Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (2024)

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This creamy vegan wild rice soup is perfect for warming up on a chilly autumn day. It’s my favorite kind of comfort food: satisfying and full of flavor, but unexpectedly packed with nutrition!

Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (1)

I decided to create this vegan wild rice soup after suffering from a very bad hangover after my cousin’s wedding in North Dakota. I was driving back through Minnesota on my way home the next day, splitting headache and everything, and it seemed like wild rice soup was everywhere, and it sounded AMAZING, but I knew it would never be vegetarian and dairy-free.

I had to take matters into my own hands to finally close the loop on my hangover and the dairy-free wild rice soup that I came up with is something that I’d prefer over the original any day.

  • It’s packed with nutritious ingredients to create a creamy, dairy-free base
  • There are no mushrooms anywhere to be found (I’m really not a fan)
  • You can even add cauliflower to create a creamy cauliflower wild rice soup and it will be undetectable!

Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (2)

Wild rice is kind of an odd food, as it’s not actually a “rice” (like brown rice, etc.). It’s a grass that grows on water. Most of the United States’ wild rice crop is grown in and around Minnesota. I found a small box of it in the rice and beans aisle at my regular grocery store, and it should be at most natural grocers. Sometimes you’ll find it sold mixed with other forms of (actual) rice. It is a bit pricey per pound, but a little goes a long way flavor-wise and so it’s common to use it as part of a rice mix.

In this soup I use 50/50 wild rice and regular brown (or white) rice. If a wild rice blend is what you have, simply substitute it for the full quantity of rice in the recipe.

Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (3)

Wild rice is high in protein, fiber, lysine, and several vitamins and minerals. So it’s a great option for vegan diets.

This vegan creamy wild rice soup starts with the classic aromatics (onion, garlic and celery). The rice is then gently toasted in the oil and cooked until tender, before stirring in a luscious cashew cream base made with white beans and potatoes. Because the wild rice has such a unique, nutty flavor that I wanted to let shine, I held back with the spices and just used salt, pepper, and a couple of ingredients to add umami. The result is an absolutely addictive, rich soup. Every time I make it, it seems to be EXACTLY what I was craving. 🙂

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Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (5)

Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (6)

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5 from 6 votes

Creamy Vegan Wild Rice Soup

This vegan wild rice soup is hearty and flavorful, and gets its richness from a nutritious cashew cream.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine gluten-free, refined sugar-free, vegan, vegetarian

Keyword vegan wild rice soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Soaking Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 376kcal

Author Yup, it's Vegan

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup raw cashews soaked for 2 hours to overnight
  • 1 small potato cooked
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp white or yellow miso
  • 1 and 1/2 cups cooked white beans rinsed and drained (equal to 1 standard can)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 rib celery diced
  • 1/2 cup wild rice soaked for 2 hours to overnight
  • 1/2 cup brown rice soaked for 2 hours to overnight
  • 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
  • 4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • fresh parsley and soup crackers (optional, for serving)

Instructions

  • Before making the rcipe, soak the cashews in a bowl of water. In another bowl, soak the brown and wild rice. Soaking the cashews softens them so they can blend to a smooth consistency, and soaking the rice helps it cook more quickly. Leave the bowls soaking for 2 hours to overnight.

  • In a blender or food processor, combine the cashews, cooked potato (feel free to leave the skin on), miso, nutritional yeast, and white beans until completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. This may take a few minutes. Add water as needed to blend.

  • In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and celery, along with a sprinkle of salt, and stir. Continue cooking until softened, about 3 minutes.

  • Add the wild rice and brown rice and stir. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the white wine if using, and cook for a couple of minutes or until starting to dry out.

  • Add the vegetable broth, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce to a simmer, and cook while stirring occasionally, until the rice is nearly tender (15-30 minutes, depending on how long you soaked the rice for and your rice chewiness preference).

  • Stir in the cashew cream mixture. If you're not using a high-speed blender, you can pour the mixture into a mesh sieve first, using a spatula to push it through, to get rid of any lumps.

  • Simmer the soup on low until the mixture is heated through and the rice is fully cooked to your liking. Add water or broth to thin out the soup if desired. Add the vinegar and black pepper.

