Vegan "Chicken" Noodle Soup with Grated Tofu
Weeknight friendly and SO nourishing, this vegan chicken noodle soup is made with grated tofu that bakes while the soup cooks (they’ll be done at the same time!) for the perfect tender, chewy texture.
Ingredients
Grated Tofu "Chicken"
- 12 ounce package extra firm tofu or super firm
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian Chicken Concentrate see swaps below!
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- freshly cracked pepper
Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 3 medium carrots diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 1 smal onion diced
- ½ bunch Tuscan kale stems diced and leaves shredded, optional for more greens!
- 8 cups water
- 5 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian Chicken Concentrate it's 1 tbsp + 2 tsp! See swaps below
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup broken spaghetti or your fave small shape pasta (regular, high protein or gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- salt as needed for seasoning
Instructions
Make the tofu chicken
- Before you do anything else, preheat the oven to 400℉ (205℃) and prep a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Grate the tofu directly onto the baking sheet. Drizzle over the oil, sprinkle over the garlic powder and dried thyme and add the bouillon concentrate to your hands. Sounds weird, but it works!
- Massage the tofu so it's evenly coated in seasonings, then pop into the oven and bake until chewy and dehydrated in spots, 18-20 minutes.
Make the vegan chicken noodle soup
- Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and kale stems if using and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies starting to soften, about 8-10 minutes. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Add the better than bouillon, thyme and garlic powder and stir through. Then add the water and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Add pasta, turn down to medium high, and cook until pasta is tender, about 10 minutes. Add kale leaves in last two minutes of cooking. Stir in nutritional yeast at the end.
- To serve, divide the cooked tofu between four bowls, and ladle the soup on top.
Notes
If you need a gluten free alternative to BTB, or just don't have access to it, feel free to use any gluten free chicken flavoured stock or bouillon cubes that you like the taste of! Use 5 tsp//5 cubes for the soup...and just omit for the tofu.
You can adjust the umami level on the soup with more garlic powder or nutritional yeast. And, if the soup tastes dull, try just tiny squeeze of lemon juice to make the flavours pop!