23 Delicious High Protein Vegan Soups (easy recipes)
Why high protein vegan soups? Well, they’re filling, comforting and super delicious – just look!
Vietnamese noodle soup with crispy tofu, creamy corn soup, flavourful lasagna soup, hearty vegan chilli, spicy lentil soup… Do I see you drooling?
If you need a bowl of comfort on the dining table, this compilation of vegan high protein soup recipes has 23 incredibly healthy meals you can easily rustle up at home.
They work perfectly as a light dinner on a cold day, too.
What are high protein vegan soups?
To be brief, high protein vegan soup is a meat-free and veg-friendly protein fill – a real lifesaver for vegans. Or if you just don’t feel like eating meat today, it’s a great chance to expand your culinary horizons.
You can learn how to cook lentils, peas, tofu, mushrooms, broccoli, and other vegan high protein sources and make really satisfying soups full of important minerals. Plus you can indeed find something that suits your tastes.
Feeling hungry after eating vegan soup is a common complaint. But it doesn’t mean every soup provides this experience.
Look at the criteria we used for this recipe round-up:
more than 15g protein
more than 5g fibre
no more than 600 calories
Protein and fibre work very well together to make sure you feel fuller with fewer calories. So adding the right amount of each to your meal equals satiety!
All these vegan high protein soup recipes also have less than 10g saturated fat and 25g overall fat. The body actually needs fat to make essential fatty acids and absorb fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K).
Healthy vegan soup recipes for weight loss
Knowing how to add protein to a vegetable soup can bring many benefits to your body. It’s no secret that boosting protein intake may help you control your hunger and lose weight.
But how does it work? Well, it has a lot to do with hormones and metabolism.
One study, for example, proves that a high protein intake reduces the hunger hormone and increases the secretion of some satiety hormones.
A high protein diet can improve your metabolism as well. Because of the high thermic effect of protein, more calories are burned throughout the day compared to other diets.
So you can eat these hearty vegan soups with no guilt and even shed pounds. Mind the portion size though
Read everything above? Then take ten and scroll through some of the best vegan soup recipes packed with protein.
All of these recipes can be used without a slow cooker or instant pot.
What can I add to soup for protein?
Top vegan protein sources you can add to soup are broccoli, mushrooms, spirulina, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, seitan, nutritional yeast, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Brown rice is another option. If you’re looking for vegetarian options, you can also use eggs and dairy. Check out this article to learn more information about high protein foods.
What vegetables are high in protein?
Some protein rich fresh veggies are green peas, spinach, artichokes, sweet corn, asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli.
Is soup good for muscle building?
Soup can be great for muscle building especially if we’re talking about high protein soup. Muscle fibers are actually made up of proteins so you need this nutrient to build and maintain your muscle and strength.
Some healthy fats are often included too, along with essential amino acids and plenty of protein. That’s why a bowl of warm high protein soup can be a very good idea for your fitness goals. They also often use simple ingredients and fresh herbs to great effect, so they’ve become very popular recipes. If you need more help with protein we have a free 7-day high-protein vegetarian meal plan right here.
This vegan mushroom soup is healthy comfort food at its best! It’s creamless, yet with a creamy texture, low in fat and includes a big variety of plants, making this a light yet filling and nutritious soup. Perfect for these chilly winter nights! One of our fave veg high protein soups.
Mmmm black beans. Soup so comforting you want to sit in it. Only vegan ingredients like fresh garlic, vegetable stock and a little olive oil and you’re ready in 20 minutes. High in protein (18 grams of protein protein per serving) and fiber. You won’t be disappointed, it’s one of our all time fave chili recipes!
This vegan 15-minute broccoli & pea soup contains 4 different kinds of veggies and is oil-free as well as dairy-free. The great thing about this soup is that it only requires 5 minutes of prep time!
Protein: 23g Calories: 493kcal Ready in: 40 minutes Recipe by:HappyKitchenRocks Bonus: сomforting and easy to prepare ahead
This easy vegan ramen is made with pan-fried spicy tofu, rice noodles, sautéed veggies completed with a sensational shiitake miso broth. It has a really nice amount of protein, too!
An easy and nutritious traditional one-pot vegetarian/vegan pasta and lentil soup recipe from Umbria in Central Italy. An authentic Italian pasta recipe.
