For a soup to be one of best winter soups you can make, it must be easy to do, plus taste amazing. I am a big soup fan, especially in the winter when it’s freezing outside and I crave warmth.

There’s something about winter that calls us to slow down, if even a little. For those of us who live in places where the seasons change and winter means cold, ice and snow, it’s even more of a call to settle in.

That’s where soups come in. They can be filled with vegetables and beans and spices, served piping hot. On a cold winter’s day, this really hits the spot. Another benefit of having a great soup is that you can make a large batch, which you can share, and also have leftovers for another day or two.

I found the recipe for the soup via Alison Roman’s You Tube tutorial. Apparently, it “broke” the internet when it first came out. Why? Because it seriously is one of the best winter soups you can make.

How I started to make the soup

Once, I took a vegan cooking class for fun, and the instructor was adamant that any kind of vegetable stock should be fresh. For some reason, that stayed with me (she really was a great chef and conscious of using whole foods). Ever since, I’ve always tried to follow her advice and make fresh stock whenever the recipe calls for it. If you don’t have the time nor the patience, you can buy stock and/or use a packet where you simply add a cube to boiling water.

I am still experimenting with the perfect stock, and quite honestly, an easy one to make. For the broth for this soup, I used this recipe, and it turned out pretty well.

It was straight-forward cleaning and chopping the ingredients, then putting them into a pot full of water. Simple enough.

This winter soup is a chickpea soup

So, the Alison Roman soup is a chickpea soup. It’s vegan too. I’m not vegan myself, but I do try to have plant-based foods since they taste great and it’s good for the planet. Chickpeas are a great source of protein, which makes this a very filling and satisfying soup, too.

Yes, there’s turmeric and coconut milk

Turmeric adds such great flavour to this soup, and it blends so well with the coconut milk. You may find it similar to certain flavours found in Indian cuisine, where the combination of turmeric and coconut is often used.

The Verdict

Seriously, Alison Roman’s Internet-Famous Chickpea Stew is one of the best winter soup recipes I’ve made, and hope to continue making.

Have you tried making this amazing soup? Do you have any other suggestions for best winter soup recipes? Let me know in the comments below.

-Isabel