This wild rice soup recipe is impossibly creamy, packed with flavor and full of tender veggies and hearty rice. Everyone asks for the recipe—it’s that good.
This post was created in partnership with Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove; all opinions are our own.
It may look like just a bowl of wild rice soup, but to us, it’s much more than that. This bowl of decadent creamy soup is a peak into our philosophy on food (yep, we’re going deep!). Alex and I think food should be three things: nourishing, delicious, and community-building. And this soup is all three.
It’s made 100% of fresh and healthy veggies, but it’s so savory and creamy you’d never know it. Let’s just say “best soup ever” was mumbled more than once around the table as we downed spoonfuls. We served this at a Cozy Dinner Party we had recently. It’s all the things food should be—and we can’t wait to share it with you!
Also try: This Wild Rice Mushroom Soup with Parmesan!
The philosophy
This recipe and dinner party are in honor of our friends at Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove. What we love about the brand is that they’re not only passionate about making the highest quality refrigeration, cooking, and dishwashing appliances (you may remember we use a Cove dishwasher in our kitchen!), but we share a similar philosophy that extends beyond the kitchen. Living deliciously is all about setting down our phones, picking up our forks, and relishing every succulent, savory, sweet taste of the good life.
The menu
This wild rice soup was the star of our Cozy Dinner Party! We hosted it to enjoy the coming cool weather and a visit from my sister. She’s currently relocating to the US from Southeast Asia, so it’s incredible to spend quality time together, whereas in the past its been so few and far between.
Another reason for the party: I’m a summer girl, so practicing getting “cozy” for the cool weather is a skill I need to cultivate! The way to get through the winter months for me is all about getting cozy and making all the tasty seasonal foods: like soup! What did we pair with it? A fresh salad, a signature cocktail, and crisp bread.
Here’s the full Cozy Dinner Party menu:
- Wild Rice Soup (recipe below)
- Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing
- Fall Sangria
- Bread or muffins: try Dutch Oven Bread, Homemade Cornbread, Classic Cornbread Muffins or Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
The memories
One of our favorite dinner party tips: make a Question Jar. Even in a dinner party with people you know intimately, it can be so much fun to have conversation starters to discuss throughout the meal. Excited to have my sister back home, it made for a fun way to guide conversation and talk about things we might not have otherwise. Of course, this is especially nice if you have people who are meeting for the first time!
Here’s an example of some of our questions:
- What is the thing you’re most passionate about right now?
- If you could start a business today, what would it be?
- What is one thing you’d change about yourself?
- What is one goal you have in the next 6 months?
- Where do you want to travel next?
- If you could master one new skill, what would it be?
Do you have any great get-to-know-you questions? Let us know in the comments below!
How to make wild rice soup
This wild rice soup is pretty darn incredible, if we do say so ourselves. It’s creamy, it’s cozy, it’s savory: yet somehow, it’s made 100% of plants. Yes, this is secretly a vegan wild rice soup (don’t tell anyone). But after you make it, you’ll swear that somehow a little heavy cream got mixed in. It’s perfectly seasoned, and you might not be able to stop eating it (we weren’t!). Per my sister: “This is really the best soup ever.“
While it takes about 1 hour to make, this healthy dinner recipe is 100% worth the effort. And since most of that time is hands off, it works as an easy dinner idea, too. What are our secrets to how to make the best wild rice soup?
- Use cashews. Blended cashews can stand in for dairy! You’ll let them soak while the soup simmers. Then you’ll take 2 cups of the soup out (veggies and all) and blend it with the soaked cashews. It makes for the creamiest base EVER. You’ll swear there’s dairy in it. (For a nut allergy, go to Wild Rice Mushroom Soup.)
- Add white beans and mushrooms. Because there’s no chicken in it (sorry, meat lovers!), this wild rice soup features white beans as a plant-based protein. It’s a unique addition and seriously good. Mushrooms also bring in big flavor and texture.
- Simmer until the rice pops. Wild rice notoriously takes quite a while to cook: upwards of 50 minutes. You’ll cook this soup until most of the rice grains burst and are tender. It might feel like a long time, but it’s important that the rice is perfectly tender.
If you have an Instant Pot, this soup is modeled after our Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup one of our most fan-favorite recipes. Head to that recipe to get the Instant Pot instructions.
This wild rice soup recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
Print
Best Wild Rice Soup (Family Favorite!)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
Description
This wild rice soup recipe is impossibly creamy, packed with flavor and full of tender veggies and hearty rice. Everyone asks for the recipe—it’s that good.
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews*
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 celery ribs
- 3 medium carrots
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup wild rice (not a wild rice blend)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 15-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, tamari, or liquid aminos
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and cover them with water. Leave them to soak while you make the recipe.
- Dice the onion. Thinly slice the celery. Cut the carrot into rounds. Slice the mushrooms. Mince the garlic.
- Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and oregano and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the broth, wild rice, 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Then add the beans (drained and rinsed), and continue to simmer uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes more, or until rice breaks open.
