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Since moving to southwest Oklahoma, I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of the changing seasons. Yet when the temperatures drop into the negatives and the cold winds blow, all I want is to stay cozy inside and eat this hearty wild rice soup. It’s vegan, incredibly filling, and packed with nutritious ingredients that make it perfect for warming up on those chilly days.
Why Use Wild Rice In a Soup
Wild rice isn’t just a beautiful grain; it’s a nutritional powerhouse. Unlike white rice, wild rice is a whole grain, rich in protein, fiber, and antioxidants. It has a delightful nutty flavor and chewy texture that makes every spoonful satisfying. When combined with other wholesome ingredients, it transforms this soup into a complete meal that my family loves.
Ingredients and Health Benefits
Let’s dive into some of the key ingredients in this vegan-friendly soup and the health benefits:
- Cashews add a creamy texture (without having to use any heavy cream) and a dose of healthy fats to the soup. They’re rich in magnesium, which supports heart health and helps with muscle relaxation—perfect after a long day of running around with the kids!
- Cannellini beans add protein and fiber, making this soup even heartier. Beans are fantastic for maintaining energy levels and keeping you feeling full longer, which is great when you’re juggling a busy household.
- Avocado oil not only adds a subtle richness but also provides heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. It has a high smoke point, making it perfect for sautéing, and it’s loaded with vitamins E and K.
- Onions are rich in antioxidants, and garlic has immune-boosting properties, which is particularly important during flu season. The aroma of these sautéing together is pure comfort.
- Black pepper aids digestion, while thyme is a great source of vitamins C and A, making it a perfect herb for warming soups.
- The wild rice adds texture and heartiness, while the gold potatoes provide creaminess and a comforting feel. Potatoes are rich in potassium and can help regulate blood pressure, which is always a plus! Other recipes use all-purpose flour to thicken this soup, yet it’s not needed when you use potatoes. Gluten-free for the win!
- Adding bay leaves while the soup simmers enhances the flavor without any extra calories. Just remember to remove them before serving!
- Using vegetable stock, or vegetable broth, keeps the soup rich in flavor while maintaining its vegan profile. It’s a simple way to boost the soup’s depth without adding extra fats. You can also use chicken broth if you prefer.
- Bella mushrooms provide a savory umami flavor and are low in calories, while kale is a nutrient-dense leafy green packed with vitamins K, A, and C.
Not a Mushroom Lover?
The mushrooms add a robust depth to this soup that I really enjoy. If you don’t love mushroom, try using half the amount and chop SUPER small. You can also leave them out and add more of the other vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, kale, if you prefer.
How to Make Wild Rice Soup
Soak the cashews: Place ½ cup of cashews in a bowl and cover them with water. You’ll want to let them soak for at least 10 minutes, but if you have a little extra time, soak them longer for an even creamier texture. Trust me, your soup will thank you!
Once your cashews are nice and soft, drain them and toss them into your blender. Add the drained cannellini beans and initial vegetable broth. Now, blend it all on high speed until it’s super creamy and dreamy. You want it to be smooth and velvety. Set this delicious mixture aside; we’ll be using it later on.
Now, let’s get cooking! Heat avocado oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once it’s hot and shimmering, it’s time to add the sliced celery, carrots, and diced yellow onion. Sauté these beauties for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is softened and fragrant. This step really builds the flavor, and your kitchen will smell amazing!
After the veggies have softened up, it’s time to add the minced garlic, black pepper, dried thyme, and the wild rice. Give everything a good stir and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly to release those lovely aromas. You’re creating a flavor base that’s going to make this soup incredible!
Next, add in your chopped potatoes and bay leaves along with the vegetable broth. Give it a good stir, then bring the soup to a boil. Once it’s bubbling nicely, lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. This is when the magic happens—the rice will cook up perfectly, soaking in all those delicious flavors.
When the rice is tender and everything smells heavenly, carefully remove the bay leaves (they’re not meant to be eaten). Now it’s time to bring it all together! Stir in your creamy cashew mixture, along with chopped bella mushrooms and chopped kale. Mix it all together until it’s well combined.
Increase the heat to medium and let it cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the mushrooms to soften and the kale to wilt just a bit.
Finally, when everything is hot and inviting, ladle the soup into bowls and serve it warm. Grab some crusty bread on the side for dipping, and enjoy the cozy goodness of your hearty wild rice soup! Perfect for those cold winter nights.
How to store Leftover Soup
This soup freezes beautifully! So you can make an extra large batch if you’d like to have quick soups all winter. Store up to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container or freeze in these amazing Souper Cubes— just pop them out into a bowl and reheat! Either way, the soup will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Common Questions
You can make this soup in an instant pot. You’ll still want to saute the vegetables first and blend the cashew puree in a blender. Yet you can speed up the cook time by heating the broth and soup base in an instant pot. Adjust soup cook time based on your appliance user manual.
Serve with toasted french bread, a marinated celery salad, or a hummus veggie wrap.
You don’t have to include the mushrooms in this soup recipe if you don’t want to. You can swap them out for another vegetable, tofu, or even ground turkey (if you’d like). I always suggest using my recipes as a foundation and adjust to work best for you.
The next time you’re looking for a warm, comforting meal that’s vegan and full of flavor, give this hearty wild rice soup a try. You’ll be glad you did—and your taste buds will thank you too! Stay warm this winter…and happy cooking!
