This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup is made with fresh seasonal vegetables and greens, hearty wild rice, and a deliciously zesty, creamy broth (made with either coconut milk or cream). Instant Pot and stovetop options included!
Who’s ready to warm up with a bowl of wild rice soup? ♡
This cozy autumn wild rice soup has become one of our readers’ favorite recipes here on Gimme Some Oven these past few winters and is also hands-down one of my personal all-time faves on the blog as well. It’s loaded up with lots of my favorite fresh seasonal produce, from sweet potatoes to kale, mushrooms, carrots, celery and onions. It’s made nice and hearty with the addition of wild rice, which just so happens to be lower in calories and higher in protein than many other rices. But best of all, it is made with the most irresistible broth, seasoned with garlic and “the bays,” as I call them, and made creamy with either the addition of coconut milk, cream or a roux-based cream sauce.
After having originally written this recipe with the cream sauce, I have to say that I — as well as so many of you readers — have become much more partial to the coconut version over the past few years, which I think adds the perfect hint of sweetness to the broth to balance out all of those savory flavors, and just so happens to make this recipe vegan too. So for any of you who haven’t tried that version yet, or this soup in general, I thought I would bump it back to the top of the blog today while we’re right in the heart of cozy comfort food season. I’ve included instructions below for how to make either the dairy or vegan versions, as well as instructions for how to make this soup in either the Instant Pot (my fave), Crock-Pot, or on the stovetop. And of course, if you’re craving some nostalgic chicken and wild rice soup, you’re always welcome to toss some shredded chicken in here as well.
More than anything, though, I just wanted to pop in and say how happy I am that so many of you have tried and loved this soup! It always means so much to me to read your comments and see photos of your dinner online. So cheers to the cozy recipes that keep us all warm this time of year…and now let’s make some soup!
Autumn Wild Rice Soup Recipe (Vegan Version) | 1-Minute Video
Wild Rice Soup Ingredients
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this wild rice soup recipe:
- Wild rice: I love using 100% wild rice in this recipe, which is different than a wild rice blend or black rice (which, look out, will turn your soup purple!). That said, though, you are welcome to use whatever type of rice you prefer in this soup. Just note that different varieties of rice will require different cooking times.
- Vegetable stock: You could use either vegetable stock or chicken stock as the base for this soup.
- Autumn veggies: A seasonal blend of sweet potato, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms and garlic.
- The “bays”: I’m a big fan of using Old Bay seasoning and a bay leaf to season this soup. But if you don’t have Old Bay on hand, I have included some alternate seasoning options below.
- Coconut milk or cream sauce: I prefer the vegan version of this soup made with coconut milk, which I believe adds the perfect touch of creamy sweetness to balance out all of those savory flavors. But alternately, you could choose to make a cream sauce (made from milk and thickened with a flour/butter roux), or you could just add in some half and half or heavy cream to taste.
- Greens: I love adding lots of fresh kale to this soup, but baby spinach, collard greens, or any other soup-friendly greens that you have in the crisper drawer would do.
- Salt & pepper: As always, for seasoning!
How To Make Wild Rice Soup
As mentioned, I have included detailed instructions below for how to make this wild rice soup recipe either in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) or on the stovetop. But in general, the method is to…
- Cook the base of the soup. Whichever cooking method you choose, we will simmer the veggies and rice in the broth (sans cream) until the rice is completely tender.
- (Optional) Make your cream sauce. If you choose to use the cream sauce method, you can prepare the cream sauce in a separate saucepan while the soup cooks by melting the butter, whisking in the flour, stirring in the milk and cooking the mixture until thickened. (Or you can skip this step and add in a can of coconut milk or some half and half instead.)
- Add in the coconut milk (or cream sauce) and kale. Once the rice is ready to go, stir in the coconut milk (or cream sauce) and kale until combined. Then taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve. And serve it up nice and warm! I love serving this soup with some crusty bread and a simple green salad. Also, note that the soup will continue to thicken as it cools. So if it gets too thick, feel free to add in extra broth and Old Bay, to taste.
Recipe Variations
This recipe is quite flexible, so feel free to experiment with whatever ingredient variations sound good! For example, you could…
- Add chicken: To make chicken and wild rice soup, you can either add pre-cooked diced or shredded chicken to the soup. Or you can poach a raw chicken breast in the soup while the rice cooks, then remove, shred, and add it back into the soup before serving.
