Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup
This Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup combines the flavors of sopa de fideo with a vegetable soup to help make this a complete meal. Warming, satisfying and easy to make.
There’s something about a classic loaded soup that brings me great joy. And throwing in a lot of traditional flavors I remember growing up into the mix makes this soup even more special. This shredded tofu noodle soup combines my love of sopa de fideo with extra veggies and shredded tofu to make this extra hearty and delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup
- A simple, but flavorful soup that comes together in 20 minutes. I also mention a few substitutions and tips to adapt this soup to your liking throughout the post.
- Nourishing and satisfying. A complete meal loaded with plant based protein, complex carbohydrates and vegetables.
- Full of flavors. Thanks to the use of good quality broth and extra herbs and spices, this soup comes to life making every bite just as enjoyable as the last.
What is Sopa de Fideo?
This recipe is heavily influenced by sopa de fideo, using parts of my Nana’s recipe. Sopa de fideo translates to “noodle soup” and is part of Spanish and Mexican culture. Preparation can vary depending on region, family, preferences and what you have on hand. Typically the soup uses thin noodles, but I have seen this soup prepared with a wide variety of different small/thin pasta types. These noodles are then cooked in oil until golden and prepared with additional soup ingredients like tomatoes, onions, garlic, and other vegetables of choice.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pasta: Most often this recipe is prepared using broken vermicelli noodles or angel hair pasta. However, you can also prepare this with small pasta shapes of your preference like tiny shells or pastina.
- Smoked Tofu: I used the smoked tofu from the brand Soy Boy that I found at my Whole Foods, but you can swap for half a block of super firm tofu (about ~200g) or the same amount of pressed extra firm tofu. If you want more smoky flavor, feel free to add some smoked paprika to taste or a dash of liquid smoke to your broth.
- Onion: I recommend white onion or yellow onion.
- Tomatoes: I like to use fresh, but canned diced tomatoes also work when tomatoes are not in season.
- Garlic: I used fresh, but like to cook it with my pasta to help develop more flavors instead of blending it up with the tomatoes. Feel free to adjust the amount used based on your preference.
- Zucchini: This was my vegetable of choice, but this can work with diced bell peppers or you can swap and sprinkle in some spinach at the end to wilt into the soup.
- Vegetable Based Bouillon: Since my great grandmother would use chicken broth for her sopa de fideo, I used vegan “chicken” bouillon cubes. You can also use a good quality vegetable broth or vegetable bouillon paste from Better Than Bouillon.
- Seasoning: I used oregano, coriander, aleppo pepper, and thyme. Feel free to adjust or substitute as needed. If you don’t have aleppo pepper, you can swap for some smoked paprika.
How to Make Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup
Prep your soup base and tofu. To a blender, add the tomatoes, bouillon cubes and 1 cup of water and blend until mostly smooth. Boil the remaining water in a tea kettle. While the water comes to a boil, prepare the shredded tofu. Shred the tofu blocks over a cutting board using the largest holes on a box grater and set to the side. This will give the tofu a similar consistency to shredded chicken.
Cook the pasta. Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat to warm through then add the oil. Once the oil is warmed through, add the broken pasta and toss to coat. Continuously sauté the noodles for about 3 minutes or until golden in color.
Sauté the veggies and seasonings. Stir in the onions and garlic with a pinch of salt and continue to sauté for 2 minutes to soften the onions and allow the garlic to become fragrant then stir in the aleppo pepper, oregano, coriander, and thyme.
Pour the blended tomatoes through a strainer over the cooked pasta in the saucepan, stir to combine and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Add the shredded tofu and diced zucchini then pour over the remaining water.
Simmer. Stir the pot and top with the cilantro sprigs and allow the soup to come to a low boil. Cook the soup for 5 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, making sure to stir occasionally. Adjust salt and pepper to taste then serve the soup with a squeeze of fresh lime and enjoy.
Expert Tips
- Options for replacing the smoked tofu. If you don’t have access to smoked tofu, replace it with half a block of super firm tofu or pressed extra firm tofu and add a teaspoon of liquid smoke or 1-2 tsp smoked paprika to the broth.
- To replace the fresh tomatoes use canned. Swap the fresh tomatoes with 1 cup canned fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes.
- Swap the pasta for a different pasta you love. You can use tiny shells, orzo, pastina, or broken thin spaghetti if desired. Just note that the cook time for the pastas may vary, so make sure to cook until al dente using the package instructions on the pasta as a guideline.
