Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup with Crispy Chickpeas | High Fibre Gluten Free Soup

Medically reviewed by Abbey Sharp, Registered Dietitian (RD), BASc.

 This vegan curried sunchoke and chickpea soup packs a punch with intense flavours and it finished with a crunch from the roasted crispy chickpeas. 

Guys, I LOVE curry. Spicy, rich, aromatic and sweet. It may be hot, but it’s a welcome addition to my weekly menu any night of the week. While I usually make curry with noodles or rice (check out this amazing version here and here), this week I had a hankering for some soup sans carbs.

I’ve got a secret ingredient in this not-so authentic curry chickpea soup recipe and you’ll never guess it: Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, sunroot, earth apple or topinambour. You can find sunchokes at your local grocery shop where they’re usually offered all year round. Here are a few reasons why I love to cook with sunchokes:

1.  You don’t have to peel em, which saves you a ton of time in the kitchen!
2. There’s so many ways to cook em – you can roast them, boil them (then mash them up), saute them, even pickle them… the options are endless!
3. They carry some unique health benefits!

Health Benefits of Sunchokes

First of all, here’s a quick nutrition breakdown of a sunchoke. 1 cup contains approximately 110 calories, 3 gram of protein, 26.2 gram of carbohydrates and 2.4 grams of fiber. The fibre component of a sunchoke carries all of the benefits and is specifically known as inulin fibre. Inulin fibre is also known as a prebiotic which helps to promote the growth of probiotics (healthy gut bacteria). To read up more on probiotics and prebibiotics, check out these posts here and here and/or watch this video from my Toilet Talk series!

Basically, the inulin prebiotic contained in sunchokes is being studied heavily and studies have seen an improvement in gut health (increase in certain types of probiotic bacteria) after consuming sunchokes. Which is pretty cool, because they also taste amazing, which is why I’m using them in this delicious Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup.

How to Make Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup

To make the base of this Vegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup, I puree coconut milk, spicy curry paste, nutty sunchokes and protein-packed chickpeas until creamy and thick. To add some texture and crunch to this soup, I roast up chickpeas and panfry some extra sunchokes until perfectly crispy and golden brown. Scoop out your soup into a few bowls and garnish with your crispy toppings, bean sprouts, cilantro, shredded carrot and a lime wedge. And as they say, folks, the rest is history. Seriously, thisVegan Curried Sunchoke and Chickpea Soup is damn historical it’s so good.

Also I highly recommend hot piece of naan for the occasional dip in all this deliciousness.

Now I want to hear from you! Are you a curry lover?

Have you ever cooked with sunchokes before?

What’s your fav way of preparing them? Comment below with your thoughts! 

Updated on November 22nd, 2019

Abbey Sharp

Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.