After a delicious and filling dinner? Try our vegan pho recipe – a healthy Vietnamese noodle soup with crispy tofu topping! It’s a great source of protein.
Easy Red Lentil Dahl is a perfect plant based dish – tasty, healthy and ready in under 20 minutes. Red lentils are cooked with spices in this traditional Indian favorite, which is packed full of protein. It’s just one of many protein rich soup recipes on the list, so keep reading!
Protein: 32g Calories: 502kcal Ready in: 45 minutes Recipe by: HealthMyLifestyle Bonus: perfect for meal prep, full of vitamins
This healthy Chili Sin Carne is the best vegan and vegetarian chili! It’s extra hearty using three different beans, making it the perfect comfort food and great for meal prep!
This speedy and roasted creamy corn soup is here to show the world just how much vegan food rocks. It’s a mega creamy soup – why should vegans have all the fun?!
This Spicy Lentil Potato Soup is a quick and easy meal that is truly nourishing and full of flavor. To make it, you only need some staple pantry ingredients.
Made with bell peppers, diced tomatoes, several types of beans, chickpeas, celery, and a blend of chili powder seasoning, this vegan chili recipe is truly one of our favorites! And it has enough protein for almost anyone!
Warm up this season with a bowl of Red Lentil Soup. A hearty soup made with a vegetable base, red lentils, quinoa and seasoned with cumin and coriander. Simple and satisfying – a perfect big bowl of soup!
Protein: 20g Calories: 338kcal Ready in: 30 minutes Recipe by:SixHungryFeet Bonus: super easy and quick
A nice and simple recipe – a one-pot meal for the whole family. Packed with Italian flavors, this deconstructed lasagna can be made in less than 30 minutes, making it a perfect meal for a busy weekday night. It’s one of those super comforting soups.
Black chana soup is a delicious soup recipe that combines Indian curry flavors with chickpeas. Learn how to make chana soup with an easy homemade soup mix.
How do you like these high protein vegan soups? Now select your favourite recipe, get the ingredients and prep a bowl of warm and hearty vegan soup.
We vegetarians often run into the trap of turning into a “carbatarian” – someone who mostly eats foods high in (refined) carbohydrates. This often happens when we replace meat with the “wrong” stuff.
Simply put: too much white bread, pasta, rice and heavily processed foods like breakfast cereals, frozen pizzas and other snacks.
But fret no more!
Whether you’re on a weight-loss journey or building muscle programme, these well-tested recipes will help you achieve your goal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, we’ve covered it all!
Before we dive into the recipes let’s quickly answer how much protein we actually need and what vegetarian foods provide a proper amount of protein.
How much protein do we need?
The RDA, recommended daily allowance, is at a minimum of 0.36g of protein per pound of body weight (0.8g per kg bodyweight).
By percentage that would be roughly 10% of your daily caloric income. Note that is the minimum requirement for a non-active sedentary person to avoid a protein deficiency and get sick as a result. That means a full-on couch potato would just get by on that daily intake.
But how much protein does an active person need?
Of course this depends on your goals. But in general you can safely say if you want to build muscle you need more protein than that basic daily recommended allowance.
A higher protein intake is also likely to be beneficial for weight loss.
So, if you’re an active person, who does sports regularly, a healthy recommendation would be between 0.75g-1g of protein per lb of bodyweight per day (about 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kg bodyweight).
By percentage that would be roughly 20-30% of your daily caloric income.
This is based on studies that have investigated the rates of something called muscle protein synthesis (essentially, new muscle being created) and how it differs depending on protein intake.
How much protein per vegetarian meal is realistic?
For most people, reasonably sized healthy meals have around 600kcal, give or take 200kcal.
If we want to hit protein requirements and aim to eat a wide variety of foods (not just cheese and processed meat replacements), here are the protein amounts we believe a vegetarian meal should at least have to be considered “high protein”:
Meal size
Protein
~300kcal
12.5g+
~400kcal
16.5g+
~500kcal
21g+
~600kcal
25g+
NOTE: high-protein vegetarian meals can easily go up to 35g+ protein per 600kcal, if using cheese, eggs and processed meat replacements.