- Replace the bouillon cube with vegetable broth. To do this just replace 2 cups of water with vegetable broth and heat it up on the stovetop before adding to the pot.
- Dice tofu instead of grating it. Grating is totally optional, but I love the texture it provides in the soup. Cubing the tofu works just as well.
- Add more broth to your liking. I don’t like as much broth in my soups, but you can absolutely add 1-2 cups extra if you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! If you don’t have access to smoked tofu, just replace with half a block of super firm tofu or 1/2 a block of pressed extra firm tofu and add a teaspoon of liquid smoke or 2 tsp smoked paprika to the broth.
Swap out the regular pasta for a gluten-free pasta brand that you love. In my experience with using gluten-free pasta, I tend to cook the pasta for less time than recommended on the package. This will help prevent your noodles from getting mushy.
Tofu is safe to eat raw. Adding it to a flavorful broth will help the flavors better penetrate into the tofu.
I do not recommend freezing this soup because of the pasta. Freezing will cause the pasta to become mushy when reheated.
Once the soup has cooled, place it into an airtight storage container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. When reheating, you may wish to add a few splashes of water if you feel the broth is thin.
How to Serve
Serve your soup with some fresh cilantro and lime wedges. This soup is nutritionally balanced thanks to the protein provided by the tofu, energy provided by the noodles, and the fiber and extra nutrients from the vegetables. Feel free to serve this soup with some heated tortillas or some crusty whole grain bread.
More Comforting Vegan Soups
- Gochujang Chickpea Soup
- Creamy Vegan Pot Pie Soup
- Butternut Squash Lentil Soup
- Vegan Gnocchi Tomato Soup
- Lemon White Bean Orzo Soup
Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Shredded Tofu Noodle Soup combines the flavors of sopa de fideo with a vegetable soup to help make this a complete meal. Warming, satisfying and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound of fresh Roma Tomatoes (about 3)
- 2 vegan chicken bouillon cube or 2 tsp vegetable bouillon paste equivalent
- 5 cups of water
- 1 package of smoked tofu (about 227g of tofu)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 4 oz of angel hair pasta, broken into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 a medium white onion, sliced into strips
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
- 1/2 tsp aleppo pepper
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 5 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed (or 1/2 tsp dry thyme)
- 1 small zucchini, diced
- 2 sprigs of cilantro, optional
- Lime wedges, for serving
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Prep your soup base and tofu. To a blender, add the tomatoes, bouillon cubes and 1 cup of water and blend until mostly smooth. Boil the remaining water in a tea kettle. While the water comes to a boil, shred the tofu blocks over a cutting board using the largest holes on a box grater and set to the side.
- Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat to warm through then add the oil. Once the oil is warmed through, add the broken pasta and toss to coat. Continuously sauté the noodles for about 3 minutes or until golden in color.
- Stir in the onions and garlic with a pinch of salt and continue to sauté for 2 minutes to soften the onions and allow the garlic to become fragrant then stir in the aleppo pepper, oregano, coriander, and thyme.
- Pour the blended tomatoes through a strainer over the cooked pasta in the saucepan, stir to combine and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Add the shredded tofu and diced zucchini then pour over the remaining water.
- Stir the pot and top with the cilantro sprigs and allow the soup to come to a low boil. Cook the soup for 5 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, making sure to stir occasionally.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste then serve the soup with a squeeze of fresh lime and enjoy.
Notes
Options for replacing the smoked tofu. If you don’t have access to smoked tofu, replace it with half a block of super firm tofu or pressed extra firm tofu and add a teaspoon of liquid smoke or 1-2 tsp smoked paprika to the broth.
To replace the fresh tomatoes use canned. Swap the fresh tomatoes with 1 cup canned fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes.
Swap the pasta for a different pasta you love. You can use tiny shells, orzo, pastina, or broken thin spaghetti if desired. Just note that the cook time for the pastas may vary, so make sure to cook until al dente using the package instructions on the pasta as a guideline.
Replace the bouillon cube with vegetable broth. To do this just replace 2 cups of water with vegetable broth and heat it up on the stovetop before adding to the pot.
Dice tofu instead of grating it. Grating is totally optional, but I love the texture it provides in the soup. Cubing the tofu works just as well.
Add more broth to your liking. I don’t like as much broth in my soups, but you can absolutely add 1-2 cups extra if you prefer.
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★ Catherine
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