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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AMAZING! I used poultry seasoning instead of sage because I don’t care for sage …. there’s a bit of it in the poultry seasoning. Thank you 🙂 I couldn’t believe how thick the broth, cashew, bean mixture was!
Great idea! Same flavor profile.
I love this soup yet hate mushrooms. Haha I dice them so I get the flavour but not the shroom shape. Also I use silken tofu in place of the beans and it’s amazing. Everyone that I’ve allowed to have some of this delicious soup has said it’s their favourite soup they’ve ever had. And that includes me! Well done and thanks for sharing this great recipe. Have you ever tried it with a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast in it? Not necessarily for the flavour but for the health benefit?
Great way to get those mushrooms in. We haven’t added nooch to ours but know that some people who make this recipe do. Can’t hurt and sounds extra delicious!
I made this for the first time tonight. Your recipe is so simple and easy to follow. This is the most delicious wild rice soup I’ve ever had. My family loved it!
Thank you so much! This is our most popular recipe so I took all of the reviews and tried to simplify the instructions the best I could 🙂
We just discovered this soup and its sooo much like one I used to make with heavy cream. Have you ever tried raw sunflower nuts instead of the cashews?
Haven’t tried sunflower nuts but other than changing the flavor and color a bit I think it would work. A little less creamy but the beans should make up for that.
I want to try this ! I don’t really like to cook . But I’ll have to try this ! I love mushrooms
If you don’t love to cook might I suggest buying a soup starter at the grocery store. It’s already chopped carrots, celery and onion. Less work for you!
Will this still turn out alright if I use either an immersion blender or small kitchen blender for the beans and cashews? Really looking forward to trying this!!
Yes! Should work just fine. I’d recommend soaking the cashews first so that you get the smoothest texture possible.
This is one of our favorite soups ever. I’ve made if for several years now and we never tire of it.
It’s always so crazy to hear people have made our recipes for YEARS. Feels like we just started doing this yesterday 😝
Does anyone know how many WW points this is or how many calories? Eating it now, delicious! Thanks.
I don’t have access to WW points data but after quickly putting into an online nutrition calculator each serving is about 375 calories (assuming you make 6 servings per the recipe).
My husband said this is the best soup I’ve ever made, and we’ve been married 23 years! Absolutely delicious! Thanks for making our transition to WFPB lifestyle a little easier.
Amazing! Glad we could keep the spark alive 😉
I have made this several times, and we definitely love it! Once I subbed steamed cauliflower for the cashews to reduce fat, and that was great, too. I make it in the Instant Pot, so I have been wondering if it would save any time to pressure cook the wild rice/veg?
Many people make this soup in the Instant Pot. It likely saves a few minutes, yes.
Can I prepare the cashews and beans ahead of time and freeze?
I have not tried that specifically but the soup itself freezes well so thinking that would work too. Especially if you give it a quick whirl to re-emulsify after thawing.
Is it possible to substitute the beans with something else? Husband is low FODMAP and can’t have beans.
You could give tofu a try?
I made this for the first time tonight and it will be in my favorites rotation. Even my meat loving husband loved it. Absolutely delicious and makes me so happy as a dairy intolerant person. Thank you Lenny and Shalva!
I have a wild rice blend and will probably add more next time and until I have only wild rice. One thing I will do next time is to reserve some broth to help me get more of the cashew cream out of the Vitamix, kind of like the cleaning idea. I am a nudge about getting ALL of anything out of a mixing bowl or blender bowl.
We love getting every last drop out too. Have you checked out the Under Blade Scraper? It’s awesome.
I have been making this recipe time and time again. Never fails, always delicious. My home smells so good on this cool fall evening. Thank you for this staple soup recipe!
Amazing! Our 4 year old can identify the smell of this soup when he walks in from a chilly day. He gets so excited 🙂
Have you tried adding vegan chicken chunks to this soup? I’m debating whether or not to throw some Tofurkey chicken chunks in or not. Hoping to replicate the Panera chicken and wild rice soup, for us vegans. Thanks!
I’ve thought about it but never actually done it. It’s gotta be good!
Do you mean the real black wild rice or what the stores often carry which they call a wild rice blend?
Pretty sure its real wild rice. Mine always takes longer to cook all the way
We have used both and they are equally delicious. Based on availability and budget either will do the trick. But Nora is correct, that you may need to cook longer depending on the rice itself and your personal preference.
Wow best soup ever! Has everything you need to make a filling meal all in itself. And best of all, our young boys all love it.
Our kiddos request it all of the time too! Bowl full of beans and nuts😂
Oh…my….heaven in my mouth! I also used to LOVE the chicken and wild rice soup. Now following a plant-based diet, this recipe was an absolute delight! Not only was the end product delicious, but the recipe was clearly written and the instructions were so simple to follow. If there were any more room in my stomach, I’d be getting another bowlful right now!
Thanks so much, Jessica. This is our most popular recipe so I’ve edited the instructions many times based on reviews from people who make it all of the time.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! I am currently making it for the 3rd time since my initial one. It’s SO savory! Thank you for creating this gem!
I’m so happy to hear it’s a repeat recipe for you, Amber!
Can you use raw or roasted chopped pecans instead of the cashews?
That isn’t something we’ve tried. We find that cashews are the best consistency for making something “creamy”.