Wild rice and a mix of mushrooms are simmered until tender in a savory, creamy base infused with herbs and a touch of wine to make this scrumptious vegan wild rice soup.
Occasionally I’ll go through a period of a couple weeks, look back on the recipes I’ve posted, and realize that every single one of them is based around cashews. I cook with a lot of cashews!
And that’s fine and all with me, but not from readers who have cashew allergies, and then I get comments on how expensive raw cashews are (they are!) and occasionally folks who can’t find them raw. Stuff like that.
For that reason I like to give you guys options. Options are always good!
I find myself recommending coconut milk as an alternative to cashews quite a bit, and lately I’ve found myself cooking with coconut milk as opposed to cashews pretty often. Sounds weird huh? Like, doesn’t all of my food then end up tasting like coconut? Actually, no! I’ve found that when you pair up coconut milk with the right savory flavors you don’t end up with an overly coconutty taste. In fact, it can be quite comparable to cashew milk. Oh, and coconut milk has the added advantage of not requiring blending or soaking.
Coconut milk worked out great in this way a couple of times last year. (Check out my spicy spaghetti sauce and potato leek soup!) I thought it might be about time to try it in some creamy mushroom soup.
If you were a fan of my creamy mushroom barley soup from last year, you’ll probably enjoy this one. I loved that soup, but I might just love this one more. Barley is great for adding texture, but wild rice does that and it adds savory flavor. And of course this one is easier to throw together, requiring no blending. Wild rice does require a nice long cook time, but when it’s cold out I really like having a big pot of soup simmering away on the stove, so no complaints. I think this will be a new winter favorite in my house.
Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
Wild rice and a mix of mushrooms are simmered until tender in a savory, creamy base infused with herbs and a touch of wine to make this scrumptious vegan wild rice soup.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 8 ounces mixed fresh mushrooms (any varieties - I used cremini, shiitake and oyster), roughly chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the mushrooms in as even a layer as possible. Cook 5 minutes, flip and cook 5 minutes more, until lightly browned on both sides. Remove the mushrooms from the pot and transfer them to a plate.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to coat the veggies and cook 2-3 minutes more.
Stir in the wine and return the mushrooms to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower heat and allow to simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the broth, coconut milk, rice, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the rice is tender, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add some water to the pot during simmering if needed.
Remove the pot from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with fresh parsley, if using. Serve.
Can you make it in slow cooker? As vegan can I do gf way flower .?
I think gluten free flour will work … and I think this will work in the slow cooker. Just not sure how much time to cook for. Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out!
Can you substitute or add dried mushrooms you find in the Asian grocery stores?
I think so but I’m not sure how much you would need to use. Good luck!
Aside from the fact that I haven’t made this YET, I only have one thing to say:
YOU ARE AWESOME/BRILLIANT/GIFTED.
I am so grateful.
Marcia
PS Any chance you are looking to adopt two grown adults??????!
Lol!! We’ve got our hands full with a couple of cats. :) But I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipes!! I hope you like this one!
Haha I had a bad cashew moment. I went to a local Indian food market, and was blown away by the prices. $4 for 2lbs of unsweetened coconut? YAAAS. And they had broken cashew pieces for $6 a pound. I got excited, paid the $12 for 2 pounds and got home and was like “I THINK these are roasted. dang it” They’ll still get used, and I might use them in soups regardless. See what happens. XD But good to know you are offering non-cashew goodies.
Ah!! I see the roasted ones cheap all the time, but never raw! It doesn’t make sense – less processing steps, so shouldn’t they be cheaper?
Yay! This is right up my alley! I bought an organic wild rice blend and it was half the price of just straight wild rice at my Natural Grocer – just FYI. Thank you!
Perfect! I hope you enjoy it!
If you make this ahead of time does the rice become so mushy. Or does it hold up well because it’s wild rice.
Thanks for all these amazing inspiring recipes.
The rice doesn’t become super mushy, but it does continue to suck up the broth, so you might want to add a little water to your leftovers. :)
Does the coconut milk give it a coconut-y flavor? Could I substitute cashew cream for the coconut milk?
It didn’t taste coconutty to me at all, but I think cashew cream would work just fine as a sub. :)
Do you mean canned coconut milk or in the chilled carton?
The canned kind! :)
YUM! Like seriously one of our favorite soups. Good thing about this one, is there are plenty of lunch leftovers when you are only cooking for two. Thanks so much for sharing this one with us!
I’m so glad you like it!! Thanks Kim!
I love mushrooms and this recipe prepared them superbly. Delicious and great with a nice baguette.
I’m so glad you think so!! Thanks so much Marilyn!
The numbers for daily value seem high for sodium etc.
You could try to cut it down by using low sodium broth.
Great recipe! I tweaked it a bit by doubling the mushrooms but otherwise this is by far my favorite soup recipe! I’m don’t follow any one food blog but I can say for certain that every recipe I’ve made from your blog has turned out fantastic. Note: It really helps to use a high quality vegetable broth. I used store bought broth the first time and it was meh, then found a really nice vegan bouillon and it was a game changer! If you like the broth from the start then the flavors just build complexity and make the dish.
That’s great to hear!! And I totally agree – good quality broth is crucial!
Can I substitute the dry whit wine with salt meshing else? I rarely have wine around.
You could leave it out if you prefer, but it does add lots of flavor. My liquor store sells small bottles (half normal size, I think) of wine, so sometimes I’ll buy one of those when I don’t have another use for the wine. :)
I love this recipe! My family really loves spice so we added two sliced chilies, it adds another depth of flavor that is really pleasant- not too hot but not too bland. We also doubled the mushrooms and added truffle oil. Absolutely sublime and perfect with some homemade sour dough bread. My fiancé is lactose intolerant and we try to eat vegan as much as possible. Thanks for having such great recipes!!
That sounds delicious!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This sounds great. Am going to try for large Thanksgiving house party – just to have around. What brand veg broth do you recommend?
Thanks Mary! Better Than Bullion is my favorite these days. I hope you enjoy this!!
Oh this was just delicious. Used white rice since it cooks quicker and was making this after work for dinner. Bookmarked this because I will be making this again and again.
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks so much Diane!