It is getting chilly out some days and I have been craving peppery brothy soups for dinner. This is an easy soup in which you can add whatever you have in the fridge or pantry. Use any beans or lentils, some mushrooms and greens, veggies and some light peppery spices. Simmer and serve.
The garlic and ginger add a lot of flavor. Black pepper, white pepper, cinnamon and cumin add a deep complex profile to the warming flavorful broth. Cinnamon helps the pepper and the broth flavor profiles. Use other spices of choice. Add other veggies of choice. Add some cooked pasta for variation.
The next few weeks will be about trying to balance between 2 big events. Diwali on Nov 11 (that is so close!) and thanksgiving and then the rest of the holiday season. I found Diwali Bazaar on Amazon just today. I am off shopping for some Indian clothes and thinking of Diwali recipes for the week.
More soups from the blog
- Curried butternut squash soup
- Chard Mushroom Shallot Pasta soup
- Chipotle corn Chowder
- Moroccan lentil soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
Mushroom Chickpea Soup with Veggies and Greens
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion
- 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 cup (96 g) sliced mushrooms I used cremini
- 1 to 2 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 1/2 cup (64 g) chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup (91 g) other veggies like bell pepper, celery, sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup (82 g) cooked chickpeas
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cumin
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) black pepper use less or more
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) white pepper
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cayenne
- 2 tsp soy sauce/tamari use gluten-free soy sauce if needed or Coconut Aminos to make soy-free
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 to 1.5 tsp sugar or other sweetener
- 2 cups (470 ml) broth or water
- 1.5 cups (375 ml) or more water
- 1 cup (30 g) spinach
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more salt use less if you plan to use salted broth, or add later
- cornstarch to thicken in the end if needed
Instructions
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for 3 minutes or just about translucent. Stir occasionally.
- Add mushrooms and mix and cook for 3 minutes or until they starts to get golden.
- Add ginger, carrots and veggies and cook for a minute.
- Add chickpeas and spices and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, broth and water. Partially cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste and mix. Add in the spinach or other greens. Cook for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, sweet, tang, spice. Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh herbs of choice or scallions. Serve hot.
- To thicken, mix 2 tsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water and mix into the soup in the last 5 minutes. Bring to a boil.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Tracey
This is sooooo good! I suggest trying just the black and white pepper first if you are not a fan of hot. I did an 1/8tsp of cayenne and we all agreed it didn’t need to be there next time. I made exactly as written with 1 exception… I did not use cornstarch but instead added 1/2 cup of rinsed barley (I made for 4 serving. Recipe is written for 2 serving). Delicious! Definitely in our weekly rotation. Highly recommend giving this one a try!
Vegan Richa Support
white pepper does have a little kick! glad all enjoyed
Lisa
Really good flavor, very healthy and easy to make.
Vegan Richa Support
thanks Lisa!
Janice Kay Short
Made this for dinner tonight, and I’m so glad I did. This is hands down one of the best soups I’ve ever made or tasted!! I made it exactly as written, used sweet potatoes and celery as my extra vegetables and kale as the green. Garnished with scallions.. I had a pot of chickpeas I had cooked from dry and they made a delicious broth, so I used the broth too. I was blown away by the complexity and flavor of the spices that you selected. I’m looking forward to polishing off the leftovers tomorrow for lunch. Thank you for sharing such an original, deliciously spicy recipe that I know I will be making again and again. Brava!
Vegan Richa Support
Thank you for your kind comment! I’m thrilled you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Arla
Perfectly spiced. Great way to use up veggies! Hearty soup. One of my favourite soup recipes ever.
Vegan Richa Support
yay
Jim
Lovely recipe. Can I add some broccoli to this recipe. Will it affect the flavour profile of the soup?
Richa
Sure, add it toward the last 5 mins of simmering
Ripley
Another amazing recipe!! The flavor is incredible, as always. Thank you, Richa, for all your fantastic recipes!!!
Richa
Awesome
Erin
This is lovely. Made it on a New Year’s Eve daytime, when the rain was pouring outside. The flavours are wonderful & layered.
Miesha
This was so good. I used Tuscan kale instead of spinach, added a few extra veggies, and added quinoa. Perfect!
Richa
Awesome!
cho
Thanks Richa.
Can’t wait to try this one!
Cho
Hi. Can the rice vinegar be substituted with anything else?
Richa
apple cider or white vinegar or lime juice
Zsuzsanna
I was a bit hesitant to use some of the ingredients as I was not sure if I would like it, but after reading the comments, I did. This soup is magical! I used Portabello mushrooms for stronger flavour and broccoli leaves from my garden, worked wonderfully well. Thank you Richa for sharing this recipe and everyone else for your comments.
Richa
awesome!!
Amber
We already had everything on hand for this so it was fast to whip up. _ Well aside from the white pepper, must add that to my pantry list!
It’s a bit overcast today so this soup was perfect! My BF said it was reminiscent of Hot & Sour soup. Will be making again for sure! Thanks Richa!
Richa
awesome!
Kristen
This is my FAVORITE vegetable soup 🙌!!!
