This lemon rice soup is comforting and creamy without eggs. It’s a delicious citrusy plant-based soup perfect a chilly day.
I love a nice lemony soup. This creamy lemon soup base works well with different combinations of grains, pasta and proteins such as in these recipes: lemon chickpea orzo soup and lemon barley soup.
Sometimes I can’t find orzo at the supermarket so I’ve swapped it for rice and made this delicious lemon rice soup!
Similar recipes on the internet are for avgolemono - a popular Greek lemon rice soup. However avgolemono is made with eggs.
My lemon rice soup is completely vegan (and also appropriate for people who are allergic to eggs) as it is thickened with almond butter and chickpeas replace shredded chicken.
To make this recipe as simple as possible, I used the same technique as in my pasta e fagioli soup recipe and used my food processor to finely chop the carrots, celery, onion and garlic into a mirepoix.
Not only is it super quick to do it that way, the mirepoix also adds a ton of flavour to the soup stock and the blitzed carrots are what makes lemon rice soup yellow.
Something that baffled me about the other lemon rice soup recipes I’ve seen is that they don’t make use of the lemon zest.
The lemon skin adds really nice bright fruity flavors to the soup that’s more lemony that just adding the sour lemon juice alone.
Ingredients
The ingredients list for this lemon rice soup is short, cheap and easy to find in any supermarket!
Lemons: This recipe makes use of both the lemon zest and the lemon juice. I prefer to use more zest and less juice so just one lemon is needed. Be sure to pick a fresh one with nice-looking skin.
Rice: This recipe calls for short grain white rice. You could substitute other types of rice.
Chickpeas: The chickpeas are an optional ingredient. You don’t need to add them if you don’t like them. I like chickpeas for the texture that they add. Additionally, they are a good source of plant-based protein and could be considered a substitute for the various types of chicken that other recipes call for.
Mirepoix: Carrots, celery, onion and garlic are finely minced into a mirepoix which is the backbone of the flavor in this soup.
Almond butter: To add creaminess and thicken the soup, a couple tablespoons of almond butter are used to replace the eggs used in other recipes.
Stock and water: A good-quality vegetable broth will add nice flavor. I find that one container is just a little short so I add one cup of water as well.
Herbs and seasonings: I like the combination of lemons and thyme but you can use dried or fresh dill, oregano, rosemary, or another herb of your choice.
Oil: You’ll need a little bit of olive oil to fry the vegetables.
How to make lemon rice soup
This soup is super easy to make with minimal chopping and in just one pot.
Prep: To prep the vegetables, peel the carrots, onion and garlic.
Roughly chop the carrots, onion, celery and garlic into smaller pieces.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Zest the lemon before cutting it to juice it.
Do not rinse the rice because the starches will help to thicken the soup.
Mince: Add the chopped vegetables into a food processor and blitz them until very finely chopped.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can chop everything by hand. Just try to chop them as small as possible since you want the veggies to meld into the soup and not be noticeable.
Fry: Add the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat it over medium-low heat.
Add the blitzed veggies and thyme and gently fry until very soft - 10 to 15 minutes.
Doing this slowly over fairly low heat helps to bring out maximum flavor from the veggies.
Combine: Now pour in the chickpeas, vegetable stock, and water.
Raise the heat to bring the soup to a boil, then pour in the rice and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Simmer: Cover the pot and allow to simmer until the rice is cooked through - about 20 minutes.
Season: Remove the pot from the heat.
Place the almond butter in a small dish and add a ladle of the hot broth. Stir well to dissolve the almond butter before adding it to the soup.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and salt.
Stir well and serve immediately.
Variations and substitutions
Thickener: Instead of almond butter you can use tahini or cashew butter.
Rice: You can use long grain rice such as basmati. If you want to use brown rice, you’ll need to extend the cooking time and keep an eye on the liquid level as it cooks.
Veggies: A popular addition to lemon chickpea orzo soup are leafy greens such as spinach or kale. Feel free to toss in a couple handfuls at the end of cooking.
Protein: What I’m calling “protein” here are the chickpeas. You can sub another bean like white beans or kidney beans. You could also replace them with a vegan chicken product or some diced tofu.
FAQs
While the traditional Greek lemon rice soup calls for tempered eggs, my vegan recipe uses almond butter to add creaminess. You can also use tahini or cashew butter.
Short-grain rice is best for lemon rice soup because it releases starches which help to thicken the soup and add creaminess. However, you can substitute a long-grain rice if necessary.
Make ahead and storage tips
This lemon rice soup is best served immediately after cooking because the rice will continue to absorb the broth.
If you need to make this ahead of time, you can cook the rice in a separate pot from the soup base and add it to the soup before serving.
The soup will be slightly less thick if you do this because it won’t have the starch released from cooking the rice in the soup.
Leftover lemon rice soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Again, the rice will absorb the broth so you can add additional vegetable stock or water when reheating the soup to loosen it up again.
How to serve lemon rice soup
Like any kind of soup, this lemon rice soup goes will with crusty bread or vegan garlic bread, rolls or breadsticks.
Any type of a side salad, sandwich, or roasted vegetables. Try these roasted artichokes or this Spanish pisto.
Lemon Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 2 celery ribs
- ½ medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 (15 oz / 425 g) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- ½ cup (125 grams) short-grain rice
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- the zest of 1 lemon
- 1 - 3 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Roughly chop the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Place them in a food processor and pulse until finely minced. If you don't have a food processor, just try to chop them up as finely as you can.
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium-low heat. Add the minced vegetables and thyme. Gently fry, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables are very soft - about 10 to 15 minutes. The idea is for the vegetables to flavor the soup and be almost undetectable.
- Add the chickpeas, vegetable stock and water and raise to heat to bring it to a boil. Add the rice and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the rice is cooked - about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the almond butter in a bowl and add a ladle of the hot soup broth. Stir to dissolve the almond butter.
- When the rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and add the almond butter, lemon zest, salt and lemon juice. Lemon juice can quickly overpower the soup so I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon then tasting and adding more if you want to.
Leave a Reply