Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
This Mushroom Wild Rice Soup is the ultimate cozy bowl of rich umami flavor. This one pot soup is loaded with herbs, a boost of miso, and creamy coconut.
Soup can be one of the most nourishing and satisfying things to eat, and this mushroom wild rice soup is a great example of this delicious balance. In this one soup we are getting a mix of vegetables, mushrooms, whole grains and beans stirred into a rich and savory broth loaded with miso to support our gut health. All these nutritious ingredients also work together to make an amazingly delicious soup you’ll want to nourish yourself with throughout the colder months.
Why You’ll Love This Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
- Easy to make. Everything cooks together in just one pot and no need for any fancy equipment.
- Completely dairy-free & gluten-free. Traditional wild rice soups contain milk/cream and regular flour. This broth uses a dairy-free alternative to help add more body to the soup as it cooks and cornstarch to keep it vegan and gluten-free.
- Customizable. Adjust the consistency of the soup using the tips throughout this post.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Mushrooms: I used cremini mushrooms for the base of this soup and then garnished with some sauteed oyster mushrooms. Feel free to do just one type of mushroom or mix in a variety that you love.
- Mirepoix: This is a classic mix of base vegetables that help to add lots of flavor and body to the soup. Typically this trio contains diced onion, celery and carrots.
- Wild Rice: This soup is made with just wild rice. While you can use a wild rice blend, note that changes to the type of rice used can change the cook time and consistency of the soup, so change at your own discretion.
- Garlic: Measure with your heart. I always go heavy handed with the garlic. At least 4 cloves finely minced or crushed is great for this soup, but definitely use more if you like it extra garlicky.
- Thyme and Sage: This herb mix will make your soup smell like Thanksgiving Stuffing. Feel free to use dried herbs, just make sure to use smaller amounts compared to fresh as they are concentrated in flavor in their dried forms.
- Miso Paste: You can swap this out for soy sauce or coconut aminos. However, miso paste has a very nice distinct taste that goes really well with the mushrooms. I recommend a mellow style miso like white or yellow miso for this soup.
- Full Fat Coconut Milk: This will help make this soup extra rich and creamy. If allergic to coconut or looking for an alternative, feel free to use unsweetened oat milk or cashew milk.
- Chickpeas: Helps add more protein and fiber to this soup. Feel free to swap with a different bean like white beans. You can also swap for vegan chicken products like Daring Chicken for more bite and chew to the soup.
- Vegetable Broth: Good quality broths matter when it comes to the overall taste of the soup. I like to use either a vegan chicken bouillon cube or a good quality vegetable base paste from Better Than Bouillon to add flavor to this soup.
How to Make Vegan Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
Add oil to a heated soup pot to warm through and add in the mushrooms. Spread them out over the bottom of the pot and allow to cook undisturbed to release some moisture. Add a pinch of salt, then begin to stir and sauté the mushrooms until the mushrooms have browned and most of the moisture is gone.
To the pot, add your onions, carrots, and celery along with another pinch of salt and sauté until the vegetables cook down and soften. Stir in the garlic and sage and continue to stir until the garlic and sage are fragrant.
Add the chickpeas, wild rice, water and vegetable bouillon cube. Give everything a good stir and add in the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer and cooked covered with a lid for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and allow to cook for another 15 minutes without a lid.
In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk and miso (if you want your soup to be thicker, add 1 tbsp of cornstarch to the coconut milk mixture). Pour the mixture into the soup, stir well and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the soup from heat and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Expert Tips
- To make this soup fast, soak your wild rice. I like to soak it while I’m prepping my ingredients. Just cover the rice in water for at least 15 minutes, rinse and drain then add to the soup when it is time. This will help your soup cook in just 30 minutes.
- Make your soup thicker. If you’d rather a thicker consistency that is creamy, stir in some cornstarch with your coconut milk and miso when adding to the pot.
- Make your soup thinner. For something thinner, just adjust with more good quality vegetable broth until the soup is at your desired brothy consistency.
- The soup will continue to thicken as it sits. When you first make this, the broth will be thinner, but as the broth sits with the wild rice over time, it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Place leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 to 5 days. This can also be individually stored and saved for later use in the freezer where it can keep for up to 3 months.
There are a lot of different mushrooms that you can use to mix and match with in this soup. Ultimately, cremini or white button mushrooms are most commonly used for the base. But you can do a mix of different styles of mushrooms like a blend of cremini and shiitake mushrooms. I also like to top with extra crispy mushrooms on top using either oyster mushrooms or maitake mushrooms for a contrast on texture.
Wild rice is unique because it technically isn’t rice, it’s an aquatic grass with an edible grain. It’s very chewy outer coat will work differently in this soup then other rice products like white or brown rice. If swapping for a different rice, do note that cooking time will be different for all of them. White rice cooks very quickly, so your soup will be done much sooner than if you were to choose a short grain brown rice or a wild rice blend. Always check the rice cooking time before adding to the soup and adjust liquid accordingly.
How to Serve
This soup is a complete meal in a bowl and designed to contain most major nutrients including protein, complex carbs, healthy fats, fiber and many vitamins and minerals. You can always add more to enjoy or serve with it if having a smaller portion of soup. Some ideas include half sandwiches, whole grain crackers or bread, or even a roasted salad with tofu.
