This chickpea and tomato coconut curry soup is made in 30 minutes with mostly with pantry staples, and has a TON of bold-and-scrumptious flavor. It’s the perfect Meatless Monday comfort soup! Vegan and gluten free.
Sharing the first soup recipe of the season here on NK makes soup season feel like a real real thing.
I have been testing and making a few different soup recipes for the last month or so, in prep for the colder days, but it wasn’t until this week that I really felt compelled to make soup.
You know the feeling – don’t you?
When you suddenly find yourself reaching for your fleece before getting in your car to drive home from work, because BRRR.
And as you think about what would be good for dinner, and the only answer that chimes in your head with a resounding YES is… soup.
And amidst the dropping temps I swear the sunset time took a serious jump to an earlier time. Like waaay faster than the minute or two it’s supposed to shift each day.
How does that happen?!
But instead of dwelling on all the things we’re saying good bye to (summer I love you please don’t goooo), let’s try and do our best to embrace all the lovely parts of this season.
I mean to start there’s some colorful + crisp leaves that are already underfoot <— the best.
Plus the cozy-lazy weekends (where you maybe don’t take off your lounge wear all day) spent watching football and cooking all the things are pretty much hereeee, friends!
And so are fragrant flavorful soups like this could-not-be-easier-to-make curried tomato chickpea number. It only takes 30 minutes, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry right now already.
YES YES YES.
This time of year (okay maybe every time of year but especially right now), I’m big into curry and soup. The warming spices paired with creamy coconut milk are basically heaven on earth.
Curry paste and curry powder both have their place, but we’ll be using curry powder for this soup recipe.
It doesn’t take a lot to bring a lot of flavor, and it’s keeps the recipe simple and to the point.
Chickpea and tomato coconut curry soup ingredients
- Onion & garlic – Onion and garlic make the flavor base for the soup.
- Curry powder – For that bright colorful hue and delicious deep flavor to warm you up from the inside out.
- Diced tomatoes – Fire roasted diced tomatoes are yummy if you can find them!
- Canned chickpeas – Chickpeas are the main source of heartiness so you’ll be using two cans worth.
- Coconut milk – Full fat coconut milk is my preference for this recipe for some nice mouth-feel and richness, but you could easily swap it out for light coconut milk if that’s what you prefer.
- Broth – Any type of good tasting broth will work for this soup recipe.
- Lime juice – To brighten up all the other flavors and make this soup sing!
- Garnishes – Roasted cashews, thinly sliced red onion, and cilantro add the perfect finishing touch!
One of the things that I love the most about this soup recipe is how pantry friendly it is. Most of the main ingredients are shelf stable which means it’s an easy back pocket recipe you can make on nights when there’s not much in the refrigerator!
Many of these ingredients can be found on Thrive Market – a membership based natural products website that is like a Whole Foods or Costco but entirely based online and with the BEST wholesale prices.
I have been a Thrive Market member for 4 years and over that period of time I have saved a projected $3,892.75! That is some serious savings.
If you’re into rice this curry soup would be lovely with a big old scoop of fragrant basmati rice, or even rice noodles. But they won’t be missed if you leave them out.
The one thing I don’t recommend skipping for this soup though is the garnishes.
Without them the soup is still good, but fairly simple.
There’s something about the crunch of the cashews, the zip of the lime (<– absolutely essential), the cilantro, and thinly sliced red onion for some must-have-freshness that takes this bowl of soup from good to OH-MY-GOODNESS amazing.
Trust.
Ready in only 30 MINUTES so it’s basically made for those days when it feels like there’s just not enough time to make something substantial.
Buuuut it also has enough flavor and charm to spare that it’s perfect for a date night or get together.
AKA fancy fresh + and oh-so-yum. Ya feel me?
And with that I think it’s safe to say: HI SOUP SEASON WE’RE SO READY FOR YOU!
