30-Minute Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup with Lemon, Miso and Spinach
A one-pot vegan chickpea noodle soup with carrots, celery, pasta and spinach in a golden turmeric broth, finished with miso and lemon. Ready in 30 minutes.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4

30-Minute Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup with Lemon, Miso and Spinach is a vegan lunch recipe made with olive oil, yellow onion, carrots. It takes 30 minutes of hands-on time, serves 4, and each serving has 387 calories, 14 g of protein and 9 g of fiber.
The pasta cooks right in the broth, so its starch gives the soup a little body and there is only one pot to wash. Miso is whisked with a ladle of hot broth and stirred in off the heat along with the lemon juice, which keeps both tasting bright and savory instead of flat. A pinch of turmeric gives the classic golden color, and the spinach wilts in the residual heat in under a minute.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp27 golive oil
- 1 medium110 gyellow onion, diced
- 2 medium122 gcarrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch coins
- 2 medium80 gcelery stalks, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- ½ tsp3 gfine salt, plus more to taste
- 3 cloves9 ggarlic, minced
- 1 tsp1.4 gdried thyme
- ½ tsp1.5 gground turmeric
- ¼ tsp0.6 gfreshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups1.44 kglow-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 can240 gchickpeas (15 oz), drained and rinsed
- 6 oz170 gsmall dried pasta such as rotini, ditalini or small shells
- 3 cups90 gbaby spinach, loosely packed
- 1½ tbsp26 gwhite or yellow miso paste
- 2 tbsp31 gfresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- ¼ cup15 gfresh parsley, chopped
Kit: large pot or Dutch oven, small bowl, whisk, ladle
Tips
- Broths vary a lot in saltiness, and miso adds more. Season lightly at the start and do the final salting only after the miso is in.
- Add miso off the heat. Boiling dulls its flavor, and whisking it with hot broth first stops it from sitting in clumps at the bottom of the pot.
- The pasta keeps absorbing liquid as the soup sits. If you are planning leftovers, pull it a minute early, or cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl.
- Cut the carrots and celery no thicker than 1/4 inch so they turn tender in the same time the pasta takes to cook.
Swap ideas
- Use chopped kale (stems removed) instead of spinach
- Heartier, chewier greens; add them with the pasta so they have the full simmer to soften.
- Use cannellini beans instead of chickpeas
- Creamier, softer beans that break down slightly and thicken the broth a little.
- Use gluten-free pasta, cooked separately and added to the bowls
- Makes the soup gluten-free if you also pick a gluten-free miso; reduce the broth to 5 cups since no pasta is cooking in it.
- Use 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves instead of dried
- Fresher, more floral herb flavor; stir it in with the garlic as written.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
387kcal per serving
Everything else · 4 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 1.4 g 7%
- Sugars
- 9.6 g
- Sodium
- 1660 mg 72%
- Potassium
- 717 mg 15%
- Calcium
- 117 mg 9%
- Iron
- 5.3 mg 29%
- Vitamin C
- 22 mg 24%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.01 µg 0%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Oil, olive, salad or cooking, Onions, raw, Carrots, raw, Celery, raw, Salt, table, Garlic, raw, Spices, thyme, dried, Spices, turmeric, ground, Spices, pepper, black, Soup, vegetable broth, ready to serve, Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt, Pasta, dry, enriched, Spinach, raw, Miso, Lemon juice, raw, Parsley, fresh
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and salt and cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and the carrots are just starting to give, 5 to 6 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, thyme, turmeric and black pepper and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Keep it moving so the garlic does not brown.
Pour in the vegetable broth and add the chickpeas. Cover, turn the heat to high and bring to a rolling boil, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir in the pasta, lower the heat to medium and cook uncovered at a steady simmer, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom, until the pasta is just al dente and the carrots are tender when pierced, 7 to 9 minutes (start checking a minute before the package time).
While the pasta cooks, ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot broth into a small bowl, add the miso and whisk until completely smooth.
Turn off the heat. Stir in the spinach until wilted, 30 to 60 seconds, then stir in the miso mixture, lemon juice and parsley.
Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper or lemon juice as needed, then ladle into bowls and serve right away while the noodles are still firm.
Storage: Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The pasta soaks up broth as it sits, so add a splash of water or broth when reheating gently on the stove or in the microwave, and brighten with a little extra lemon juice. To freeze, make the soup without the pasta and spinach and freeze for up to 3 months; add both fresh when reheating.
Questions
- How much protein is in 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach?
- Each of the 4 servings has 14 g of protein, 9 g of fiber and 387 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach take to make?
- 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking, so 30 minutes of hands-on time.
- Can you make 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach ahead?
- Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The pasta soaks up broth as it sits, so add a splash of water or broth when reheating gently on the stove or in the microwave, and brighten with a little extra lemon juice. To freeze, make the soup without the pasta and spinach and freeze for up to 3 months; add both fresh when reheating.
- What can I substitute in 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach?
- Use chopped kale (stems removed) instead of spinach — heartier, chewier greens; add them with the pasta so they have the full simmer to soften.. Use cannellini beans instead of chickpeas — creamier, softer beans that break down slightly and thicken the broth a little.. Use gluten-free pasta, cooked separately and added to the bowls — makes the soup gluten-free if you also pick a gluten-free miso; reduce the broth to 5 cups since no pasta is cooking in it.. Use 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves instead of dried — fresher, more floral herb flavor; stir it in with the garlic as written..
- Does 30-minute vegan chickpea noodle soup with lemon, miso and spinach contain gluten?
- Yes — the ingredient list includes gluten. Check the labels on the products you buy if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published October 21, 2026 ·American