You’ll notice that I topped this soup with some optional crispy pan-fried oyster mushrooms. I like to top it with this for a little nice chewy contrast to the soup along with some chili oil for a little spice.
More Cozy Vegan Soup Recipes
- Comforting Butternut Squash Lentil Soup
- Vegan Gnocchi Tomato Soup
- Lemon White Bean Tomato Soup
- Smoky Chickpea Kale Soup
- Sweet Potato Red Lentil Soup
Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Mushroom Wild Rice Soup is the ultimate cozy bowl of rich umami flavor. This one pot soup is loaded with herbs, a boost of miso, and creamy coconut.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz of cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
- 12 fresh sage leaves, minced
- 1, 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup wild rice, soaked in water for 15 minutes then rinsed and drained
- 5 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or 1 bouillon cube with 5 1/2 cups water)
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 1 tbsp yellow or white miso paste
- 1 tbsp cornstarch, optional (see notes below)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings
- 4 oz of oyster mushrooms, torn into pieces
- Chili Oil
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add oil in to warm through and add in the mushrooms. Spread them out over the bottom of the pot and allow to cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes to release some moisture. Add a pinch of salt, then begin to stir and sauté the mushrooms until the mushrooms have browned and most of the moisture is gone.
- To the pot, add your onions, carrots, and celery along with another pinch of salt and sauté until the vegetables cook down, another 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and sage and continue to stir until the garlic and sage are fragrant.
- Add the chickpeas, wild rice, water and vegetable bouillon cube. Give everything a good stir and add in the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer and cooked covered for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and allow to cook for another 15 minutes without a lid.
- In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk and miso until no lumps remain (if you want your soup to be thicker, add 1 tbsp of cornstarch to the coconut milk mixture). Pour the mixture into the soup, stir well and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the soup from heat and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional, but if you want to add some extra mushrooms on top of your soup, add some oil to a heated skillet and add the oyster mushrooms. Spread them out in the pan and allow to cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes to release some of their liquid. Add salt and additional oil if needed and sauté until they are nicely browned. Serve the soup with the sauteed mushrooms on top and some chili oil for heat if desired.
Notes
To make this soup fast, soak your wild rice. I like to soak it while I’m prepping my ingredients. Just cover the rice in water for at least 15 minutes, rinse and drain then add to the soup when it is time. This will help your soup cook in just 30 minutes.
Make your soup thicker. If you’d rather a thicker consistency that is creamy, stir in 1 tbsp of cornstarch with your coconut milk and miso when adding to the pot.
Make your soup thinner. For something thinner, just adjust with more good quality vegetable broth until the soup is at your desired brothy consistency.
The soup will continue to thicken as it sits. When you first make this, the broth will be thinner, but as the broth sits with the wild rice over time, it will continue to thicken as it cools.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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This is really good soup. I cooked the rice separately in my instant pot as I needed to make some for another recipe. I reduced the broth to 3 cups. I didn’t add ginger…none on hand. At the end I didn’t add the cornstarch, just gave it a couple of blitz’s with the hand blender and it thickened up nicely
So great this worked out for you Debbie. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with it. Definitely good to know that it worked well with cooking the rice separately too!
This was good. I doubled the recipe and used only wild rice. I didn’t add corn starch; it wasn’t needed as the rice make it quite thick. The garbanzo beans were a nice addition. I added a can of coconut milk since I doubled it. Ginger was interesting, but good. Thanks. My family of 6 enjoyed it and we’ll make it again.
Has this recipe been updated recently? I could’ve sworn that it had ginger and no chili oil, and I definitely don’t remember buying sage leaves. If so, is the original version still available?
Hi Sara! Yes, I actually did update the recipe. Here is the original:
Chickpea Wild Rice Soup
1 small onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 medium stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup wild rice blend (I used @lundbergfarms)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
6 sprigs of thyme stripped
1 sprigs rosemary, minced
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
5 1/2 cups vegetable broth **
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
Fresh minced parsley to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot add add onions, carrots and celery and sauté with a pinch of salt to sweat them. After sautéing for 2 minutes add mushrooms and an additional pinch of salt and allow to sauté and brown for an extra two minutes. Add in garlic and ginger and sauté for a minute to become fragrant. Add thyme and rosemary and sauté again for a minute then add in soy sauce and coconut milk and stir to combine. Add in rice, chickpeas and veggie broth. Stir to combine and then add bay leaves. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally to prevent rice sticking to the bottom. Allow to cook on low heat covered for about 30 minutes or until wild rice is cooked through. While soup is cooking, mix corn starch and water together until smooth. When soup is done cooking stir in corn starch mix to the pot to help thicken up. Adjust seasoning to your preference with extra salt and pepper to taste. Optional, but definitely a fav, love adding parsley at the end or even as a garnish.
You can adjust the thickness of this soup by adjusting the fluids or the cornstarch. Add 6 cups if you want it more soup like or add a little extra cornstarch to the slurry to thicken it more.
Thank you for taking the time to send the original, that was so kind of you!! It’s my absolute favorite soup recipe, I’ve made it two times in a row before because I just couldn’t get enough!