We purposefully took lower numbers per meal as a benchmark, because it allows for a wider variety of foods while still hitting protein goals even for sporty people.
And let’s be honest, to make protein account for 20%+ of your daily caloric intake, you have to make compromises as a vegetarian.
This means either a heavy focus on eggs, cheese, soy, seitan and other meat replacements or including protein shakes in your diet.
Make sure to check out our free meal plans, where all the calculations are done for you:
As you can see there are many protein rich vegetarian foods around. But notice that some foods also come with a high amount of calories, like seeds and nuts.
But this list should help as a rough guideline. So, if you’re prepping a meal without a recipe make sure to use one or more of these ingredients for a protein boost.
How can I add protein to my vegetarian meal?
To an already-finished meal think of sprinkling nuts, cheese or nutritional yeast over the top. To replace meat within the meal try tofu, seitan, lentils or different types of cheese.
You can also add chia seeds to virtually any pancake batter – you’ll get a nice omega-3 boost, too!
Of course, the recipes below can use all types of the food in this list.
Recipe by:HurryTheFoodUp Bonus: works as a breakfast or snack
Boasting 22 grams of protein per serving due to the smoked tofu, cheddar cheese and eggs. Ever had a French Tarte Flambee? That’s what these egg muffins taste like!
Bonus: Swap Greek yogurt for “skyr”, if you have it available in your location for an extra protein boost.
This yogurt dish is relatively low in calories at roughly 303 kcal per serving. That’s enough to make a filling breakfast and still leave you plenty of calories left for the rest of your meals, if you are on a weight loss diet.
Bonus: works well for breakfast, lunch or dinner 😉
Hearty and filling Farmer’s Breakfast. Full of protein and energy to keep you going. Perfect any time of the day. Ready in 30 mins. Embrace your rustic side.
Bonus: very quick and easy, can be stored for a while in the fridge, sooo yummy 🙂
This deliciously smooth cashew milkshake can be made any way you like – just follow the simple instructions and you’ll be drinking a mega shake in five minutes!
Spinach, chickpeas, eggs and feta make this dish a premium protein source for vegetarians. On top it’s easy, delicious and super healthy- a breakfast your body will thank you for!
This tempeh sandwich is THE new vegan sandwich. Mega tasty and super nutritional, it sets the new bar for all sandwich lovers out there. Whole grain sandwich bread is a great option to increase protein a little more.
After a cool and refreshing summer drink that is healthy too? Try our pineapple and spinach smoothie with fresh mint! Greek yogurt, flax seeds and cashews give this smoothie a serious protein boost!
Not sure whether lentils really work in a pancake batter? We’ve tried and tested this recipe and can say these pancakes are not only delicious, but this is also a clever way to increase the amount of protein per serving.
Red lentils belong to the legumes with the highest amount of protein. They’re also super quick to cook making them one of the “most efficient” plant based protein sources out there. Luckily, this soup is a staple in the Turkish cuisine, not because of its high protein content, but because of its good taste.
Bonus: suitable for a quick lunch, nice party snack
If you are looking for a satisfying high protein alternative to hummus and give this recipe a bash. This dip is also very versatile. Out of black beans? Use white or kidney beans instead!
Bonus: works as a side, but excellent as a main dish for a quick lunch
With feta, spinach, and chickpeas, this salad features a few of the best high protein ingredients the vegetarian diet has to offer. But not only that, the dressing is the secret star of this recipe. I was hooked for months!
With some mozzarella, spinach and whole grain tortillas you’ll get in a proper amount of protein. Granted, not the healthiest of all dishes in this list, but delicious nonetheless.
This ramen soup comes with a proper amount of vegetarian protein (egg, tofu, edamame, sesame seeds). What I really like about it though is the versatile spicy Thai style broth. Try it out with any veggie combo you like! Delicious.
The real star of this recipe is the honey mustard dressing! It’s such a good fit for the red onion, red bell pepper and lentils. Make this dish vegan by using maple syrup instead of honey. Wanna add some carbs? I love adding some simple microwaved potatoes as a side!
Bonus: new, fresh, tangy, works as a side dish or main meal
With beets and oranges as main ingredients this dish is best eaten in autumn and winter. Chickpeas and sunflower seeds contribute as a protein source. But hey, a salad is only as good as its dressing and this parsley dressing kicks ass, if I may say so!
