Greek Chickpea Soup (Vegan and GF)

A simple and hearty Greek Chickpea Soup made with a variety of veggies and lemon broth. It’s light, yet comforting, healthy, vegan, and gluten-free!

Greek food is one of my favorite types of cuisine! It closely resembles the Armenian recipes my mom made for me growing up. When you think of Greek food, you probably think of non-vegan recipes, but this has all the delicious flavors that are common to Greek cuisine, but without the meat!

Some of the chickpeas are kept whole, while others are crushed to create a meaty texture. It pairs nicely with my vegan spanikopita, bulgar pilaf, and Mediterranean cucumber salad!

💗 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Vegan
• Gluten-Free
• Light and Comforting
• Simple Ingredients
• Easy to Make
• Greek Flavors

🥣 Ingredients and Notes

Chickpeas: Use canned or dried chickpeas. Using canned chickpeas will save you time while using dried chickpeas will bring a richer flavor.

Vegetables: A combination of yellow onion, celery, carrots, and chopped spinach round out the vegetables.

Seasoning: Oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper bring the flavors of the Mediterranean.

Vegetable Broth: The base of this soup is vegetable broth. You could opt for chicken broth if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, but I highly recommend using a low-sodium vegetable broth.

Lemon Juice: You’ll need ½ a cup of lemon juice. That’s the equivalent of about 2 lemons juiced.

📋 Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Dice the onions, celery, and carrots. Add olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions. Stir and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots and celery, and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Step 2: Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir to combine. Add the vegetable broth, lemon juice, 2 cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas, oregano, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 3: Remove the bay leaves.

Step 4: Add the remaining can of chickpeas to a food processor and pulse a few times until a crumbly texture forms. Transfer to the soup pot. Stir to combine. Alternatively, you can add the remaining can of chickpeas to the soup pot, and use an immersion blender to partially blend the chickpeas. You want about ⅔ of the chickpeas whole and ⅓ of the chickpeas blended.

Step 5: Add the chopped spinach. Stir to combine. Remove from the heat, and allow the spinach to wilt before serving.

❓ Recipe FAQS

👩🏻‍🍳 How to Serve

I enjoy topping this soup with fresh dill or parsley before serving. This soup pairs well with a light salad like my Mediterranean Cucumber Salad, or Italian Tomato Salad. This Greek soup pairs nicely with some crusty whole grain bread, or vegan focaccia.

❄️ How to Store and Keep

Refrigerate: Allow the soup to cool and come to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Once the soup cools to room temperature, transfer it to a freezer-safe and airtight container.

Reheat: If reheating from the fridge, transfer it to a pot, and heat over the stove on medium heat until warm. If reheating from frozen, transfer to the refrigerator to defrost overnight, then reheat on the stovetop until warm.

💭 Expert Tips

• If you don’t have an immersion blender or a food processor, you can use a potato masher to crush some of the chickpeas.
• If you like your vegetables crunchy, you can simmer the soup for a shorter amount of time. Carrots take a bit longer to soften in the soup.
• Add the spinach at the last minute. If you add it too soon it will turn brown in color. The spinach wilts and cooks quickly. Add more spinach if you like.

😋 More Vegan Soup Recipes!