Richa
awesome!
Kim
I made the version of this from your cookbook tonight. The broth is so good! Will definitely be making it again. I loved it, and my husband loved it as well. We had it without chickpeas but added cooked soba noodles instead. I also used arugula rather than spinach because I had that on hand in the fridge. I am looking forward to making more of your recipes.
Courtney
This was ridiculously good!! The spice combo is magical!
Richa
awesome!
Merrill Dellas
Easy to make! So delicious I instagrammed it! I subbed shallots for onions and it turned out fabulous! There’s enough to freeze ahead!
Richa
awesome!
alan
Thank you for another great recipe–much appreciated. I decided to add some quinoa and pearl barley to thicken it up and make it more of a meal in itself.
Caroline
Sooo good. A pinch of cayenne was enough for us. It is -22 F here, this soup was perfect for our cold winter ! Thank you !
Richa
brrrr. that is cold! so glad the soup worked out!
Diane marie
Made this soup for dinner and yummmmm!!!! Also had kholarabi slaw over a wedge of lettuce. PERFECT dinner on a cold rainy day. Soup and salad.
Julia
This soup is so, so good. I made it when company came for dinner and it was a huge hit. Thank you!
motta
Amazing recipe! made this today and added a piece of fresh chili pepper. Loved it!
Judy
I’ve recently stopped using chicken stock to make vegetable soup and have been struggling to get flavor with only vegetables. But this soup has such a robust and interesting flavor, I believe it will be my new favorite!
I used frozen spinach and think that was a mistake, next time I’ll use fresh.
Richa
awesome! I like using spices and herbs for flavor rather than premade stock.
Mansi
Made this tonight and the little one loved it! Thanks!
Jackie
This soup recipe is awesome!
Wesam
I’d like to thank you for this fantastic soup. I wouldn’t chamge anything. It’s heavenly.
Richa
Thanks!
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship
Mmm. I love how this combines the excitement of picking out veggies in a broth soup with warming flavors and spices usually found in blended soups!
Jessica
I made this soup and it was absolutely fabulous! I ate it all so will have to make more for hubby!! Super healthy too!!
Richa
Awesome!!
Leigh
Thanks for another great dinner!
Richa
Awesome!!
Sascha
This soup is delicious but I made a mistake 🙁 I didn’t have fresh ginger so I used dry powder and I put too much 🙁 Is there any way I can repair it?
Richa
how much did you use? You can drain some of the broth out and add more broth and simmer. or make another batch and mix in.
Sascha
Well I made a double batch and I used a one and a half teaspoon. I think the flavour is more potent when you use dry spice, isn’t it? Thank you for the ideas, I will try them tomorrow!
Richa
it definitely is. ginger goes from nice to bitter really quickly in dry spice. hope it works out!
Saranda
I found this page today, made this soup right away and it’s just perfect! Thanks! (And this comes from someone who HATES cooking)
Richa
yay! i am so glad you tried it 🙂 There are days when i cant stand much in the kitchen for various health reasons, so i do try to keep most recipes on the easy side. 🙂
Heather
This looks like a great crockpot recipe. Can I throw all ingredients, except greens, in the crockpot in the morning and then add greens just before serving? I usually cook on high 6 hours and then keep warm.
Richa
I dont know. I have never used slow cookers.
Jenni
This is comfort in a bowl. I love chickpeas and mushrooms together.
masala girl
yum! send me some? haha. i am sick and drinking so much soup.
also, i am so excited to see some diwali recipes 🙂
Punam
I’ve been going through your recipes for soup recipes. I wanted to try this because it was not tomato based. i accidentally added too much garbanzo ( I won’t do that again) but the soup ended up delish. I can’t wait to make it again.
Richa
awesome!
Punam Kalra
I forgot to mention. I used my IP for it and used the soup setting for about 11 minutes and let it release for about 10 minutes before I went back to it. So perfect! Even good at the 2nd day.
Linda
Going to make this today!
Rebecca
I’ve just made this soup and it was lovely!
I thought the cinnamon sounded a bit strange, but decided not to omit it and I’m glad I didn’t 🙂
I used kale instead of spinach just because that was what I had, it worked really well.
Thank you for a great winter warming recipe.
Rebecca
Richa
Awesome! So glad you loved it! The cinnamon helps the pepper and the broth flavor profiles, though the soup can be made without as well.
Siya
Too good! Amazingly, I had all the ingredients today! Wow. My family loved it so so much. Thanks Richa!
Richa
Awesome!!
lani
I want this NOW! Happy Diwali on the 11th..May your world be filled with light,just like you have given us!
Richa
Thank you Lani!
Bogusia
looks really nice! I Just made chickpea with Spinach and coconut milk. My fav flavours!
Richa
nice!
Sue
This looks so good! However, you have tagged it gluten free and soy sauce has gluten in it. Thank you!
Richa
Thank you Sue. Lots of soy-sauce brands are gluten-free. look for gluten-free on the label
Mrs. Edwards
FYI…the side note to use a gluten free soy sauce is in the notes.