Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup with jackfruit is a hearty & comforting meal! This healthy recipe is packed with veggies, noodles & flavor!
This vegan “chicken” noodle soup is light and brothy, but absolutely packed with flavor and enough veggies to make it feel hearty! Jackfruit, our chicken stand-in, gets seasoned with a special poultry seasoning blend, then baked until it absorbs all of the flavor and has the texture of chicken!
It is the perfect complement to the flavorful broth, tender veggies, and al dente noodles!
Reasons to love this recipe!
- It is comfort food that is GOOD for you.
- A one dish meal! Serve it with bread and butter for an easy dinner.
- Is vegan and gluten free adaptable!
Ingredients and substitutions:
For the jackfruit "chicken"
- Jackfruit - creates the "chicken" in the soup. We season and roast it to infuse flavor. If you absolutely cannot find jackfruit, chickpeas could work here. When buying jackfruit, make sure it is the young green variety packed in water, NOT syrup.
- Olive oil - or another oil like avocado, grapeseed, coconut, etc.
- Maple syrup - or honey (though not strictly vegan).
- Poultry seasoning - this gives our vegan chicken its chicken-like flavor.
- Onion powder - or granulated onion.
- Salt - always!
- Garlic powder - or granulated garlic.
- Smoked paprika - adds a nice "meaty" smokiness
For the soup:
- Onion - yellow, red, or white.
- Celery
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Fresh thyme - or 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
- 2 bay leaves - fresh or dry both work.
- Low sodium vegetable broth - you can use regular, not low sodium, broth too. Just adjust salt levels accordingly. In this case, the saltiness comes from the liquid aminos. You likely won't need as much in the soup.
- Water - or more broth.
- Liquid aminos - or soy sauce, tamari, etc.
- Pepper
- Pasta - fettuccine, rotini, egg noodles, etc.
How to make vegan chicken noodle soup:
Make the jackfruit "chicken": Toss the jackfruit, oil, and seasonings together on a sheet pan. Bake until the edges begin to brown.
Sauté the veggies: Cook the onion, carrot, and celery in a large soup pot. Add in garlic and bay leaves to layer in some flavor. Stir in the veggie broth.
Cook the pasta: In a separate pot, cook the pasta al dente. Drain and set aside.
Combine and simmer: Add the jackfruit to the pot and simmer for a couple minutes to marry the flavors. Stir in the pasta, simmer until warmed through, and serve!
Does jackfruit really taste like chicken?
Straight out of the can, definitely not! And while jackfruit will never be chicken, seasoning it properly and cooking to infuse flavor will make this jackfruit downright delicious if not exactly like chicken.
Seasoning jackfruit with similar spices that you would use on chicken, like poultry seasoning, helps to add chicken-like flavor. A little smoked paprika adds meatiness while garlic and onion powder help to build base flavor.
Baking the jackfruit with these seasonings helps to infuse the flavor and create a chicken-like texture.
What are the best noodles to use?
There are several noodle options to choose from!
Traditionally, a wide egg noodle is used in this soup, but they are not vegan.
Great vegan options are rotini or fettuccini.
For a gluten free soup, choose any gluten free noodle. Most are vegan too!
And my personal favorite... these gluten free egg noodles!
Storage:
If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge in a lidded container for up to 5 days. I usually just pop the lid on the soup pot and place it in the fridge.
Reheat in a pot on the stove over medium heat or in the microwave until warmed through.
More jackfruit recipes to try!
- Jackfruit "Chicken" Salad Sandwich
- 30 Minute Buffalo Jackfruit Tacos
- Peanut Sauce Jackfruit Summer Rolls
- Korean BBQ Jackfruit Tacos
- Baked Jackfruit Taquitos
Jackfruit Chicken Noodle Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Jackfruit Chicken Noodle Soup is a hearty and comforting one pot meal! Jackfruit gets seasoned with a special chicken seasoning blend and then baked until it absorbs all of the flavor and has the texture of chicken! This healthy recipe is packed with veggies, noodles, and flavor!
Ingredients
For the jackfruit "chicken":
- 2 (20)oz cans of jackfruit in brine, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons ground poultry seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
For the soup:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Large onion, chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1-2 tablespoons liquid aminos, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces pasta of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- Drain and rinse the jackfruit well. Spread it out on a clean kitchen towel. Place another towel on top of it and pat dry. The dryer, the better.
- Place the jackfruit on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a potato masher to mash the jackfruit into shredded chicken consistency. If you don't have a potato masher, you can break it apart with your hands. If the jackfruit seems wet after mashing, use your towel to dry it again.
- Sprinkle on the oil, maple syrup, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Toss well to coat all of the jackfruit with the seasonings and spread it out on the baking tray in one even layer. Bake for 20 minutes and set aside.
- While the jackfruit is baking, heat the oil for the soup in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium high heat. Add in the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté until the onion is translucent and the veggies have softened, about 7-10 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.
- Stir in the broth, water, aminos, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
- When cooked, add in the jackfruit, cover and simmer.
- While the soup is simmering, cook the pasta, in a separate pot, according to the package directions. Add to the soup and serve!
Notes
For a really convincing chicken noodle soup flavor, use this low sodium no-chicken broth.
For a grain free option, use a bean based pasta.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼th recipe
- Calories: 270
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 1785mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 43g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Heather says
hi there! just FYI honey is not a vegan ingredient. you mention vegan in the title, so it might be good to add a note to substitute agave nectar or maple syrup in place of the honey in case someone who doesn't know better tries to make this for a vegan and insists it's vegan when it isn't :)
Laurel says
Hi Heather, great idea! I do make note of that in a lot of my recipes, but missed it here! Adding it in now :)
Maeve says
Great recipe! I modified it a little by adding about 1/2tsp of masala spice, 1tsp of miso in place of the salt, and used a 1:3 ratio of sesame oil to vegetable oil in place of the avocado oil to the jackfruit when it was baking! Yum!
I also added mushroom and corn to the soup itself which worked really well!
Thank you for the brilliant inspiration!.
Laurel says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Maeve! All those modifications sound delicious :)
Rebecca says
Made this tonight. It’s delicious!!! Best vegan “chicken” noodle I’ve had. Thanks for the fabulous recipe!
Laurel says
Hi Rebecca! Thank you so much for the review! It absolutely makes my day knowing you enjoyed the recipe :)
Melissa says
This recipe is so delicious, all the meat eaters in my family even enjoyed it. Going into the colder months again now so can’t wait to add this back into our rotation! Thank you for such a great recipe to warm us from the inside!
Laurel says
Thank you so Much for your review, Melissa!
NatureGirl says
Yum! We only made a half batch to see how we liked it, this our first experience with jackfruit. We substituted diced cabbage for onion. I used tamari instead of aminos so it was a little on the salty side (but not overwhelming). Next time (and there will be a next time) I will add less salt to the baking of the jackfruit. This was absolutely DELICIOUS!
Tom says
When do you add the aminos?
Laurel says
Hi Tom, You will add the aminos to the recipe in step 5 with the broth. Happy cooking!
Buttercup says
I also made half a recipe, and in an effort to reduce the day's-supply of sodium, I didn't add any salt to the jackfruit. The flavor is very good, but where's the heat coming from? The smoke paprika? I added more both in the end to try to tame it down. I followed everything else to the letter except to omit the salt and I didn't even add any black pepper. Where did I go wrong? Thanks!
Laurel Perry says
Thank you for the review! I am a bit perplexed at where the spice is coming from as well. If it was smoked paprika, there shouldn't have been any heat, but brands can vary.