This plant based Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup is 100% as satisfying as its dairy filled counterpart. The creamy base is a super smooth blend of cashews and steamed cauliflower. Sautéd mushrooms, shallots, celery, garlic and fresh thyme lend plenty of savory flavors.
This vegan mushroom soup recipe is a plant-based version of an old favorite – Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Rich and heavy, I knew there was a way to convert my recipe into a HEALTHY and NUTRIENT DENSE soup that I could make frequently.
After discovering a vegan soup recipe from fellow blogger, Blissful Basil, that utilized cashew cauliflower cream for the base, I knew I was on the right track.
A few adjustments and here we are with my recipe for vegan Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup. All the flavor without the heavy dairy. There are so many soup recipes I’d love to apply this technique to!
Related recipes:
Butternut Squash Soup
Cauliflower Alfredo – Shells + Peas
Creamy Thai Sweet Potato Soup
There are several benefits to using a non-dairy base.
- With cauliflower as the “cream,” this soup is packed with nutrients and I guarantee you will not miss all that dairy. Yay for veggies!
- You can store this soup for days. Even freeze it. With a dairy based soup, you run into issues like not reheating that well – getting separation – and it doesn’t hold up well in the fridge. This soup just stays perfectly blended and stores well.
Tips for making Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup:
- A high speed blender is a necessity for getting the cashew cauliflower cream the right consistency. Without one, I wouldn’t try it.
- For the wild rice, the easiest for me to find is Lundberg’s wild rice blend.
How to make Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
You’ll make a little bit of a mess with this recipe – you’ll need 4 pots!
1 for steaming the cauliflower, 1 for making the rice, 1 to sauté the mushrooms and 1 to sauté the shallots/celery. Not to mention the blender! 🙂
THIS is the best soup recipe I have made this season!
Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!
XOXO Cheers to a Happy and Healthy New Year!
This plant based creamy wild rice and mushroom soup is 100% as satisfying as its dairy filled counterpart. The creamy base is a super smooth blend of cashews and steamed cauliflower. Sautéd mushrooms, shallots, celery and fresh thyme lend plenty of savory flavors.
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice blend
- 4-5 cups fresh cauliflower florets (usually 2 small organic cauliflower heads)
- 2/3 cup raw cashews
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup shallots, finely diced (about 2 large)
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 16 oz sliced mushrooms, white or baby portabella
- 2 Tbs fresh thyme, chopped (divided)
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt (divided)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
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Cook wild rice (I use Lundberg Wild Rice blend) according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. Approx. 45 min to cook.
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While cooking the rice, start on the cauliflower, mushrooms and shallots/celery mixture.
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Place a steam basket in a large pot, add an inch or 2 of water to the bottom, steam cauliflower florets with the lid on, medium to medium-high, until extremely fork tender. Approx. 10 min. Drain and transfer to blender.
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In a high-speed blender, add water, cashews, lemon juice, and 1.5 tsp Kosher salt. Add steamed cauliflower. Blend on high (liquid setting on a Vitamix) until completely smooth and creamy. Approx. 2-3 min. Set aside until ready to mix cashew cauliflower cream into soup.
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In another sauté pan, add 2 tsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and 1 Tbs chopped thyme. Cook until mushrooms have taken on color, 5- 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cooked, season with 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Set aside until ready to add to soup.
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In a large stockpot, add 2 Tbs olive oil.
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Over medium heat, sauté shallots, celery, and 1 Tbs. thyme. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and a few grinds of the pepper mill. Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables just begin to soften, stirring occasionally.
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Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
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Stir in the vegetable broth. Keep this stockpot warm (low heat) and covered until your rice is done cooking in the other pot.
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Once rice is ready, add rice, sautéd mushrooms and cauliflower cashew cream to the stockpot. Stir gently to combine.
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Increase the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer covered for just 5 minutes or until soup is hot and ready to enjoy!
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Season with Kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle each bowl with extra thyme. Enjoy!
Soup will thicken after refrigeration. It only gets better in my opinion, but feel free to add more broth or water to loosen the soup if you would like a thinner broth.
We love this soup! It’s so creamy and healthy. My husband can’t even tell there is cauliflower in it!
Glad to hear the soup is a hit!
Great recipe..bookmarked on to our recipe bookmarking site foodgoggle.
Oh My! This soup is delicious. I was looking for a mushroom soup without coconut milk in it and this one is the best. I wanted to eat the cauliflower cream right out of the blender, it was so good! I will definitely make this one again. It is also a good vegan substitute for cream of mushroom soup!
Thanks Tina! So happy you tried this soup and love it!