  • Season the soup to taste with salt. For me, this soup needs plenty of salt because it's so rich.

  • Serve hot, with fresh parsley and crackers if desired.

Notes

If you have a high-speed blender, you could skip soaking the cashews and rice, and just cook the rice for longer until tender.

White rice can be substituted for brown rice - just don't soak it beforehand.

I made a lower-fat version of this soup by reducing the raw cashews to 1/3 cup, and adding half of a small head of (cooked) cauliflower to the puree mixture. I like this version just as much, if not more!

This soup's consistency is really more like a 'stew' or 'chowder'. To make it thinner like a soup, just increase the amount of broth.

VARIATIONS: Add separately-cooked vegan chicken or sauteed mushrooms to the finished soup. Add hearty greens such as kale along with the vegetable broth. Add a quick-cooking vegetable such as spinach a few minutes before cooking is completed.

SOY-FREE: If you need to keep this recipe soy-free, use chickpea miso or omit the miso paste completely.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 248mg | Potassium: 557mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 500IU | Vitamin C: 7.4mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 3.8mg

If you loved this creamy wild rice soup, then you’ll love these other recipes:

Curried Cauliflower Chowder

Vegan Broccoli “Cheddar” Soup

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Originally published in 2014. Updated in 2021 with new step-by-step photos and improved recipe instructions.

Vegan Wild Rice Soup Recipe | Yup, it's Vegan (2024)

FAQs

Where does chicken and wild rice soup originate from? ›

Sometimes creamy and oftentimes brothy, chicken and wild rice soup originated in the Midwest, where the rice grows abundantly. Wild rice used to be considered a luxury ingredient, but it quickly found its way into hearty, flavorsome soups like this one.

How do you thicken soup with cashews? ›

Cashews– raw cashews will blend into a fully creamy paste (use water or the soup broth.) Add it at the end of the soup's cooking time and keep an eye on the soup after adding it because cashew cream can separate and get lumpy with too much heat.

What are the benefits of wild rice soup? ›

Wild rice has no sodium which helps to reduce blood pressure. It is also heart healthy in that it contains high levels of fiber, known to clear out “bad” cholesterol from the cardiovascular system. Vitamins A, C, and E are all found in wild rice and are essential to our immune system's proper functioning.

What is the best substitute for wild rice in soup? ›

Brown Rice

Brown rice is a go-to because it's affordable, easy to find, and similar to wild rice in both texture and nutrition. It keeps all parts of the grain, so it's full of nutrients but takes longer to cook than white rice. Using a rice cooker or pressure cooker can help cut down cooking time.

How do vegans thicken soup? ›

Blend 1½ cups cooked beans, lentils, or chickpeas with ½ cup water or broth until completely smooth. Add 2 tablespoons bean puree per 1 cup soup or stew, then stir until fully incorporated.

How do you thicken soup without flour or dairy? ›

Simply filling your soup with rice or potatoes for an extended time is enough to release starch and help thicken it, giving you a creamy consistency, dairy-free.

How do you thicken non dairy soup? ›

To thicken a soup without dairy, you can use canned or beans cooked from dried. If you choose to cook dried beans separately from your soup, use some of the cooking liquid instead of broth or water — it's packed with flavor and creates a thick, smooth texture.

Who invented chicken rice soup? ›

History. Hainanese chicken rice is a dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from Hainan province in southern China. It is based on a well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), which is one of four important Hainan dishes dating to the Qing dynasty.

Where did wild rice originate from? ›

The wild rice, called manoomin in the Ojibwe language, is native to the lakes and rivers of the Great Lakes region and Canada. Once as plentiful as grass itself, wild rice—which grows on long, delicate stalks—was easily found along rivers, sloughs, and lakes throughout the North Woods.

What culture does wild rice come from? ›

Truly wild rice grows predominately in the Great Lakes region of the United States where it has been a revered staple crop of Native American tribes for generations such as the Chippewa, who call it “manoomin.” But most of the “wild” rice that we eat is actually a cultivated variety grown mainly in California, which ...

What country is wild rice from? ›

Northern wild rice (Zizania palustris) is an annual plant native to the Great Lakes region of North America, the aquatic areas of the Boreal Forest regions of Northern Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Idaho in the US.

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