I’m so excited to share this Marry Me Chickpea Soup (Dairy-Free) with you! It’s a cozy, one-pot soup with a rich, creamy, dairy-free tomato broth, soft chickpeas, creamy cashew cream, and bright herbs for that restaurant-worthy finish. This is a true weeknight win—minimal prep, no blender for the soup base, and such a comforting bowl that still feels nourishing. Keeping the vegetables in little chunks instead of blending even convinced my partner, who’s not the biggest soup lover, as he usually does not find it very satisfying, but he absolutely loved this one! Each serving brings 25 g protein, 18 g fiber, and about 9 mg iron, and is made with simple nourishing ingredients, to support longevity and your immune system, and leave you feel satisfied and energized. Plus it’s meal prep friendly, and reheats very well!
Why I love this recipe (as a nutritionist)
- Iron-rich and energizing: about 9 mg iron per serving, the bioavailability is enhanced by pairing it with alliums and Vitamin C-rich ingredients.
- Protein you can feel: 25 g protein per serving from chickpeas, soy milk, nutritional yeast, and gnocchi
- Fiber-forward comfort: 18 g fiber supports a healthy microbiome and steady fullness
- Balanced and satisfying: complex carbs, plant protein, and healthy fats from olive oil and cashews
- One-pot ease: simple steps, everyday ingredients, and minimal dishes for busy nights
- Customizable: easy gluten-free, oil-free, or nut-free swaps without losing the creamy vibe
Ingredient notes
- Chickpeas: the main protein and fiber source; swap with butter beans, cannellini beans, great northern beans, or cooked black lentils.
- Gnocchi: adds body and comfort; for gluten-free, use certified GF gnocchi or swap for diced potatoes cooked in the soup
- Sun-dried tomatoes: concentrated umami and natural sweetness; oil-packed or dry-packed both work
- Cashew cream: blends into a silky finish; for nut-free use sunflower seeds and soy or almond milk
- Herbs and lemon: added off heat to preserve flavor and nutrients; fresh basil and parsley make it bright
How to make this recipe (summary)
Blend the cream with soaked cashews, soy milk, and nutritional yeast until smooth.
Sauté onions in olive oil for 5 minutes, then add carrots, bell pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes; cook 10 minutes. Add garlic and spices, then stir in tomato paste and cook 5 minutes.
Simmer chickpeas and broth for 10 minutes.
Add gnocchi, cook 2 minutes, then stir in the cream. Finish with herbs, spinach, and lemon,
Stir to wilt, season to taste, and serve warm. View recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Variations and tips
- Gluten-free: To make it gluten-free, simply use GF gnocchi or swap for potatoes. If using potatoes, dice them into small cubes and add them at step 3 with the carrots. Make sure they’re cooked through before serving—the fork should slide in easily and the potato should just start to break apart.
I don’t recommend swapping for GF pasta if you’re storing leftovers or making this for meal prep. The texture doesn’t hold up well and tends to fall apart after a couple of days. Same for using broken lasagna sheets—they clump together and the texture isn’t great the next day. Can you tell I tried a lot of different versions of this soup? - Stretch out the leftovers: This one’s quite filling and can easily stretch to 5 servings, still giving you about 20 g of protein each. It’s super good with a side of crusty toasted bread.
- Spinach: If you’re using full-size spinach, chop it roughly. Frozen spinach works too.
- Reheat: When reheating, add a splash of water (about ¼ cup) and adjust the salt to taste, depending on the broth you used.
- Extra greens: stir in kale or finely chopped broccoli stems during the simmer
- Beans Swap: You can replace the chickpeas with butter beans, cannellini beans, great northern beans, or cooked black lentils. I wouldn’t use split red lentils here—the texture turns too mushy and dense.
- Season smart: The saltiness will depend a lot on the broth you use. I recommend going for a low-sodium option, and starting with just ½ tsp of sea salt flakes. You can always add more later, but you can’t take it back!
- Timing: This recipe is so easy, and it all comes together in one pot. The only trick is to follow the timing and let each set of veggies cook before adding the next—this helps them develop their full flavor.
Adding the fresh herbs, spinach, and lemon once the heat is turned off helps preserve their nutrients. If you’re meal prepping, place them on top of the soup in the container. They’ll cook gently when reheated, maximizing their texture and nutrients. - If you like this recipe, you’ll also love our Curried Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup, Healing Butternut Squash Soup and Minestrone Soup.
Why you’ll love this marry me chickpea soup TLDR
- One-pot comfort
- Protein-packed
- Fiber-rich
- Weeknight-easy
- Meal-prep friendly
FAQ
- Is this recipe gluten-free? Use certified gluten-free gnocchi, or swap gnocchi for small-diced potatoes cooked in the soup.
- Can I make it nut-free? Yes—replace cashews with sunflower seeds and use soy or oat milk.
- How do I store leftovers? Refrigerate in airtight containers for up to 5 days; add a splash of water (about 1/4 cup) when reheating and adjust salt.
- Can I freeze this soup? The texture of gnocchi can soften after freezing; for best results, freeze the soup without gnocchi and add fresh gnocchi when reheating. Or use potatoes
- What can I use instead of chickpeas? Butter beans, cannellini beans, great northern beans, or cooked black lentils all work beautifully. Avoid red lentils.
Marry Me Chickpea Soup (Dairy-Free)
Creamy, cozy one-pot chickpea and gnocchi soup with dairy-free cashew cream, bright herbs, and lemon—simple steps, big flavor, perfect for weeknights and meal prep.
