The soup was DELICIOUS!! Mark encouraged me to write down the ingredients because I tend to create and forget and this soup was a keeper. I didn't want to lose the scrap of paper I used to recreate the 'recipe' so I decided to post it on the blog so we could always find it! Keep in mind that I just dumped the ingredients I had on hand without measuring... Yep, that's how I use the Instant Pot and I love it, so these are estimated guidelines!! I have a 6-qt Instant Pot from Costco, btw.
Vegan Oil Free Tofu Noodle Soup
| Firm or Extra-Firm Tofu | 1-2 Blocks (non-silken), cut into cubes (Air Fried is great!!) |
| Onion | 3-5, sliced |
| Garlic | 1 Bulb, sliced-minced-chopped |
| Ginger | 3-5 large Nubs (a lot...), chopped |
| Carrot | 3-4 large, sliced into rounds or half moons |
| Celery | 4-6 Stalks, sliced (I didn't have, but will add next time) |
| Spices | divided, Salt, Pepper, Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Onion, Garlic, Cumin, Paprika, Red Peppers, etc. |
| Vegetable Broth | or Vegetable Concentrate + Water |
| Water | instead of Broth or with Concentrate |
| Noodles | I used an entire bag (16-oz) of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice and Quinoa Fusilli Gluten Free Pasta, but would use whatever I had on hand |
| Frozen or Fresh Vegetables | I used an entire bag (16-oz) of frozen Brussels Sprouts, but frozen Peas or a huge bunch of chopped Kale or Spinach (fresh or frozen) would be great too |
| Ice Cubes | as needed |
| Nooch | Nutritional Yeast, if desired |
Instructions
If desired, air fry a block or two of cubed firm/extra-firm tofu, shaking periodically, while sauteing the vegetables in the IP; set aside. You may also cook these in the oven or not at all. (NOTES: I air fried one block of tofu and did not use any non-stick spray, so it stuck. I don't mind picking off the stuck pieces and adding them to the pot, but if you don't want it to stick then lightly spray your air fryer. I found that after I added the water and noodles to the soup, I wanted another block of tofu, so I cubed another block and added it without air frying. I enjoyed both textures of tofu in the soup very much, so in the future I may keep it the same, air fry both, or pre-cook neither. I may even replace the tofu with TVP or eliminate it altogether.)
(NOTES: I almost always turn my IP on to pressure mode and use that mode throughout cooking. Set your IP to whatever allows you to saute vegetables and then boil liquids.)
Water saute the onion, garlic, and ginger while preparing the carrots and celery. Add salt, if using, and pepper at each stage of cooking to desired taste. When aromatics are limp add the carrots and celery and saute briefly (1-3 minutes or so - keep them crisp, this is just to mingle the flavors and begin the cooking process). Add the remaining spices, to taste. I used about a Tablespoon of each spice, and maybe 1 1/2 Tbsp of the Red Peppers. (NOTE: I did not find this to be a spicy soup at all, but my Mom probably would taste every pepper flake and deem it "too spicy," so use your best judgement.)
Add water or broth to the water fill line, add the tofu, and give the ingredients a good stir. (NOTES: This will not be cooked under pressure, but the noodles will take up space so the water fill line is a good estimation of how much water to use initially. I also turned on my electric kettle to have some hot, stand-by water. This is also where I found I wanted one more block of tofu and added the second block.)
Bring to a boil. Add the noodles and stir well. Bring to a boil again and cook until the noodles are the desired consistency. The soup will thicken so add water as needed to cook all the noodles. (NOTE: I generally place the lid loosely on the IP, or I secure it but don't allow it to pressurize.)
Once noodles are cooked, add frozen or fresh vegetables; stir and allow vegetables to warm/cook for a few minutes. Adjust seasonings as desired. (NOTE: I generally turn the IP off right after I add the vegetables. The residual heat is usually plenty to cook/warm the added vegetables.)
Serve up and eat the first bowls of soup immediately. This soup will be somewhat concentrated in flavor. Add an ice cube or two to your bowl to dilute as needed, or to cool enough to eat. Some of the bowls we topped with a little sprinkle of nutritional yeast, which was a pretty tasty variation, but not necessary. (NOTES: As the soup sits, the noodles will continue to plump and the soup will continue to concentrate. This is when I add a bunch of ice cubes to the pot and stir it well. This adds more liquid and keeps the noodles from disintegrating completely. It also cools the soup quickly for refrigeration. This soup heats well for the rest of the week as individual bowls in the microwave or on the stovetop, or as a batch using your IP. The flavor is delicious and does not taste 'watered down' whatsoever.)
We will make iterations this again and again for sure!! It is such great comfort food and was super fast and easy to make. I hope that this 'recipe' is useful to someone and that it saves the life of at least one chicken!!
