Comfort food made vegan, beginning with your Vitamix

Last Updated June 18, 2020

This might actually be the best thing I’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 Vegan Wild Rice Soup Print RecipePin Recipe Yield: 6 servings

You're needed for: 30 minutes

30 minutes Until it's done: 60 minutes

60 minutes 4.9 out of 5 based on 131 user ratings

Shalva Gale

Dinner Tonight 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 Vegan 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. Video Tutorial Pin Recipe