A vegetarian friend recently told me that one of the few recipes they’ve been unable to recreate the magic of from before they went meat-free is chicken noodle soup. 

I’ve been vegetarian my whole life, and I was surprised to hear this because vegetarian chicken noodle soup has been my favorite food for a long time. 

This is an old family recipe modified to be vegetarian. If you or someone you’re cooking for is vegan, substitute the egg noodles for a vegan noodle option with a similar thickness. Feel free to be generous with your measurements — soup is far from a science. 

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 cups of thawed vegetarian chicken (roughly equivalent to a bag of Morningstar chicken strips, which is my personal preference)
• 1 cup of chopped celery (2-3 stalks)
• 1 cup of chopped carrots (2-3 carrots)
• ½ cup of diced onions (one small onion) 
• ¼ cup of butter
• 12 cups of water 
• Either 3 tablespoons or 9 cubes of vegetable bouillon, 
• ½ tablespoon of dried marjoram 
• ½ tablespoon of black pepper 
• 1 tablespoon of dried parsley 
• 4-8 ounces of dry egg noodles (about ¼-½ of a bag of Amish Egg Noodles, my personal preference)
• 1 whole dried bay leaf (optional) 

Start by chopping the celery into bite-sized pieces, then peel and dice the onion. Melt ¼ cup of butter in a large stock pot. Then sauté both vegetables in the butter until the onion turns translucent. 

While you’re waiting for this, you can begin peeling and chopping your carrots and cutting the thawed veggie chicken into bite-sized pieces. Once the onion is see-through, add all your other ingredients besides the noodles into the pot. 

If you have one, add a whole dried bay leaf. I occasionally make this recipe without a bay leaf without losing much because they’re harder to get than the other ingredients, but it adds a bit of depth to the flavor. 

Bring your soup to a simmer. Watch the pot and adjust the temperature if the soup gets too hot. Stir occasionally for the next 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes have passed, add your egg noodles. If you added a bay leaf, fish it out with a spoon and discard it before adding the noodles.

Simmer for 10 more minutes, let it cool for a little bit and then the soup will be ready to serve and enjoy. This recipe goes well with dinner rolls, bread, crackers or just by itself.

If you’re serving a larger group of people, or if you just want more leftovers, double the ingredients and cook for the same amount of time. This soup keeps very well in the fridge and tastes just as good reheated.

If you make this recipe, feel free to reach out and let me know what you think.

McCallum can be reached at [email protected].