Print30 Minute Chickpea and Tomato Coconut Curry Soup {vegan + gluten free}
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This 30 minute chickpea and tomato coconut curry soup is made in 30 minutes with mostly with pantry staples, and has a TON of good-for-you flavor. It’s the perfect meatless comfort soup! Vegan and gluten free.
Ingredients
for soup
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 medium sized onion, diced small
- 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- pinch of crushed dried chilies (optional – leave out for less spicy)
- 1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes – fire roasted are yummy if you can find them
- 2 15.5 oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 13.5 oz can full fat coconut milk
- 3 cups of broth of choice
- juice of half a lime
for garnish
- fresh lime
- thinly sliced red onion
- cilantro
- roasted cashews – bonus points for curry spiced cashews!
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion, garlic and teaspoon of salt. Saute for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent and soft.
- Next add the curry powder and pinch of dried chili and stir almost constantly for about 30 seconds or so, until spices are fragrant and start to stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the diced tomatoes and broth.
- Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
- Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until tomatoes are soft.
- Add chickpeas and coconut milk and bring back up to a simmer. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so to marry the flavors.
- Season with salt and pepper and juice of half a lime.
- Serve topped with sliced red onion, cilantro, roasted cashews and more lime wedges.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Curry
Kimberley says
Been making this since late 2019 I believe. It’s delicious!
Super easy and the flavor!!! Plus, all the great recommended toppings! Yum! Make it and eat it today!
Trader Joe’s now has some crispy dried jalapeño pieces; another great topping here. And my hubby likes his poured over some hot rice!
Thank you!
Nyssa Tanner says
Yess! So happy you’ve been enjoying this recipe for so many years. I have seen the crispy dried jalapeno pieces but haven’t tried them yet! I’m taking this as a sign!
Guzel says
Amazing recipe! I dressed it up a bit with avocado and tofu and it was super flavorful and filling.
Nyssa Tanner says
Ohh those additions sound fantastic! Yum 🙂
Tamy says
Heyhey
In the Instructions it says „add in the broth“ but not how much… would love to try
Nyssa Tanner says
Hi Tamy – For step 3 – “Add the diced tomatoes and broth”, you should add all the broth called for in the recipe – so 3 cups. Hope that helps! Enjoy!
Tara says
Hi! I would love to make this for dinner, but can it be right that this required 3 kgs of tomatoes and 6 kgs of chickpeas?!!!!
Nyssa Tanner says
Hi Tara! The recipe is written using ounces – 14.5 ounces tomatoes and 2 15.5 ounce (31 ounces total) cans of chickpeas. If you’re converting that to kg it would be .4 kg tomatoes and .87 kg chickpeas. Hope that helps!
Katie says
I normally never comment on recipes (I’m more of a silent lurker) but this was so BOMB I just had to review. It was simply incredible. I followed the recipe exactly except that I used light coconut milk, which was all I had. Honestly, I may make it again tonight because I can’t stop thinking about it. Definitely going to start following your blog. Thanks!
Nyssa Tanner says
Ahh YAY!! So so happy that you loved this recipe. Two nights in a row for dinner is the ultimate compliment! Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment & excited to have you as a part of the NK crew 🙂
Julia says
Wonderful recipe for when I don’t feel like being in the kitchen for a long time. I made it for a few friends this weekend and everyone loved it! Very filling for both the vegetarians and non-veggies. Will definitely be making this again soon!
Nyssa Tanner says
That’s exactly why I love this recipe, too! So happy everyone enjoyed it 🙂 XO
Ashley Martin says
Okay holy cow this was BOMB. We added brown rice ramen noodles in the last 5 min and let them cook with the soup and it was AMAZING.
Nyssa Tanner says
Omg what a good idea!! Love those additions. So glad you loved this one! 🙂
Elyse says
Don’t know why it won’t let me star this…definitely 5 stars. So much yum! I doubled the recipe but cut the water to 2 cups instead of 3 and added broccoli. My family loves soup but was bored of our usual rotations. This will definitely be made again and again.