- Use a different seasoning: This soup would taste delicious with a variety of different seasoning blends (in place of Old Bay), such as Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence.
- Make it milder. Old Bay seasoning is mildly spicy, so if you prefer your soup with less heat, I would begin with just 2 teaspoons of Old Bay. Then you can always add more to taste later, if you would like.
- Make it gluten-free: The vegan version of this soup is naturally gluten-free. But if you are making the dairy version and would like to thicken the broth a bit, I would recommend adding a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cold water and cornstarch mixed together) to the soup until it reaches your desired consistency.
More Vegetarian Soup Recipes
Looking for some more simple, cozy, vegetarian soup recipes this season? Here are a few more of our faves… ♡
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Favorite Vegetable Soup
- French Lentil and Mushroom Soup
- Sweet Potato Enchilada Soup
- Lemony Artichoke Soup
Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice*
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 large (about 1 pound) sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (or see cream sauce option below*)
- 2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Method:
- Combine base ingredients. Combine vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning in the bowl of an Instant Pot pressure cooker. Stir briefly to combine.
- Pressure cook. Cover and cook on manual (high pressure) for 25 minutes. Let the Instant Pot rest and naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes. Then carefully open the vent and quick release the remaining pressure. Remove lid and discard the bay leaf.
- Add final ingredients. Add the coconut milk and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!
Stovetop Method:
- Sauté the veggies. Heat (an extra) 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
- Add base ingredients. Add in the vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning. Stir to combine.
- Simmer. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
- Add final ingredients. Add the coconut milk and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I was skeptical of the coconut milk in this creamy soup but it works! I make according to the recipe and turns out great every time – you do need wild rice, not black rice. Even vegetarian skeptic friends love this soup, and it’s now a staple in many of their homes too. Yum!
I made this today in the croc pot. I used butter, flour and milk for the sauce and as I didn’t have any greens, I used frozen corn. It was like a chowder and it was delicious. I was too light on the Old Bay. Next time I’m adding more.
This soup is phenomenal, so flavorful and full of texture. Also so easy to make since you basically add all the ingredients at once with the exception of softening the onion. Beautifully written instructions with multiple cooking methods and substitutions.
Ali, your soup recipes are my favourite.
I’ve made this soup 5 times now because my family loves it so much. I’m partial to the stove top method, but have figured out that the soup comes together quicker if I do the wild rice in a rice cooker and then add it in at the end. Very good stuff.
I loved this soup. However, my husband asked if we could use Yukon gold or red potatoes instead of the sweet potatoes. Any suggestions?
This recipe is fantastic. Huge raves from family and friends. I’m curious, for those folks who have not liked it in the review portion of the page, how they chose to cook it. I used the stove-top method but I made sure to brown the mushrooms for 30 minutes before putting them in the soup (just a preference for me). The amount of Old Bay seasoning was also spot on for me. It is definitely a do-again, and in fact, I’m making it again tonight for family. Certainly a nice comfort soup for snowy weather.
I can’t remember if I commented on this already.
We like this soup a lot. If definitely has a “fall feel” to it but is good all year long. I made it last night for just my wife and I so I cut the amounts down a bit. I still used the full amount of mushrooms, though and used 3/4 cup of rice. I used 4 cups of broth instead of 6 cups. This is such an easy recipe and we always make it in the instant pot.
I read other reviews here with people not liking the amount of Old Bay in it. I always used the amount that is asked for so last night I used 1 T instead of 1 1/2 T since the amount of broth was less. Also, Old Bay has a good bit of salt in it. I make my own vegetable broth and there is no salt in it. If I were using store bought broth that was already salted I might cut back a bit on the amount of Old Bay. The other change I make with this is I usually make it with 1/2 wild rice and 1/2 Lindbergh wild rice blend. I have also made it with spinach if we didn’t have kale. It’s good either way. Crusty bread and a salad makes an easy meal.
Probably the best soup I’ve ever had! So creamy and delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I omitted the celery. Doubled the carrots, mushrooms, and sweet potato. I used chicken bone broth and used Italian seasoning. I’m in love with this soup!
The cook time for the crock pot or slow cooker is WAY off. I’ve had it on high for 3.5 hours and everything is still crunchy. Looked up similar recipes with the same ingredients and they say 5-6 hours on high, which seems more reasonable.
Family favorite! I add diced ham and used Italian seasoning instead of old bay! Love the coconut milk as a thickener, adds great flavor!