I am a self-proclaimed soup queen and have no shortage of soup recipes. But this Lemon Chickpea Soup might just be my favorite-ever soup because it’s made with mostly pantry staples yet is deceptively delicious.
The trick: half the chickpeas get pureed with lemon zest, miso, and nutritional yeast into a creamy base that makes every spoonful rich and savory. A bit of long-grain white rice naturally thickens the broth, and a big hit of fresh dill and lemon juice keeps things bright enough you’ll want to enjoy this soup all year long.
It’s the kind of soup that feels indulgent but is quietly loaded with good stuff; 16g of fiber and 20g of protein per serving, no heavy cream in sight. And it’s a meal prep dream: leftovers keep for 5+ days, and it freezes beautifully.
Table of Contents:
1. Ingredient notes
2. Step-by-step instructions
3. Tips for making this recipe
4. Frequently Asked Questions
5. Recipe card with notes
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Ingredient notes
- Chickpeas. Two cans, used two ways: one simmered in the soup, the other pureed with lemon zest, miso, nutritional yeast, and plant milk into a creamy base. That puree is how you get the rich, cheesy body. Freshly cooked chickpeas make it even better if you have time (see the FAQ section for instructions), but canned chickpeas works great here.
- Long-grain white rice. A small amount thickens the soup naturally as it simmers. I’m partial to jasmine rice but any long-grain rice works. Sub: Brown rice works but needs to be pre-boiled separately (see recipe card).
- Lemon. Lots of fresh juice and zest make this soup sing so don’t skimp! A microplane and citrus juicer make quick work of it (and are two of my most-used kitchen tools!).
- Dill. I love the citrusy and grassy flavor of dill against the tart lemon. Sub: Fresh basil, flat-leaf parsley, or a blend of all three. If you end up with leftover dill, use it to whip up a batch of my Vegan Ranch Dressing or this lovely Asparagus Galette.
- Miso + nutritional yeast. The umami duo that makes the soup taste delightfully savory and cheesy so don’t skip these! Use white or mellow miso only, as darker varieties will overwhelm the soup.
Step-by-step instructions
Start by rinsing the rice in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the carrot and onion and cook until they’ve softened, about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano, coriander, turmeric, and red pepper flakes. If needed, deglaze the pot with a splash of vegetable broth.
Add the rinsed rice and toss to coat. Next, add one can of chickpeas, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Pour in the vegetable broth and half of the chopped dill. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the chickpea puree.
In a food processor, blend together until smooth: one can of chickpeas, plant milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, miso, salt, and pepper.
Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
Stir the chickpea puree and chopped spinach into the soup. Simmer until thickened and the spinach is wilted.
Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and remaining dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve the soup in bowls with crusty bread on the side for dunking. Enjoy!
Tips for making this recipe
Adjust the flavors to your liking
Once the soup is finished simmering, give it a taste and adjust the flavors however you want.
Love big lemony flavor? Add more fresh lemon juice or zest. Want some spice in just about everything? Add an extra pinch of red pepper flakes. There’s always room to sprinkle in more fresh herbs or a dollop of vegan pesto. Or keep it simple, and drizzle every bowl with good-quality olive oil for richness.
Make it your own
While I’d love for you to try the recipe as written the first time, there are so many ways to put your own spin on its flavors, consistency, and textures:
- Swap the chickpeas for white beans for extra creaminess.
- Switch up the herbs. Use flat-leaf parsley or basil instead of dill, or a blend of all three.
- Add more veggies. Toss in sliced celery, shaved fennel, or shredded cabbage after sautéing the onions and carrots, or add a handful of cauliflower florets with the broth.
- More greens. Bump the baby spinach up to 5 ounces (140g).
- Add some crunch. Top your bowl with the crispy lentils from my Butternut Squash Soup, homemade croutons or roasted chickpeas (check out pages 229 and 236 of Big Vegan Flavor, respectively).
Multitask efficiently
To make this chickpea soup recipe come together as efficiently as possible, you’ll want to do a little multitasking. Here’s what I do.
- Since the onions and carrots sauté for about 10 minutes and don’t need to be stirred very often, use that time to chop the garlic and measure out the tomato paste and spices.
- While the soup simmers, make the chickpea puree and chop the baby spinach.
Frequently Asked Questions
While an immersion blender works well when you’re blending soup, here, the blending that happens is with the chickpea puree. It has pretty minimal liquid (just ½ cup milk) so an immersion blender won’t be able to blend things smoothly.
