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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I tried this recipe… I didn’t have wild rice, so I used Basmati… and I wasn’t paying attention to how much Stock was needed… so I used 1L of Veg stock and 1L of chicken stock… It was still awesome and delicious… what a great recipe…
Glad those substitutions worked, that’s helpful for other readers. Thanks!
Have you tried to make this in a crock pot or instant pot? If so, any special instructions or suggested cooking time? We moved into a new house and and don’t have a stove yet.
If you search the comments there is one that gives directions for Instant pot that has worked for several people. I have never personally made this recipe in one. I will experiment with making this soup in both the crock pot and Instant pot and update this winter.
Heeey, so i tried making this recipe without the magic of vitamix. I also did the mistake of not watching the video, so I was showing about a little blindly. I thought I made a creamy mixture. But after mixing it, it misty looked like Siberian Labour camp food. All slobby and not creamy at all.
My question is, also looking at all the comments, if it can be done without a vitamix, like this vegan cream base seems like such a life improvement. So yeah can you achieve a creamy substitute without it? Thanks in advance
Lots of our recipes work with any ol blender but this one works best with a high powered blender (like a Vitamix). You should get decent enough results with any blender but the real creaminess that makes this recipe so popular is from how well the beans/nuts are broken down.
Made this for the first time… so good! I only used 1/5 tsp of dried thyme and it was perfect with everything else for us. I makes such a large pot, is it a good idea to freeze the leftovers? Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Apparently I didn’t proof read my post! I used one and a half teaspoons of thyme. Also it makes a large pot and I was wondering how well it freezes. Thanks again for a great recipe!
Haha, didn’t seem like quite enough thyme to flavor a whole pot! This recipe does freeze well. I usually add a little vegetable broth when thawing, it looks kinda icky but once it starts to heat up is smoothes right out again.
You guys are no yoke! This soup is amaaaazing!!! All the flavors and textures are just perfect. Thanks guys!!
Tis the season! Thanks, Kayla 🙂
Can you provide an estimated nutrient calculation of protein, calories, fat? LOVE this recipe!!
Hey Shannon. I needed the calorie count as well, so I’ve been doing some calculations and it should be around 377 kcal per serving. Protein 16.1 grams, fat 10.4 grams, and carbs 60.6 grams. 🙂
Have you tried other beans to make the creaminess in the Wil Rice soup? I have black eyed peas on hand, or how about great northern beans?
Great Northern Beans would be a great alternative (same properties as cannellini). Haven’t tried with black eyed peas, but if you do, let us know how it goes!
Omg this is so good! The spices are well balanced and the soup is so comforting. Can’t wait to make it again!
Comforting is the best way to describe this soup!
I have never posted a negative comment on any site. This soup is horrible. I had to throw it away. I used 2 teaspoons of thyme and less garlic and the flavor was so strong I couldn’t eat it. The reason I am posting this is at times like this one can not afford to waste good ingredients when they are not easily replenished. I tried adding some lemon and other ingredients to reduce the strong flavor of the soup without success. If you insist on making start with 1/2 tsp of thyme and one bay leaf. I will never make this again.
Hi Julie, thanks for giving some suggestions instead of just saying you don’t like it. That’s helpful for others as everyone has different tastes. Hope you’ll try some of our other recipes.
I loved the flavors of this soup and I added 1 tbs thyme and 2 tsp garlic…just goes to show how different people’s tastes are. This soup was ridiculously good. Will be a regular at our table. I did add small red potatoes and a little cayenne to my put..soooo good.
Great additions, Stacey! Yes, everyone has different tastes and this soup is an easy one to alter to your personal preference.
this is really amazing!!! what a great idea to get creaminess from blending the beans with cashews.
No idea how I came up with that idea, but the best ideas are always random 🙂
This soup is some crazy vegan voodoo! I didn’t tell my partner until after he declared his love for the creaminess, that it was vegan. Neither of us are vegans, but I was curious about this soup, and it’s delicious!
Vegan voo-doo is what we do best! I try really hard to make recipes that non-vegans think taste good too, glad we passed the test 🙂
OMG you guys!! you outdid yourself here lol im just savouring this amazing soup and it is so creamy and amazing i cant even describe!!! thanks for this recipe and for the other amazing ones!
What a fun comment to log into today. Thanks so much 🙂
I have a serious addiction to this soup!! I use the base for a lot of different cream type soups.
Nice! We have to start experimenting with new soups using this base. Let us know if you’ve got any great ideas 🙂
Delicious, thank you!
Our pleasure 🙂
This soup is so good, it’s hard to believe it’s healthy! I got 8 hearty bowls out of recipe and plan to make this often!
When it doesn’t taste healthy, you know it’s good!
Yep!! It’s confirmed. Still love this soup as much as the very first time I made it. On constant rotation at my house. Yum!!
Constant rotation is just what we’re looking for!
Definitely one of the best vegan soups ever. I made it last night, and we absolutely loved it. Thanks.
So happy to hear that, Shellie! Hope you make it again 🙂
does this really taste like Byerly’s wild rice soup? loved it lots when I lived in the twin cities.
It’s been many years since I’ve had the original, but it’s as close to my memory of the soup as possible.
I’ve made this soup probably 5 times and every time I’m like, ok seriously this is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted! It’s truly amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ll make it forever!!
I just made it and love it! How well does it keep? I wondered if the sauce part separates when stored?
I just made this and my carnivore father loved it. This is one of the best soups I’ve ever had. Thank you so much. It will become a staple in our meal rotation.
This comment made my day, thanks Sara!
Susan, it does separate a bit when frozen (looks kinda gross to be honest). But once it’s heated up it gets creamy again.
Becca, yay! We love when carnivores see that eating plant-based doesn’t mean just snacking on celery 🙂
Sensational recipe, I made the rice in a rice maker so skipped the first step and used 2 cups less of vegetable broth to simmer the veggies, turned out amazing. I imagine that cream sauce could be used in so many awesome dishes, alfredo sauce, tomato bisque, tons of options. Such a great recipe. I also finished with applewood smoked sea salt, a smokey kick to an already amazing creamy soup.
Whoa! Smoked Sea Salt is an excellent idea! Gonna try that next time, thanks 🙂