One of our favorite soups! Midwestern comfort food made WFPB!
Update: There’s now an adapted version of this recipe on the Vitamix website. And! It’s featured in the Vitamix 100-year Anniversary Cookbook!
This might actually be the best thing we’ve ever made.
It’s creamy and hearty and full of flavor. It somehow warms your soul.
One pot, one blender, one very happy family. Make this creamy wild rice soup tonight, it’s an instant classic.
Experimenting with vegan "creaminess"
Creamy is kind of a difficult texture to create without using cream. But it’s not impossible.
The more you do it, the better you get at making vegan dishes that don’t leave you missing dairy. Since veganizing our household and website, we’ve had to get pretty creative.
To get “creamy” we’ve used tofu as a thickener for our vegan tzatziki and balsamic butternut squash soup. Cashews for our cashew queso and cauliflower soup. And most recently, we’ve been dabbling with Cannellini beans which were featured in our Thanksgiving vegan loaf.
Using some of the things we’ve learned from previous kitchen experiments, we feel like we’ve hit the jackpot recreating this comfort food classic.
Our favorite childhood soup
Lenny and I grew up in neighboring Minneapolis suburbs but didn’t officially meet until adulthood in Chicago. Occasionally we’ll have one of those strange conversations where it’s clear we likely crossed paths. In this case, it would have been at Byerly’s… the local high-end grocery store.
Why would we both be there? Well, both of us were too poor growing up to actually shop for groceries there.
But as a treat, we’d make a special trip for their most delicious, pre-made soup: Chicken Wild Rice.
This soup tastes like childhood. Minnesota is freezing and this soup is the definition of comfort food.
Now that we’re married, and eat mostly plant-based, we took on the challenge of making this soup dairy (and chicken) free.
And I must say, we killed it! So, so, so, so, so, so, so good.
We used our Vitamix to create the perfect texture. We used our memories to create the perfect flavor.
This soup was consumed for both lunch and dinner and we just added wild rice back onto our grocery list. It’s one of those recipes you cannot wait to make again.
Start boiling some broth right now. You’ll have the perfect dinner in under one hour.
Recipe
Creamy Wild Rice Soup
One of the best, vegan soups ever
Cannellini Beans, Cashews, Celery, Mushrooms, Vegetable Broth,Ingredients:
- cashews (raw/unsalted) - 1 cup soaked (125 g)
- celery - 4 ribs chopped
- carrots - 1 cup chopped (128 g)
- onion - 1/2 whole chopped
- garlic - 4-6 cloves chopped
- vegetable broth - 64 oz (2 L)
- wild rice - 1 cup (160 g)
- dried thyme* - to your taste (we use 1 Tbsp. (4.3 g))
- bay leaves - 2 whole
- salt - 2 tsp. (5.69 g) + more to taste
- mushrooms - 8 oz chopped (225 g)
- cannellini (white kidney) beans - 15 oz can (425 g)
Instructions:
PREP
- Soak cashews overnight if possible
- If not, soak in boiling water as soon as you see this, the longer the better
VEGGIES
- Chop celery, carrots, onion, and garlic
- Chop mushrooms, reserve on the side
BROTH
- Reserve 1 cup (8 oz) of broth on the side
- Heat the rest of the vegetable broth in a large pot on medium heat
- Rinse and drain your wild rice
- Add wild rice, thyme, bay leaves, and salt to your hot vegetable broth
- Add your veggies too (celery, carrots, onion & garlic)
- Place lid on pot and set a 30 min timer
CREAM
- Drain soaked cashews and the liquid from the cannellini beans
- Place cashews & beans in Vitamix container
- Add the reserved cup of vegetable broth
- Blend on high for 1 minute until smooth
MIX
- When your timer goes off, add the creamy Vitamix mixture to your pot
- Add the chopped mushrooms
- Replace lid, lower heat, and set timer for 15 more min
- When the timer goes off, check if wild rice is done (should be a bit chewy)
- Remove bay leaves
SERVE
- Serve piping hot out of the pot
- Snap a pic and tag #lifeisNOYOKE
- Enjoy!
Useful tips for Creamy Wild Rice Soup
We like to save time by not sautéing the veggies first. We have done it both ways and to be honest, there is not much of a difference. Save yourself a step and throw 'em in the pot.
We blended white kidney beans, soaked cashews, and vegetable broth to create the creamy base of the soup. It works great for bases to other creamy soups too!
This soup is filling and rich. Before you ladle up a giant bowl, make yourself a mugs-worth. It catches up to you quick!
And if you're feeling up to it, serve it with this easy vegan cornbread.
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What kind of cashews should be use – raw unsalted cashews OR dry roasted salted or does it not matter?
Great question! Raw, unsalted. I’ll update the recipe 🙂
I made this last night. Delicious! Even my husband thought it was great. That’s a big win for me!!