Stick with a food processor or a small-capacity blender cup.
Once you’ve let the soup cool to room temp, transfer the leftovers to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Reheat your leftovers on the stove over medium or medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent the rice from sticking together.
To brighten up the leftovers as needed, top the reheated soup with a pinch of lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a drizzle of good-quality extra virgin olive oil for richness.
Although I find this lemon chickpea soup plenty hearty and filling on its own, I never say no to crusty bread for dunking.
Gluten-free? Opt for simple roasted potatoes, or go the fancy (but easy) route with my Crispy Smashed Potatoes!
Absolutely! Freeze the soup in a few airtight containers for 3 to 4 months. We love to freeze soup in these handy Souper Cubes (affiliate link) for single-serve portions that are quick to defrost. Let the leftovers thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating on the stove the next day.
If you love this Lemony Chickpea Soup recipe, please be sure to leave a rating and review below! And tag me on Instagram – I love seeing your photos!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Lemon Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (65 to 70g) long-grain white rice (see Note 1)
- ¼ cup (56g) extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium carrots, scrubbed and finely chopped
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 (15-ounce / 425g) cans chickpeas, divided
- ¾ cup (12g) fresh dill (no thick stems), chopped and divided
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (½ tsp for a kick)
- 4 cups (960 mL) vegetable broth
- 3 ounces (85g) baby spinach or baby kale (can add more, see Note 2)
- ½ cup (120 mL) creamy unsweetened plant-based milk, such as full-fat oat milk or canned “lite” coconut milk
- 1 large lemon zested + 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- ¼ cup (20g) nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon white miso
Instructions
- 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 set 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, about 10 minutes.
- 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. If it sticks or starts to burn, lower the heat and deglaze with a splash of broth.
- Add the rinsed rice and toss to coat in the aromatics and oil for 1 minute. Add one can of drained chickpeas, plus ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Pour in the vegetable broth, followed by half of the chopped dill. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, 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 or lemon juice as needed.
- Stir the Chickpea Puree into the soup to combine, then add the chopped spinach. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, or 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.
Video
Notes
- If using brown rice, you’ll need to quick-boil it first. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and season with a pinch of salt. Stir in the brown rice and gently boil without stirring for 10 minutes. Drain the rice in a fine mesh sieve and set aside.
- For a nutrition boost, feel free to go up to 5 ounces (140g) of baby spinach (1 standard-sized bag).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
I really don’t like the taste of miso, can you suggest a substitution?
Hi Carole, tahini would add a nice creaminess, but it won’t add the savory depth of flavor that miso does. I’d suggest adding more nutritional yeast and salt to taste if you need to omit the miso.
I made this for the first time tonight and everyone loved it! So many tasty flavors, just delicious! Thanks, Nisha!
Awesome to hear it, Guy. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
How much is the serving size?
Hi Katie, honestly, we haven’t measured out the exact volume or weight of a serving for this one. The recipe serves 4, so the most accurate way to figure out your portion is to weigh the whole pot once it’s done (a kitchen scale comes in handy here), then divide by 4 to get your single-serving weight. Hope you love the soup!
Definitely a labour of love as this dish is time consuming with all the prep work for the mise en place and different stages of cooking (making the puree) however I enjoyed my soup. Found that the nutritional yeast was quite overpowering even though I put in slightly less but I’m still looking forward to the leftovers. Reminded me a little of Avgolemono.
We’re happy to hear you enjoyed the soup, A! Thanks so much for the feedback.
I RARELY comment on recipes, but this one deserves the HIGHEST praise! Super easy, very filling, and most importantly DELICIOUS! I (somehow) didn’t have any regular garlic cloves, so I threw in some roasted garlic cloves I made the other day and they work great if you are in a pinch. “Rate this recipe” needs to give me more stars that five for this soup!
Wow, Laura! We really appreciate your amazing review 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
This soup is marvellous! I made it last night for four very much non-vegan friends and their verdict was: “spectacular”! It took me an hour to make and I added some green beans and tofu cubes, so a bit of extra cutting. After that I also made some of your gremolata to put on top and that made it even better. I’ll definitely be making this again. So glad I found your site (and now have your book too). You have the best recipes 😍
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Jacqueline! We’re so happy you and your friends loved the soup, and thank you so much for your kind words about the recipes–It’s great to hear you’re loving them 🙂
I’d love to know how you care for your hair. Your curls are so pretty! Looking forward to trying the soup. How can you go wrong with lemon & dill?
