Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Noodle Soup

This chickpea noodle soup is a brothy vegetarian soup with tender carrots, celery, and onion, two cans of chickpeas, and small ditalini pasta in a lemony vegetable broth seasoned with oregano and thyme. Baby spinach wilts in at the end, and lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil brighten it right before serving. It takes about 50 minutes and makes about 11 cups, enough for 6 servings.

Jump to Recipe

What Makes It Different

Think of it as a vegetarian take on chicken noodle soup, with chickpeas in place of the chicken and Mediterranean-style flavors in place of the usual dill or sage. Oregano, lemon, olive oil, and parsley give it that character, but it’s an everyday American soup, not a traditional recipe from any one country. It stays a soup, not a stew: there’s plenty of broth in every bowl. That’s also why the pasta needs some planning if you want leftovers, which is covered below.

Ingredient Notes

The recipe card has the exact quantities. A few ingredients need a little explanation.

• Chickpeas: Two 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed. Rinsing washes off the starchy canning liquid, which would cloud the broth, and some of the salt.
• Low-sodium vegetable broth: Seven cups keeps the soup brothy even after the pasta drinks some of it. Vegetable broths vary a lot in flavor and salt, so taste yours first. With regular broth, leave out the added salt until the end.
• Ditalini: These short tubes are about the size of a chickpea, so every spoonful gets some of each. One cup of dry ditalini weighs about 5 ounces and cooks in 9 to 11 minutes.
• Turmeric: It’s optional. Half a teaspoon turns the broth a warm golden yellow and adds a mild earthy note, but it doesn’t make the soup taste of curry. Without it, the broth is pale. It can stain wooden spoons and plastic containers.
• Lemon: Both the zest and the juice go in off the heat, at the end. Cooking lemon juice dulls it, so adding it last keeps the soup tasting fresh.

How to Make Chickpea Noodle Soup

1. Soften the vegetables

Warm the olive oil in a 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. The carrots will still be firm; they finish cooking in the broth.

2. Bloom the garlic and herbs

Stir in the garlic, oregano, thyme, and turmeric, if using, and cook for about a minute, until fragrant. Warming dried herbs in the oil wakes up their flavor.

3. Simmer the chickpeas in the broth

Add the chickpeas, broth, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat, partly cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. This gives the broth time to take on the flavor of the vegetables and gets the carrots most of the way to tender.

4. Cook the pasta in the soup

Stir in the ditalini and simmer, uncovered, for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring now and then so the pasta doesn’t settle and stick, until it’s tender and the carrots are soft. The broth will look slightly cloudy from the pasta starch. There should still be far more broth than solids in the pot; if it looks thick, add a cup of water or broth.

5. Wilt the spinach and finish with lemon

Take the pot off the heat. Stir in the spinach; it wilts in about a minute in the hot broth. Remove the bay leaf, then stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste, and add salt and more lemon juice if it needs them. Ladle into bowls and finish each with a thin drizzle of olive oil.

Tips for a Bright, Brothy Soup

• Bland broth: It needs salt or acid, often both. Add salt a pinch at a time and lemon juice a teaspoon at a time, tasting after each.
• Thick, stew-like soup: The pasta absorbed too much broth. Add water or broth until it’s soupy again, and season to taste.
• Mushy pasta: The soup sat on the heat too long after the pasta was tender. Turn the heat off as soon as the ditalini is done.
• Dull green spinach: It cooked too long. Add it off the heat right before serving.

Substitutions

• Pasta: Spaghetti broken into 1-inch pieces works in place of ditalini. Small shells or elbows work too. Gluten-free small pasta is fine; check it early, since it can soften fast.
• Greens: Chopped kale works in place of spinach. Add it with the pasta so it has time to soften.
• Beans: Cannellini beans can replace one or both cans of chickpeas.
• Herbs: Fresh dill in place of the parsley gives it a flavor closer to classic chicken noodle soup.

What to Serve with It

Crusty bread or a grilled cheese sandwich makes it a full meal. For more vegetarian soups, try our French lentil soup with potatoes or cowboy bean soup. For something creamier, there’s broccoli cheddar gnocchi soup. You’ll find more in our soup recipes.

Make Ahead

Make the soup through step 3 up to 3 days ahead, cool it, and refrigerate it. When you’re ready to serve, bring it back to a simmer, then add the pasta and continue with steps 4 and 5. You can also cook the ditalini separately and add it to each bowl.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

Pasta keeps absorbing broth as it sits. By the next day, soup stored with the pasta in it will be much thicker. If you’re planning on leftovers, it’s best to store the pasta and the soup separately.

• Refrigerate: Cool and refrigerate within 2 hours. The soup keeps 4 days; cooked pasta stored separately keeps 3 to 5 days.
• Reheat: Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers (165°F). If the pasta was stored in the soup, add 1/2 to 1 cup water or broth per 4 servings and season again. A squeeze of fresh lemon brings back the brightness.
• Freeze: Freeze the soup without the pasta and spinach for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to a simmer, then cook fresh pasta in it and add the spinach, lemon, and parsley.

Chickpea Noodle Soup FAQ

Is this soup vegan?

Yes, as written. Check that your pasta is egg-free; dried ditalini usually is.

Can I use dried chickpeas?

Yes. Use about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas, which is about 1 cup dried, soaked and cooked until tender before you start.

Why add the lemon at the end?

Lemon juice tastes brightest when it isn’t boiled. Adding it off the heat keeps the soup fresh-tasting; if you reheat leftovers, add a fresh squeeze.

Recipe Card