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Equipment
- Large Pot
- cutting board
- chef’s knife
Ingredients
Cashew cream
- ⅓ cup (45 g) cashews
- ¾ cup (180 ml) dairy-free milk - I use soy
- ¼ cup (30 g) nutritional yeast
Soup
- 1½ tbsp (22 ml) olive oil - or water fry
- 2 yellow onions - finely diced
- 2 carrots - diced
- 1 red bell pepper - diced
- 3 oz (85 g) sun-dried tomatoes - sliced
- 6 cloves garlic - minced
- ⅓ cup (85 g) tomato paste
- 3 cups (490 g) chickpeas - cooked
- 5 cups (1200 ml) low-sodium vegetable broth
- 9 oz (250 g) gnocchi
- ¼ cup (15 g) fresh parsley - finely chopped
- ½ cup (20 g) fresh basil - finely chopped
- 3 cups (90 g) baby spinach
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
Spices
- 1 tbsp (6 g) smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp (10 g) garlic powder
- 1 tsp (1 g) dried thyme
- 1 tsp (1.8 g) chili flakes
- ½ tsp (3 g) sea salt flakes - more to taste
- 1 tsp (2 g) freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the cream: Soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes (you can skip this step if using a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix). In a small blender, combine the cashews, milk, and nutritional yeast. Blend until perfectly smooth, then set aside.
- Make the soup: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Add the carrots, bell pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the minced garlic, smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried thyme, chili flakes, salt, black pepper, and tomato paste. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the chickpeas and vegetable broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the gnocchi and cook for 2 minutes, or until tender.
- Stir in the cream and simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the parsley, basil, spinach, and lemon juice. Stir until the spinach is just wilted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm.
Notes
Gluten-free option: Use GF gnocchi or swap for potatoes. If using potatoes, dice them into small cubes and add them at step 3 with the carrots. Make sure they’re cooked through before serving—the fork should slide in easily and the potato should just start to break apart.
Salt: The saltiness will depend a lot on the broth you use. I recommend going for a low-sodium option and starting with just 1/2 tsp of sea salt flakes. You can always add more later.
Oil-free option: water fry the onions, and use dry-packed sun dried tomatoes
Not normally a soup guy, but this was DELICIOUS 🤤
This was absolutely delicious! I used tomato sauce instead of paste, but it was still amazing. It has such a cozy, homey, autumn feel — it would be perfect for the holidays too!
What can you use instead of cashew we have nut allergies
sunflower seeds are a great replacement for cashews in all my recipes using cashew cream 🙂
I discovered you and your recipes recently and you and they are such a gift! Your inclusion of a servings number adjustment tool is absolutely brilliant! Thanks and look forward to a long relationship ahead!
Haven’t made this yet but already know it’ll be a 5!! All I’ve tried so far have been for me and my partner.
Aw thank you so much for the kind words Rebecca! I’m so glad it’s helpful, sometimes, we make adjustments to the website, and we’re not sure if people like it, so we really appreciate the feedback 😍 And so happy both you and your partner are loving the recipes x
Made it and my husband and I loved it! Substituted sweet potato for gnocchi and used an immersion blender on half of it to make it just a little creamy.
That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing Karen, I’m so happy you both loved it 💚
This was absolutely delicious! I used tomato sauce instead of paste, but it was still amazing. It has such a cozy, homey, autumn feel — it would be perfect for the holidays too!
I’m so glad you loved it, thank you for sharing Kotryna 💚
Is this 4 servings?
Yes, you can find the number just above the ingredient list and adjust it to your liking 🙂 Hope you love it!
Is there anything you ca sub the nutritional yeast for or is it possible to omit it
You can skip it, it does add a little of umami flavor, so might need an extra pinch of salt 🙂 Hope you love it!
This was absolutely delicious, thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing Aleisha 💚
Is this 4 servings?
The best soup so far — thank you for the recipe.
I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you Liva 💚
This is a total wow! 🤯
I used gnocchetti (small gnocchi)
and it was absolutely perfect.
I also chopped up a hot chili very finely with the aromatics- it is getting cold here in nyc and my husband loves a little extra heat! Honestly to die for and the recipe was so easy to follow. 🙏💕
I’m so happy you and your husband loved it, Kaili! Love the idea of adding some extra heat to it, too 🔥 Thank you for sharing 💚
Hi! Do you happen to have nutritional info?
Click “nutritional information” under the recipe instruction to unveil, we keep them hidden as numbers do not serve everyone 🙂
Could you substitute coconut milk for the cream?
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it.
Hi Tricia, I personally don’t always love coconut in a pasta dish because I find it a little sweet. This is just a personal preference, though, and I know a lot of people do enjoy it! Someone actually mentioned using coconut milk in our YouTube comment section with great results. So if you love coconut, I should work 🙂 Let me know how you go!
Can I use coconut milk instead of making the cashew cream?
Hi Ana, I personally don’t always love coconut in a pasta dish because I find it a little sweet. This is just a personal preference, though, and I know a lot of people do enjoy it! Someone actually mentioned using coconut milk in our YouTube comment section with great results. So if you love coconut, I should work 🙂 Let me know how you go!
If I were to substitute with regular cream, do you know what measurement of cream i would need? Thanks ☺️
My guess is about a cup 🙂
Hi, what would you sub out for the red peppers? Recipe looks amazing!
So cherry tomatoes, or zucchini would be lovely! Hope you love it 💚
You’re going to love this Marry Me Chickpea Soup (Dairy-Free) recipe! Make sure to rate it 5 stars and leave a comment if you enjoyed it!