Up in the High Country fall starts early, so the chilly weather has begun to set in and I’ve been wanting all of my favorite cozy foods like soups, chilis, and casseroles. I’ve especially been loving the process of making (and eating) homemade chicken noodle soup. Soups are so comforting for me to make because they are almost always simple, leave my house smelling delicious, and just puts me in an overall good mood. I’ve put together an incredibly simple homemade chicken noodle soup recipe that will leave you wondering… “how is this vegan??”.

• 1 cup carrots
• 1 cup celery
• 1 cup white onion
• 1 1/2 cup yukon potatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 – 6 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups dry noodles of choice
• 1 package of frozen vegan chicken
• 5 cloves of garlic
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
• Parsley & rosemary (optional)

The type of noodle you use is up to you, but I love using a gemelli noodle because it’s not too large, but has a nice bite to it. Kevin and I have tried many vegetable broths, and this vegetarian no-chicken broth by Imagine has turned out to be our favorite. I highly recommend you give it a try especially if you’re new to using vegetable broth. Usually I love the Beyond Meat chicken strips (which I use in my chicken salad recipe you can read here) but I decided to try out the chicken strips by Morning Star for this recipe. Morning Star has been coming out with a lot more vegan (instead of vegetarian) products lately and all the ones I’ve tried so far I’ve loved. I definitely recommend using the Morning Star chicken strips for this recipe because they are a lot softer and more tender than the Beyond Meat chicken strips.

Begin the soup by dicing all of your vegetables any size you prefer. Leave three of the garlic cloves whole, and mince up the other two cloves.  If you decide to use fresh herbs, roughly chop those up as well.

Once all the veggies are prepped you can start cooking the chicken. Add the whole package into a sauté pan with about 2 Tbsp. of water and put a lid ontop to let it simmer for 7-8 minutes or until it’s softened.

After the chicken is done cooking, roughly chop it up and set it aside for later.

Now that everything is prepped it’s time to get started on the soup! Start off with all four cups of the vegetable broth, the potatoes, three whole cloves of garlic and half of the herbs. Bring it all to a boil and let it boil for 12 minutes.

Add in the rest of the veggies, the two cloves of minced garlic, as well as the pasta. You can heavily salt and pepper at this point as well. I recommend starting with about 2 Tbsp. of each and then add in more based on your seasoning preference.

Add in 4-6 cups of water depending on how thick (or thin) you prefer your soup. Bring it all back up to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Now that the veggies have softened and the noodles are cooked, add in the chopped chicken, the rest of the herbs, and any more salt or pepper if it’s needed. Let simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes.

And there you have it! A simple and delicious heart warming homemade chicken noodle soup. This soup keeps well for up to a week in the fridge, or in the freezer for up to a month so feel free to double this recipe for lots of great leftovers or to share with family and friends.