Yes! When we can get the husbands on-board we know we’ve got a winner 🙂
I just made this tonight. I didn’t have enough cashews (only 1/2 a cup) so I subbed 1/2 cup more white beans. Good flavor but my soup never got creamy. Even added some cornstarch hoping that would help. Nope! I was really hoping that my husband would like this as I’m trying to provide more meals with no meat. He didn’t even want to finish his bowl. 🙁
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that, Jennie. The cashews really are the thickener in this recipe. Don’t give up, try it again! We’ve got tons of other plant-based recipes that he might enjoy as well.
This recipe is amazing. I sautéed my vegetables and used black rice. Definitely a keeper!!
If you’ve got the time, sautéeing the veggies first makes it even better!
Yes! This is the best thing I ever made!!! You nailed it-yum times a million!!
Thanks, Jamie, so glad you enjoyed 🙂
I am allergic to cashews, what could I use in place of them
You could try sunflower seeds, tofu, or more white beans. All should be able to mimic the creamy texture w/o changing the flavor.
So delicious! I’m not vegan, so I used half veggie broth and half chicken broth. Used a mixture of different kinds of brown rice…needed an extra 15 minutes longer to cook. Very thick and creamy. Mixture of beans and cashews is miraculous! I’ll never use heavy cream again (for soups!).
We love the combo of beans & cashews too! Great dairy-free alternative 🙂
When creaming the cashews and liquid from the beans do you also include the beans ? Or do you add them later?
Include the beans, they are what makes the creamy texture once blended.
Do you have a suggestion for a sub for the cashews? I have a child with an allergy to all nuts except almonds.
I’m thinking almonds won’t give you the same creamy texture as cashews. You could add more white beans or try to sub in some blended tofu?
I can’t wait to try this! Is that right, a whole tablespoon of thyme? Just seems like so much. But then again I’m not good at seasoning 🙂
It does seem like a lot, but it’s really the main flavor. Some readers have also done 1/2 thyme and 1/2 rosemary for a little bit of a different combo.
Oh Em Geeee – this was amazing. The whole family loved it. We will definitely be making it again. Delicious!!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed, Jenny 🙂
Growing up in a St.Paul, MN suburb I remember very well going to Byerly’s specifically for their chicken and wild rice soup and their massive bubble gum ice cream in a waffle cone. Can’t beat the childhood memories!
I just found your site and this recipe. I cannot wait to try the vegan version of some MN nostalgia. Thank you!
Our pleasure! Thanks for the bubble gum ice cream reminder, that stuff was dangerously good 🙂
Is there a reason that you do not sauté the veggies before adding to the soup? Doing that now with your basic recipe
You certainly can. We don’t because they cook enough for our tastes in the broth and we like to save time. But I’m sure the soup will be delicious with sauteed veggies too 🙂
I made this soup today and the flavors are delicious, but I did not get any of the creaminess like shown in the photo. It’s much more like a vegetable soup. Any ideas?
Interesting… perhaps try to add more cashews & white beans? Ours is usually super thick and creamy.
What temp do you put your burner on
Just made it a couple of days ago and kept it on low/medium the whole time. You don’t want it to boil the whole time, just to steam the rice and cook the veggies through. Good news is, you can’t really “overcook” it. Just test your rice to know when it’s done.
Ok thank you!
An underrated benefit to this soup: It stays hot.
I’m the guy at the restaurant that orders his soup extra hot. Because soup at room temperature is no bueno.
I think it’s the celery bits. Even as heat is released from the soup itself, the celery bits stay piping hot.
My tongue is burnt from this discovery.
And I love this soup more than ever before. Go make it!
Wow!!! This soup is incredible. I made it tonight & was blown away with it’s rich flavor & creaminess. Spot on, in my opinion. My husband is from Minnesota, too, and he totally approved! Well done. ?? Thanks so much for sharing!
Awesome, Courtney, that’s what we like to hear! When you get the thumbs up from a true Minnesotan you know it’s good 🙂
I grew up in Minnesota (Walker) and this was a non-vegan soup we had regularly. Now as I vegan I can have a healthy version. Just made this and it is fantastic!
So glad you liked it, Gertrude! We just made vegan beer cheese soup, try that one next!
This recipe brought back great memories of living in Minneapolis and going to Beyerlys for date night. Lol – thanks for the recipe! Love how detailed you are. I wonder how it would work with regular rice?
Hi Constance,
Making this soup gave us Minneapolis nostalgia too! Regular rice would certainly work, just would be less flavorful than wild rice. Give it a try and let us know how it goes 🙂
We have had a cold spell here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Made this soup for supper mmmmmmmmmmmm good!!!
I loved it, my daughter and husband loved it and I’m looking forward to having more for lunch tomorrow. Gave some to my mom and dad and they loved it.
Thanks for this awesome recipe
Cheers Betty Ann
This just made my day, Betty Ann! We can’t wait to make it again. Perfect snow-day dinner 🙂