Nyssa Tanner says
Oh my gosh YAY! So happy you and your family loved this soup. Adding broccoli is such a good idea. More greens ftw 🙂
Lisa C says
Yummy! Easy “pantry pull” with lots of flavor. I added a bag of baby spinach just before serving. The sliced red onion, cashews & lime really do add a lot. Putting this into regular rotation.
Nyssa Tanner says
Ahh I’m so happy you found + love this curry, Lisa! You’re so right it’s a great pantry pull recipe. And love the addition of some greens – such a good idea!
Georgie says
I make a similar recipe but add roasted eggplant, and toss through fresh chopped tomatoes at the end. Keen to try with your cashew and red onion on top though, delicious!
Nyssa Tanner says
I love anything with roasted eggplant – that sounds delicious! I’ll have to try adding some to this recipe the next time I make it 🙂
Susan says
Delicious. Made it for lunch for me and my little one. Even without the lime juice (I didn’t have any), the flavours were great. Thanks!
Nyssa Tanner says
Woohoo! I’m so happy to hear that you and your kiddo enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you so much for your note!
Anne says
This is my favorite vegan meal right now! Instead of curry powder, I used a combination of cumin, ginger, turmeric, coriander (1 tsp each) and 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg. I also thickened the soup by blending some of it so that I could serve it over rice. It is so fresh and flavoriful, and reminds me of cashew Korma….. I love it!
Nyssa Tanner says
Ohh YES! That sounds so delicious! I love the blend of spices you chose. I bet it’s so flavorful. Yum yum! Now I’m craving cashew Korma 🙂
Nadine says
What a flavourful soup. I added diced sweet potato and chopped kale and some leftover brown rice I wanted to use up. I used a combo of Arvinda’s Tandoori and Madras Masala Spices and it was delicious! Will be making this on the regular .
Nyssa Tanner says
Wow those editions sound so delicious! I’ll have to try adding some sweet potato and kale the next time I make it. I’m so glad that you enjoyed 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
Natalie says
Super easy and so tasty! I added 2 diced red skin potatoes, switched the pepper to smoked paprika and added a bay leaf to simmer. The whole family loved it! Thank you
Nyssa Tanner says
Yes!! Sounds like some fantastic additions 🙂 So happy you enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time to leave a note!
Krista says
This is really good! My husband tends to pick out chunks of onions and tomatoes from dishes, so I used my immersion blender to create more of a bisque.
Nyssa Tanner says
Oh I love that idea so much! So glad to hear that you enjoyed 🙂 Thanks for sharing your sneaky (and brilliant!) tip!! 🙂
Jenn Priestner says
YUM!!! So happy with this delicious soup!! We added some cut up avocado as a garnish with the red onion and cilantro—SO good !!!
Nyssa Tanner says
The addition of avocado sounds DIVINE! So happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for the thoughtful comment! ☺️
L says
Can you use great northern beans instead of chick peas?
Nyssa Tanner says
Yes absolutely – I think any type of bean would work! Hope you enjoy :))
Morgan says
Great and super easy! I swapped the chili for harissa and added some cardamom and cumin. Delicious!!
Nyssa Tanner says
Oh my gosh that sounds DELISH! Love harissa so much.
Katrina says
Absolutely delicious thank you! The garnishes are well worth it they added a lot to the yummy flavour
Nyssa Tanner says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I completely agree on the garnishes – they add that little extra special touch that takes the soup to the next level! Thanks for the thoughtful note! 🙂
Wendy says
This looks amazing! Do you have a favorite curry powder you use? I’ve only made curries using Thai Kitchen red curry paste before, so not sure if that would work here.
Nyssa Tanner says
Hi Wendy! I have used a few different types of curry powder for this recipe but I think my two favorites are the frontier co-op brand, and simply organic brand – they’re both organic and so flavorful!
I also use and love the Thai kitchen curry paste, but the flavors will just be a little different – curry powder has more earthy + warm notes to it ☺️
Hope you love it!!