- Using a liquid cup measure, carefully remove 2 cups of the hot soup (including broth, veggies and rice) to a blender. Add 1 cup water. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender, along with the dried sage. Blend on high for about 1 minute until creamy. Then pour the creamy mixture back into the soup.
- Add the soy sauce and the remaining ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired. Garnish with fresh ground pepper.
Notes
*We used raw cashews. If your cashews are salted, you may need to adjust and add a little less salt at the end. For a nut allergy, go to Wild Rice Mushroom Soup.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Plant Based
Keywords: Wild Rice Soup
Looking for soup recipes?
Here are a few more soup recipes we’d recommend for a cozy dinner party:
this soup is SO good! I made the instant pot version last year and it was one of my favorite recipes of the entire soup season (which for me is whenever it drops below 70 degrees :))
one of my favorite get to know you questions – what is your favorite go-to meal for yourself when no one else is around?
Can I use a wild rice bled ??
The blend won’t work for this recipe, sorry!
Can you freeze leftovers?
i made it per the recipe except i used the wild rice blend (because it was all i could find at my store) and it turned out great. i cant imagine it being any better with the plain wild rice.
Loved the flavor of this soup but mine became very thick, even after adding extra stock. Should it have been covered during the last simmer?
★★★★
We don’t cover it! You could try doing just a bit less chunks in the blended portion if you wanted.
I can’t eat nuts but do eat dairy – is there any way I can substitute the cashews for dairy? What would you suggest?
Yes you can definitely do dairy instead! I’d do the same method but use 1/2 cup heavy cream to blend with the soup at the end. Let us know what you think!
Use a wild rice blend?
Hi there! No, I meant use the cream in the blender with the soup at the end. Use only straight wild rice in this recipe, not a blend with other types of rice!
This looks amazing. Unfortunately, I can’t do legumes/pulses – can I substitute anything for the white beans? Many thanks!
Hi Kerri! Thanks for asking! We think that you could probably omit the white beans and it would still be tasty! If you eat meat, you may want to add some chicken for protein: or just make sure to eat other filling plant based proteins alongside. Let us know how it goes!
This soup is AMAZING!!! I actually think it’s my new favorite soup, which is saying a lot since I have collected some really great soup recipes in the past few years :) I am so glad you reposted it with the stove top method; I don’t have an instant pot, so I doubt I’d ever have tried the recipe otherwise! The flavors are just perfect and it’s so hearty and filling. We served it tonight with your roasted beet salad and homemade vinaigrette and we were practically happy-dancing in our chairs :) Thank you so much for sharing this! The entire meal will definitely be going into our regular rotation!
Wow we are SO so glad to hear this! What a very kind note. We are thrilled that you loved it and also that you made it with the beet salad! It’s so meaningful to have “shared” a meal together even if it was separated by time and space. Thank you for trying it out!!!
Hi! I made this soup for the first time and we absolutely LOVE it! It’s my new favorite and I’m going to try it out, along with the beet salad and some homemade crusty bread for a dinner party. Thanks so much for these wonderful recipes. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 35 years and these are wonderful new additions to my stash!
We are so so glad to hear this! We’re so glad you enjoyed it. It’s very good with the salad too — let us know when you try that! Thanks so much for letting us know!
Hi,
I absolutely LOVED this soup. Made it tonight! I see there are 266 calories/serving and there are ~8 servings–how big is a serving? A cup? Also, instead of adding 2 cans of white beans (I only had 1) I did 1 can and added 1c of barley. This soup is AMAZING!
So glad you enjoyed it! A serving is about 1.5 to 2 cups.
Absolutely delicious. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Sincerely thank you.?
You’re welcome! So glad you love it :)
Hi! Thanks for your recipe. I need a tip— my cashews did now process into a creamy mixture at the end making the soup with really small cashew pieces in the broth. The flavor is good but I’m not fond of the texture. Any ideas of where I went wrong? Thanks :)
Hmm interesting! Can you tell me what kind of blender you’re using: is it good and powerful? It could just be that your blender is not up to the task? Also, just to make sure: you soaked the cashews while the soup cooked? And you blended with broth and veggies from the soup?
Whenever I’m using a cashew puree I simmer them first. Bring to a boil, let cook on low 5 minutes, then drain and cool before blending. It makes them blend more easily, especially for lower power blenders.
Super delicious! I use a wild rice blend instead of just wild rice (couldn’t find it at Aldi) and it worked for me. I also soaked the cashews for closer to 3 hours and they blended super easy.
★★★★
I actually used a good food processor instead of a blender. And yes— I soaked the cashews in water for about an hour and put those in the processor with the 2 cups of soup, cup of water, and sage. :-)
Is it possible to use coconut milk instead of the cashew cream? If so, how much would you recommend using? Thanks!!
I mean coconut cream*
Ahh we think the food processor is the culprit! A blender could be better if you have one. If not, maybe blend for longer in the food processor next time — maybe for several minutes and scrape a bunch? It should come out SUPER creamy and the cashews totally blended in. Re coconut cream: we haven’t worked with coconut cream much, so I can’t weigh in there! I’d think it might give too much of a coconut-y flavor to the broth though — the cashews are rich without adding competing flavors. Hope that helps!