Elegantly simple and great for when you have leftover rice loitering around in the ol’ ice box, this Meyers lemon rice soup is a tasty and pleasantly citrusy bowl full of wondrous plant-based ingredients: chunks of pressed extra firm tofu; strips of kale; grated carrot; and of course, the semi-sweet heavenly juice of the Meyer lemon. Ambitiously straight-forward and no-nonsense, this is a no-frill vegan rice soup you’ll love!
Meyer Lemon Rice Soup Ingredient List
This rice soup is pretty upfront about what it has in it. Pretty much everything you use in the soup, you can see in the bowl itself.
- Yellow onion
- Celery heart
- Carrot
- Vegetable broth, low-sodium preferred
- Vegetable bouillon
- Fresh thyme leaves
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Umami or mushroom powder
- Lacinato kale
- Meyer lemons
- White wine vinegar
- Extra firm tofu
- Cooked white rice
- Avocado
- Smoked paprika
What is a Meyer Lemon?
A hybrid. A beautiful fruit baby, born from the crossbreeding of a lemon and a mandarin orange. For this reason, Meyer lemon can be easily identified by their smaller size, slightly more orange color, and – most importantly – sweeter flavor.
Yes – they still have that wonderful lemon-y kick, but Meyer lemons also have a subtle and unique sweetness to them. Because of this, Meyer lemon is a more interesting citrus choice for your homemade rice soups than your everyday lemon.
To really maximize the flavor of the Meyer lemon, be sure to not only use the juice, but also the zest, too. Best to zest your Meyer lemon before cutting it in half.
Pressing Tofu for this Rice Soup
The time you need to press your extra firm tofu for varies from recipe to recipe. After awhile, you kind of get the feel for how much time you need your tofu to be pressed, depending on the needs of the recipe itself.
For this rice soup, we’ll want to press the tofu for 15 minutes.
This is sufficient time to rid the tofu of that squidgy texture, but not so much as to make it totally un-plump and dry. We’re just ridding the tofu of excess moisture so that it can soak up the warm, Meyer lemon broth of the soup, and so become a creamy, lemon-y soy curd sponge.
If you don’t have a tofu press, just pad the block of tofu (cut evenly into thirds or fourths) in a clean dish towel, place it between two cutting boards, and place something somewhat heavy on top, like a cast-iron pan (about 6 – 7 pounds).
Other Vegan Soups Like This One!
CHUNKY ROASTED LEEK & POTATO SOUP
CREAMY HEARTS OF PALM “CLAM” CHOWDER
INVIGORATING GINGER & BOK CHOY RAMEN
LEMON ORZO SOUP WITH BOK CHOY AND “CHEATBALLS”
ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH BISQUE WITH CINNAMON CASHEW CREAM
I hope that you enjoyed this Meyer lemon rice soup. If you did, consider leaving me a comment and recipe rating before you go.
Meyer Lemon Rice Soup with Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 – 2 tablespoon(s) olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 cup celery heart, finely diced
- 1 cup carrot, finely grated
- 1 (32 oz.) box of vegetable broth, low-sodium preferred
- 4 cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable bouillon
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh chopped thyme leaves, or 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon umami or mushroom powder, (optional)
- 1 ½ packed cups lacinato kale, de-ribbed and torn into long ribbons
- Some Meyer lemon zest, about a teaspoon or two
- ½ cup fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice, about 2 Meyer lemons
- 1-2 teaspoons white wine vinegar, or to taste
- 1 (14 oz.) package extra firm tofu drained, press for 15 minutes, and sliced into 1” cubes
- Some cooked white rice, about 1 cup per bowl of soup
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Pinch of smoked paprika, as garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat with some olive oil, sauté the onion, celery heart, and grated carrot until the onions are transparent, about 6 – 7 minutes. Then, add the broth, water, bouillon, thyme, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and umami powder, and bring this to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a steady simmer, cover the pot, and let the soup cook for 15 minutes. Then, add the ribbons of kale (de-ribbed and torn into long pieces), re-cover the soup pot, and let simmer for another 15 minutes until the kale is tender.
- While simmering your soup, drain and press a block of extra firm tofu for about 15 minutes. After it has been pressed, cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes, and drop the cubed tofu into the soup.
- After the tofu has been added, zest the meyers lemon and add a couple teaspoons of that to the soup pot. Then in tablespoon amounts, add the Meyer lemon juice – stirring it in gently (½ cup is 8 tablespoons). If it needs a bit more acidity (Meyer lemons are very subtle), add some white wine vinegar in teaspoon amounts until desired flavor is achieved. Once seasoned accordingly, cover the soup pot and turn off the heat. Let the soup set for 5 minutes so that the tofu can absorb the flavor.
- Serve soup ladled around 1 cup of warm white rice (freshly cooked or reheated) with slices of fresh avocado and a dusting of smoked paprika.
Notes
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
I liked it very much. I substituted cauliflower rice and did everything else according to the recipe. I had never used white wine vinegar in a soup before but it certainly lent an interesting flavor. I would make it again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Terri! I like the idea of using cauliflower rice, too. Thanks for the feedback :-]