Bonus: quick and nutritious, easy to make, full of health benefits
Full of protein, fiber and loads of other nutrients this halloumi salad will keep you feeling full for hours – and you’ll secretly be looking forward to more!
Bonus: amazingly tasty and nutritious, can be stored for a while in the fridge
This is the perfect vegetarian food for a busy weeknight dinner. 10 minutes prep time, then for 20 minutes in the oven. High in vitamins A, C and B6, protein and fiber.
Vegan stuffed peppers featuring tempeh, nutritional yeast and quinoa, three vegan sources high in protein. Quinoa is particularly cool, because it’s one of the few vegan foods that contain all nine essential amino acids!
Vegan Bolognese. It was about time we veganized the Italian classic. And we’re proud to say we were successful. Please welcome, the amazing Anti Bolognese!
These pizza pancakes are perfect for lunch or dinner – super simple and full of the most exciting base and taste combos make it the best of both worlds!
This traybake meal features two of my favorite ingredients, quinoa and halloumi. The latter is not only tasty but works as a pretty good meat replacement due to its consistency.
Dal khichdi is a very traditional Indian dish that works nicely as a weight loss dinner! It’s healthy, light but still filling, and a source of complete protein.
Bonus: Super versatile dish: don’t have kidney beans at home? Just use black beans.
Who said meat-free recipes can’t deliver? This meatless (aka vegan) chili proves that you can still enjoy your favourite meals, but in a new, animal friendly way.
Another healthy vegetarian traybake dinner with plenty of protein featuring broccoli, lentils and halloumi. So easy to make and 32 grams of protein each serving!
I think you should give this recipe a shot, how about writing the ingredients onto your shopping list right now? The recipe is right below! 🙂
Cut the broccoli into big florets and slice the red onion in half and then each half into four pieces lengthwise. Thinly slice the chilli pepper if using.
Seasoning
In the food processor add the cashews with 5 tbsp of water, basil, garlic, juice from ½ lime, ½ tsp salt, black pepper, and process until you have a pesto like texture (not fully smooth). Taste and add more salt per taste. If necessary add a little extra water too.
1 chili pepper,2 tbsp cashews,2 handful basil, fresh,2 clove garlic,½ lime,1 tsp salt,¼ tsp black pepper
Assembling
In a baking sheet place the lentils and thinly sliced chilli pepper if using. On top add the red onion, broccoli florets and halloumi.
Drizzle the pesto seasoning on top of the veggies and sprinkle remaining ½ tsp of salt + black pepper per taste. Brush the broccoli florets and halloumi with the olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the broccoli florets are tender. Turn on the grill or broiler of the oven at the highest temperature and bake for 3-5 minutes, until the veggies are golden brown.
Top with chopped fresh parsley or dill and serve immediately. Serve with a side of ciabatta bread.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
63 High Protein Vegetarian Recipes: Focused on Fitness
Amount per Serving
Calories
561
% Daily Value*
Fat
17
g
26
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
2
g
Monounsaturated Fat
7
g
Sodium
1830
mg
80
%
Potassium
1455
mg
42
%
Carbohydrates
78
g
26
%
Fiber
19
g
79
%
Sugar
11
g
12
%
Protein
32
g
64
%
Vitamin A
1649
IU
33
%
Vitamin C
247
mg
299
%
Calcium
447
mg
45
%
Iron
7
mg
39
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Tag @WPRecipeMaker on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece!
Unlock 11 More High Calorie Versions for Sporty People!
You lift weights, do sports and you need more calories?
These locked recipes are upgradedversions of the recipes we have available on the blog: that means all of them are between 500-700kcal and contain at least 24g+ protein, many a lot more.
To unlock them create a free account.
You’ll also get our free vegetarian 7-Day High Protein Meal Plan and our weekly veggie newsletter (from which you can unsubscribe whenever you want).
log in (you’ll automatically get directed back here)
Alright, that’s it for this post!
If you’re still on the recipe hunt, check out even more high protein recipes over here.
Let us know how you liked this collection of high-protein vegetarian recipes! Was there anything you liked and want to see more of? Leave us a comment below 🙂