Vegetable Noodle Soup (vegan)

A hot steaming bowl of vegetable noodle soup is an instant soul soother on any chilly winter evening. With goodness of all fresh vegetables, it is so simple to make, vegan, vegetarian and barely takes 20 minutes of your time.

This vegetable soup with noodles is absolutely flavour packed, wholesome, filling and it can even replace your meal on busy days or when you want to have something light in dinner. The best part about it is you can use any veggies or noodles of your choice in its preparation.

To make this veg soup even more nutritious, you can add any protein of your choice like paneer or tofu. The veg noodle soup recipe shared here is:

Vegan / Vegetarian
Gluten free
Easy to make
Customisable

Noodle Soup Ingredients:

Noodles: You can use ramen, udon noodles, pasta noodles or any instant noodles of your choice. If you want to make these noodles gluten free then go for rice noodles, soba noodles or gluten-free millet noodles.

Vegetables: I like to use fresh seasonal vegetables while making this soup like onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, coloured bell peppers and mushrooms. Other veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, zucchini, sweet corn, french beans, baby corns etc can also be used.

(If fresh vegetables are not easily available near you, you can even use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Just rinse them well before using.)

Herbs: Some green leafy fresh herbs like spring onion greens (scallions), chives or coriander (cilantro) add a pop of freshness and aroma to the soup. The cilantro stems are often discarded as waste but they have so much flavor packed in them. I like to use one or two tablespoon of finely chopped stem to make the soup more flavorsome.

Oil: We first stir fry the vegetables before cooking them in vegetable stock. You can use any cooking oil for it like sesame, sunflower or olive oil for it.

Spices: This noodle soup is lightly spiced using salt & crushed black pepper. Along with it some soy sauce, vinegar, chilli sauce (sriracha) helps in enhancing the taste of soup. If you are making this soup for kids or like less spicy food, then skip chilli sauce.

Vegetable Stock: It not only makes the soup more tasty but increases the nutrition value also. If you don’t have vegetable stock you can use water or store bought stock cubes.

Optional: Feel free to add any protein of your choice like paneer, tofu or vegan chicken to this soup. You can even drizzle some chilli garlic oil on soup before serving.

There are endless variation of noodle soup recipes like Thukpa (Tibetan Noodle Soup), Khow suey (Burmese noodle soup with coconut flavour), Manchow soup (has crispy fried noodles), Sopa de fideo (Mexican noodle soup) etc but I find this this Asian style noodle soup recipe to be simplest of all as you can easily make it at home with just few ingredients.

With all the seasonal fresh veggies, tofu / paneer, vegetable stock, this noodle soup is powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, fibre & protein etc. You can always adjust the amount of noodles or tofu as per your calorie requirement and portion size.

Can you cook noodles in soup?

If you are short of time or want to make one pot vegetable noodle soup, you can add the noodles directly while the soup is simmering. However the starch from the noodles can give cloudy appearance & make the soup thick. If you want it clear (more broth like), then boil the noodles separately and then add them to the soup.

More vegetarian soup recipes:

Ingredients:

Cooking Oil- 2 tsp
Ginger (finely chopped)- 2 tsp
Garlic (minced)- 3 to 4 cloves
Green chilli (deseeded & finely chopped)- 1 (optional)
Cilantro stems (finely chopped)- 2 tbsp
Onion (sliced)- 1/2 cup
Carrots (julienne)- 1/3 cup
Green Bell Peppers (julienne)- 1/4 cup
Yellow or Red Bell Peppers (julienne)- 1/4 cup
Mushrooms (sliced)- 1/2 cup
Cabbage (shredded)- 1/2 cup
Instant Noodles*- 110 grams
Water / Vegetable Stock- 5 cups
Salt- 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
Black Pepper (crushed)- 1/2 tsp
Soy Sauce- 2 tsp
Sriracha / Chilli Sauce- 1 tsp (optional)
Vinegar / Lemon Juice- 1 tsp
Chopped Spring onions greens – 1/4 cup

*You can use rice noodles, millet noodles or any noodles of your choice.

Directions:

Step 1:

Boil the noodles as per the packet instructions but al dente i.e. when you taste the noodles there should be a slight bite to them. Drain the noodles & wash them with cold water once. Toss in 1 tsp oil so that they don’t stick to one another. Keep these aside.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a pan. Add finely chopped ginger, garlic, green chilli & cilantro stems. Stir for 30-40 seconds. Add sliced onions and sauté till they turn slightly translucent.

Step 3:

Add carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring in between.

Step 4:

Add shredded cabbage, salt, crushed black pepper, soy sauce and chilli sauce (if using). Mix well and sauté for 1 more minute.

Step 5:

Add water or vegetable stock to these sautéed veggies and bring to boil. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. (If you want to make one pot soup and don’t want to boil noodles separately, then add them now).

Step 6:

Add boiled noodles and vinegar (or lemon juice) towards the end. Mix gently and taste once to adjust the salt or seasoning as per your taste. Add chopped spring onion greens to the soup and serve hot.

Tips:

1. The noodles should be boiled to al dente as they will continue cooking after being added to hot soup also. Avoid overcooking the noodles as they will turn mushy and not taste good in soup.

2. For making vegetable stock quickly at home, you can use veggie stock cubes.

3. If you are adding paneer or tofu cubes in soup, add them in last 2 minutes of cooking as over cooking can make them chewy or rubbery.

4. If you are using ramen or maggi noodles, you can even add half a packet of seasoning that comes with them. As the seasoning already has salt in it, add salt only after tasting the soup.

5. If you want thick consistency soup, then you can add the water in which the noodles were boiled. This water has starch from the noodles which will thicken the soup. Second way is to use cornstarch slurry. Mix 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1/2 cup room temp water and add this slurry to soup while mixing continuously. The soup will thicken up on boiling.

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(Note: The post was originally published on Nov 30, 2015 and has been updated with fresh images and tips.)

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