This was amazing!! Husband and I both loved it and could easily have this weekly!
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Robin!
If I don’t want to use nutritional yeast and white miso, what can I use as substitutes?
Delicious way to add protein to my diet! I love the chickpea purée and think it can be applied to other recipes to add protein and thicken the consistency to create a more hardy soup. I may also experiment with other beans. Having it with toasted sourdough. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Joni!
Just wanted to add that I did not use nutritional yeast since I do not like the flavor and I used real milk since I am not vegan but otherwise I stuck to the recipe. Will add this recipe to my rotation.
I loveeee this soup! I’ve made it a few times and it’s perfect for colder weather!
I agree, Emily! Thanks for the sweet words 🙂
I’m vegetarian, not vegan, so maybe my taste buds just aren’t used to this flavor profile, but it wasn’t very good. It also wasn’t as savory as I expect soup to be.
This recipe is a must try. I wanted to rate it even higher. It is so flavorful and filling. It’s my new favorite soup!
We’re so happy that the soup turned out well for you, Alexa. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe! 🙂
Wow, this is so delicious! I’m a huge fan of lemon, so I nearly doubled the amount used in this, but even without that, the flavor is incredible. My only complaint is that the prep took significantly longer than the recipe said, and in total took closer to 2 hours to make. Definitely worth it in the end, but just know going into it that it will likely take you longer on your first run than it says.
We appreciate your feedback and support, Rebecca. Thank you for leaving a review!
OK I agree to get mise en place takes at least 40 minutes. This is my first time making this recipe. We moved to Florida in late May and I finally have my kitchen up and running. I will spend more time with Nisha’s website and Big Vegan Flavor.
Two observations about the recipe: I have not added the spinach (will do that before serving for dinner) I also am not sure I will want/need the extra lemon juice to finish and/or the remaining dill. Also as I tend to season as I go I feel it already has the right salt and pepper seasoning.
Now that we live in a hotter climate I am really happy to find a great soup that works in summer.
Also happy to find another well seasoned and tasty recipe that is plant based. We are coming up on 10 years Vegan and 10 years retired.
Congratulations on 10 years vegan and retired! So cool to hear you started your retirement by going vegan. Thank you for sharing, Paul 🙂
Made this for the first time today, using Bold Bean chickpeas. I don’t like dill, so swapped it for Parsley, but other than that I followed the recipe to the letter. The soup is divine. I’m halfway through my first bowl as I type this and I already know I’m addicted. Which is unusual for someone who usually feels a bit ‘meh’ about soup. Thank you!
Thanks for the outstanding review, Faye! We’re honored you enjoyed this recipe as a non-soup lover. 🙂
I just need your soup today. Incredible. Next time I am gonna double batch this and freeze some so I can have it whenever I want it. I am eating as I am typing. It is so good.
We’re thrilled you love the soup, Emily! Making a double batch is a great idea for next time. Cheers!
LISTED “PREP TIME” IS NOT REAL. Maybe if someone preps everything for you in advance!
I love Nisha and RPL deserves every bit of fame it’s now receiving. And this recipe is fantastic. But as others have said (and I’ve commented on other recipes), the claimed “prep time” is utter nonsense. I’m a very experienced cook with all the necessary tools, and this amount of washing, trimming, dicing, measuring, etc. took me well over an hour. Great food is worth serious effort, so I wish RPL would get more honest about the prep times listed in your many long-ingredient-list recipes. Until then, fans, I say: mentally double or triple what you see listed. One star off for this silliness.
Delicious! It’s sour, herbal, bright – a perfect summer soup.
We blended the spinach with the chickpea-miso-nutritional yeast since we misread the instructions but it was kind of ideal for me texturally. And we managed to get a bunch more spinach in than we probably would have otherwise!
Your recipes inspired a trip to our local Indian grocery that I didn’t know existed, and for anyone browsing the comments who still buys their spices at WhateverMart –
Google local Indian grocery store. Go there. Spend five whole dollars on the biggest bag of cumin/onion powder/minced garlic you’ve ever seen (aka the smallest portion this store sells). It is so worth it.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Mara! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe and the trip to your local South Asian grocer! 🙂
It is 5-star worthy!!! More than the sum of its parts. Excellent and filling.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Kimberly!