half of the chickpea and potato base is blended to make this vegan and naturally gluten free soup extra creamy and satisfying.

Lemony Chickpea Soup with Spinach &amp; Potatoes

olive oil

yellow onion, small dice

medium carrot, small dice

celery, small dice

sea salt and ground black pepper,

garlic,

chillies

thyme leaves, minced

lemon zest

medium new potatoes, cut into ¾ inch cubes ((about 3 cups diced potato))

vegetable stock

baby spinach, not packed

lemon juice, plus extra ((see note))

Heat a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the pot is hot, add the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the onions to the pot. Sauté and stir them occasionally until very soft and totally translucent, about 6-7 minutes. If they are beginning to brown, lower the heat.

Add the carrot and celery to the pot. Sauté with the onions, stirring occasionally, until celery is slightly softened around the edges, about 5 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

Add the garlic, chillies, thyme, and lemon zest to the pot and stir. Sauté until the garlic and lemon is super fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the potatoes and chickpeas to the pot and season again with salt and pepper. Give everything a stir. Then add the vegetable stock to the pot. Give the soup another stir and place the lid on top.

Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Set the lid askew on top of the pot so that some steam can escape. Keep simmering until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes.

Carefully ladle half of the soup into the pitcher of an upright, vented blender. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth. Pour the pureed portion of the soup back into the pot and stir. Add the baby spinach to the pot and stir again. Once the spinach is wilted, add the lemon juice and stir once more. Check the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more lemon, salt, pepper, chili etc!).

Serve the soup hot with drizzles of olive oil and extra black pepper on top.

This was a hit. My husband said that it was restaurant quality soup!! Love that it doesn't have any dairy. The only changes I made was to use chicken broth, as I didn't have vegetable broth, and to use dried marjoram instead of thyme, as thyme tastes like dirt to me  I think next time I'll double the beans and add in some small chopped cauliflower for more substance and veggies. Really great recipe. Thank you!

This soup is just AMAZING! Thank you for sharing !!

Fantastic! My meat-loving (and usually meat-demanding) family thoroughly enjoyed, they didn't even realize it was a vegetarian dish!
One question: My SIL is vegetarian and about to deliver my niece. I'm wanting to make a big batch of this for her (and freeze in portions) to have some easy meals to eat while she's taking care of a newborn. Has anyone frozen this soup? I've never frozen Chickpeas before, does anyone know if I leave the spinach and final lemon juice out that it would still be good after thawing?

Fantastic, easy and delicious!! I used some frozen spinach blocks, left over chickpeas, last nights mashed potato in addition to some diced potato - we loved it!!  Thank you!

Such a delicious weeknight dinner that the whole family really enjoyed. I added a little turmeric and used a potato masher instead of blending to turn it into more of a stew. I also used chopped kale instead of spinach and it turned out beautifully!

Wow! This is fantastic!!! The creaminess is luxurious and so very delicious. The spice and acidity work well together, too! Cant wait to make again.

Loved this soup!  The only things that I did differently was that I added more lemon juice. Instead of a teaspoon, I think I used 3 teaspoons.  And I added additional chickpeas at the end. After I had blended half of the soup, I felt like it needed more texture. So very good! Thank you!

Loved it!  I used 1 tablespoon if lemon juice and upped the red chilies.  I would definitely make again

I really wanted to love this (it gets such great ratings!), but it was just okay.  I had to put in about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice at the end to have just a hint of lemon flavor.  I love all the veggies in it, but the flavor was pretty bland overall--not enhanced much with more salt and pepper (I had already added quite a bit in the cooking process).  I can't figure out what could have improved it. One commenter said ginger, and that's a possibility. I might try it again at some point, but, for now, it's not on my menu rotation.

This was delicious!!! I used a combo of coconut oil and olive, subbed chopped cauliflower for potato and topped with croutons, chopped Italian parsley and lemon zest.

I love this soup! I added some fresh ginger - highly recommend.

Delicious flavours and simple to execute. Love the hint of lemon zest in there!

Excellent soup recipe   ! Thank you so much

Great recipe that uses ingredients I often have on hand. Simple, but delicious. Next time I will double the recipe since we ate it as the main meal with bread. Only served 3 of us as written.

My non vegan brother picked this recipe out to make for us on a recent trip to see him.  We had a great experience cooking together and enjoying such a fabulous recipe.  We all loved it and the pot was empty by the end of the night!!  Good food really does bring people together!

OMG!! This was the most delicious soup I have had in a long time!  The flavors are perfect together. I added a whole green pepper cut into slices just before the 15 minute simmer. Well done ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/yNSjC4pC.mp4

This lemony chickpea soup is so simple to make and relies on 10 main ingredients–plenty of them from the pantry! Half of the chickpea and potato base is blended to make this vegan and naturally gluten free soup extra creamy and satisfying.

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Top 2 lemon chickpea soup recipes from across the web

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Lemony Chickpea Soup with Spinach &...

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