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This tomato sage chickpea soup with dried porcini mushrooms is everything a good soup recipe should be: cozy, colorful, tasty, and nourishing.
The other day when scrolling my Instagram feed, I came across a food blogger who had done a survey of her readers. She mentioned that some of the feedback she got was, “I hate scrolling through a long post just to get to the recipe.” OK, I totally get that. Sometimes, I just want a recipe fast. But, it also made me a little sad. Because, the blog post is the place where you get to be a person. A writer with something to say. You express your humanity in the blog post — your beliefs, passions, rants, perspectives, dreams. What if all I posted here were the photographs above and the recipe below? Photos, recipe, done. Here’s a transaction: you get your information, now everyone’s happy.
The humanity behind it all
I got an email from someone recently that said, “Sorry I left that comment on your blog, I didn’t realize you were a real person.” It was an incredible email to receive. Because with the veil of technology, it’s harder to believe there’s really a human at the other end. The sender was the most kind and gracious person, and we left that email exchange with an endearing, authentic human connection. So yes, I get it. You don’t want to scroll for two seconds to get a recipe. But what about all that humanity that’s in between?
How to make tomato chickpea soup
I’ll use the remainder of this easily scroll-able space to talk this tomato chickpea soup. It’s one of Alex and my recent favorites, and I don’t say favorite lightly. While I love pureed soups like our Moroccan cauliflower, my favorite are chunky soups that are tasty and offer tons of nutrients. This one is gluten-free and vegan, Whole 30 approved if you remove the chickpeas (and eat with some additional filling protein).
This tomato chickpea soup uses sliced onions instead of the typical diced, to add extra texture to the dish (it’s not a typo). It features dried porcini mushrooms, which add a savory flavor and interesting texture. If you’re not a huge mushroom fan, we’d still recommend giving it a try. Dried porcini mushrooms add a lot of umami to the dish and they’re not offensively slimy. The dried mushrooms are soaked in water before using, then chopped into small pieces. This tomato chickpea soup really is delicious: savory, cozy and comforting…perfect for a gray day like the one we captured above. Alex’s opinion: “It tastes like canned soup, but way better and healthier.”
Now scroll down for the recipe (ha!).
Related: Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup
More healthy and easy soup recipes
Outside of this tomato chickpea soup, here are a few more of our favorite healthy and easy soup recipes:
- Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup
- Golden Vegetable Soup Recipe
- Tortellini Soup with Basil
- Za’atar-Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
- Hearty Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
- Creamy Coconut Curry Pantry Soup
- Italian Vegetable & Gnocchi Soup
- Quinoa Black Bean Vegan Chili
- Vibrant Spring Green Soup
- Green Pea Soup with Chive Flowers
- Easy Butternut Squash Soup
- Red Lentil Soup
- Tuscan Soup with White Beans
- Tomato Artichoke Lentil Stew
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
This tomato chickpea soup recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, sugar-free. For Whole 30 friendly, omit the chickpeas.
Tomato Sage Chickpea Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This tomato sage chickpea soup with dried porcini mushrooms is everything a good soup recipe should be: cozy, colorful, tasty, and nourishing.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 large yellow onion (or 2 small)
- 2 carrots
- 1 stalk celery
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon minced sage leaves
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 28 ounces San Marzano whole tomatoes (with basil, or without)
- 1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (1 ½ cups cooked)
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 to 3 cups baby spinach leaves (or chopped standard spinach)
Instructions
- Place the mushrooms in a bowl with 2 cups water; let them stand for about 15 minutes until tender. (Note that the soaking liquid will be used in the soup as well.)
- Meanwhile, thinly slice the onions into half-circles (this adds texture to the soup versus the traditional diced onion). Peel the carrots; chop the carrots and celery into bite-sized pieces. Mince the garlic and sage.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the porcini mushrooms from the water and roughly chop them; save the water for adding to the soup. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes until onions are tender, making sure to stir often so they don’t become too stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the celery and carrots and saute for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sage and saute for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the apple cider vinegar and stir for a few seconds until evaporated.
- In a bowl, crush the whole tomatoes with your hands. Gently add the tomatoes and cook 2 for more minutes. Then add the broth, mushroom liquid, drained chickpeas and salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the spinach and stir for a few seconds until wilted.
- Taste and adjust kosher salt as necessary (salt depends on the salt content of the broth and tomatoes), then serve.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Do you use fresh sage? I have some fresh sage in a package from the grocery store that needs to be used! Was thinking this soup looks like a good qualifier. :)
Yes this uses fresh sage! This would be perfect for the sage. Let us know what you think!
Great recipe but the carrots and celery need to go in waaayyyy earlier as they will be almost raw. I used portobellos and this was amazing.
So incredibly delicious. I used shiitakes and cut down the garlic to 3 cloves.
Great recipe with tomatoes and peas. We understand the question be served hot or freeze, however we also think that to get the very best of the ingredients and cooking process, taste, we always advice in our classes to cook & eat ( and of course drink something. :-) ) . Anyway, delicious recipe, easy to make . Congratulations for the post .
I am so in love with this soup! It combines so many of my favorite flavors and textures. It is going straight to the top of my to-make list for this month! Also, I totally agree about feeling kind of sad when people are annoyed by “scrolling through” the writing just to get to the recipe. I personally love seeing the unique humanity of each blogger- that’s what allows us all to exist and connect! xoxo
Ooo so wonderful — I hope that you love the soup! And YES there is so much more online than meets the eye. We’re so glad to have connected with you and your beautiful, artistic perspective on cooking and life!
I just saw this, and it made my mouth water (at 10 a.m.)! Your final instruction raised a question, however. I typically make soups and stews ahead of time, often making extra to freeze. But you indicate that this should be served immediately. Is that because of the spinach? Some other reason?
Great question, I will revise that to avoid confusion! You can absolutely make ahead and freeze. Thanks for calling that to my attention, and I hope that you try it out!