Vegan Creamy Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 celery stalks sliced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 cup wild rice uncooked
- 2 gold potatoes chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups bella mushrooms 8oz, finely chopped
- 2 cups kale finely chopped
Instructions
- Soak cashews for at least 10 minutes, the longer the better.
- Drain cashews and add to blender with cannellini beans and vegetable broth. Puree on high speed until super creamy. Set aside to use in step 7.
- Heat avocado oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add celery, carrots and yellow onion. Saute until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, black pepper, thyme and rice. Saute for a minute, stirring constantly.
- Add potato, bay leaves and 3 cups vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower heat, cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked.
- One rice is cooked, remove the bay leaves.
- Add the cashew puree, mushrooms and kale to the rice mixture and stir well.
- Increase heat to medium and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve warm.
Very creamy and packed with everything good
You’re so right, Linda!
So it seems I made and reviewed the Wild Rice Soup (which was quite good). Hmm. not sure how I printed the wrong recipe. Ah things that happen at 72!
You are RAWKIN’ 72, Ann Marie! I think you were meant to make this soup today. Glad you enjoyed it!
This Wild Rice Soup was so hearty. The coconut milk added great texture. Loved the amount of vegetables.
Is there anything special, flavor or nutrition, about cannellini beans or would any bean work? Maybe red kidney or pinto?
The cannellini beans help with the “silky smooth cream factor.” I tried it with northern beans and the cannellini are more silky and give it a better texture. I would use cannellini if you want this to be the best version it can me for the first time, Janet.
Took your advice and went with the cannellini. Mostly followed the rest of the recipe, except used olive oil, skipped pepper, added bell pepper and used spinach in place of kale. Also, sauted mushrooms with(after they were softened) other aromatics because I wanted the flavor of them in the broth.
Flavor was good, but while the cashew and cannellini puree tasted smooth after blending the soup came out slighty gritty. Also, I don’t have any experience with wild rice. Is it suppose to be slighty chewy and al dente? I cooked it over an hour, plus the 5 minutes after adding cashew puree.
Yes- wild rice is slightly chewy yet I wouldn’t say al dente. It might need to cook longer. I bet when you reheat the leftovers they will be perfect. What sorta blender are you using to puree the cashews / beans? I wonder if it’s not powerful enough to puree it into silky smooth texture. I used my Vitamix and I didn’t notice any grittiness. I’d like to narrow down the issue so I can share a tip for others.
I used my vitamix to puree the cashews and beans and it tasted smooth from the blender. The soup was only slighty gritty. I wonder if the heat had anything to do with it.
I loved this. I added a chicken bouillon cube to it. Wonderful.
Hi Nancy! Love your spin on it by adding the chicken bouillon, I’ll have to try that next time I make it!
This was great! I just used white mushrooms. I didn’t have any sage so I added a little more thyme. I didn’t have a yellow onion so I used some shallots and sweet onion. Still came out great. My 2 and 5 year old kids had several helpings. Thanks!!
Awesome, Kelly! So glad you and your family loved it! 🙂
Another awesome recipe!! Thanks
You’re welcome, Judith!
I made this — i must have had. big ingredients b/c when it was done cooking it was less soup that rice. So I added more broth. Also I used 3:1 water:mushroom broth the first time, then added 1.5 c more mushroom broth (and the coconut milk) to make it a soup. It’s good but it’s missing some flavor — it might be just “use a bunch of extra lemon when serving”. Or more salt. I give it a 3.5 stars for those reasons. I wonder — how a bit of ginger root thrown in might impact the broth. If I make again will try
Thanks for the input and rating, Sarah! If you make it again with your modifications, come back and let us know how it went!
Just made this soup in my instant pot and made two mistakes! I accidentally put the coconut milk in and forgot the broth. Guess what?! It worked out! I added the broth after I opened the instant pot the first time and realized what I did, had a good laugh, turned it back on for 5 min and perfection! This recipe is really resilient to messing up like I did. So, you’re probably wondering how it tastes after all that? It’s amazing! I’ve been missing mushroom soup since cutting back on dairy and this hit the spot! Going in the recipe binder for good!
That’s awesome, Shelly! It’s great finding dairy-free recipes that still taste amazing. 🙂
So delicious with such simple ingredients! There’s really a ton of flavor in this, thanks again Megan!
So glad you loved it, Amanda!
Delicious! I added a little extra coconut milk as well and it was great – will make again!
That sounds like a delicious addition!!
This soup is easy to make and tastes great. Can you freeze this soup?
Hey Erin,
SO glad you love this recipe!
Yes you can totally freeze this soup. Our favorite thing to do is make a big batch and freeze half of it for another time.
Looks delicious! You can get Wild Rice at Trader Joe’s.
Hey Patty,
It really is amazing!
I hope you enjoy it as well 🙂
Can’t wait to try!
After you make it, let us know what you thought of it! 🙂
Hi I have made this soup three times and love ❤️ it!! The last two times I made it however when I open up my instant pot tons of the seasonings have been blown up on to the lid-and they are all over the sides and stuck in the little vent thing on the top. Also they have come out of the vent when I released the pressure and it ends up all over my cabinet… it didn’t happen the first time but it has the last two times. Any idea why this is happening? I stir it all really well together. Anyway-it still tastes amazing but it makes it much harder to clean. Also I added two frozen chicken breasts (to all three batches) and they were super shredable and delicious with the soup.
Thank you for sharing, Jen! Hope you’ll find that the Instant Pot is a time-saver for you, too! 🙂