This Gluten-Free Vegan Wild Rice Soup is a one-pot recipe that is a cozy, warm and nourishing plant-based meal made with fresh veggies and real food ingredients that everyone will love!
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love this Gluten-Free Vegan Wild Rice Soup!
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- It's Naturally Gluten-Free + Vegan: it's made with naturally gluten-free wild rice, fresh veggies and a non-dairy milk; there's no dairy, no gluten and no processed ingredients!
- Creamy Without Dairy: instead of heavy cream, flour, or faux vegan products, I created a velvety, rich texture using coconut milk!
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients: this hearty and nourishing recipe is made with healthy, clean ingredients!
Karielyn
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The Method Behind All My Recipes
If you love clean, real food vegan recipes like this one, you'll love the method behind them.
The Real Vegan Method™ 14-Day Reset helps you:
- Move beyond processed vegan substitutes
- Cook with clean, real food ingredients
- Make plant-based eating simple + consistent
All my recipes - including this one- are based on the Real Vegan Method™.
You can feel good about making this hearty and healthy Vegan Wild Rice Soup because it's plant-based, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, tofu-free and Medical Medium® Compliant!
"Feel good about what you eat..."
- Karielyn Tillman
Ingredients
Here are the clean, real food ingredients I used to make this recipe. Try to buy organic if possible.
Key Ingredients
- 100% Wild Rice (not a Wild Rice Blend)
- Fresh Vegetables: (Carrots, Onions, Shallots, Celery, Sweet Potatoes, Mushrooms)
- Vegetable Broth
- Avocado Oil
- Kale
- Coconut Milk
- Spices: (Bay Leaves, Garlic, Fresh Thyme, Ground Black Pepper, Himalayan Pink Salt)
That's it! My Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Wild Rice Soup is super easy to make!
How To Make Gluten-Free Vegan Wild Rice Soup
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's how to make this one-pot dairy-free Wild Rice Soup and I'll show you how easy it is with these step-by-step instructions below.
- Before beginning, prep the veggies by cutting the carrots, mushrooms, celery, sweet potatoes, onions, and shallots into tiny, cubed pieces.
Step 1: Add all ingredients for the sauté to a large Dutch oven.
Step 2: Sauté on medium-high heat for approximately 3-4 minutes, or until soft.
Step 3: Add all ingredients for the soup to the Dutch oven (excluding the add-ins).
Step 4: Stir until well combined and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat.
Step 5: Cover and reduce to low heat. Cook on low heat for approximately 45-50 minutes, or until the rice and veggies are soft and stirring occasionally.
Step 6: Add the add-ins (entire can of coconut milk + kale) and stir until everything is evenly distributed.
Step 7: Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference, specifically the Himalayan pink salt depending on whether you used low-sodium veggie broth; remove the bay leaves before serving.
Step 8: Optional: This recipe is freezer friendly, and you can store it in an air-tight, BPA-free container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a difference between "wild rice" and a "wild rice blend", and for this recipe, you will need to use 100% wild rice.
Here are the main differences between the two:
100% Wild Rice: This rice is black in color, long and has a chewy, nutty flavor. It takes a little longer to cook (approximately 45-50 minutes) but it will hold its shape and not become mushy, which is why this is the type that needs to be used for this particular recipe.
Wild Rice Blend: This type contains black wild rice, but it also contains other rice types such as brown rice, white rice and even red rice, which is why it's called a "blend". Because of the other type of added rice, it cooks quicker (approximately 20-30 minutes) and is softer and tends to become mushy, especially in soups.
For this reason, I do not recommend using a wild rice blend for this recipe.
Yes! Wild rice is a naturally gluten-free food.
Yes! Instead of sauteing the veggies in avocado or extra-virgin olive oil, you could sauté them in veggie broth instead, using the same amount.
Yes! You can freeze this wild rice soup. The texture may thicken after freezing it so you would need to add a little extra veggie broth to it when reheating.
I love to use these air-tight, BPA-free, stackable "Souper Cubes" to meal prep and to store leftover soups for busy weeknights.
You can store this soup in an airtight BPA-free container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat the soup on the stovetop and add extra veggie broth or water if it is too thick.
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Karielyn's Expert Tips
Here are my best tips to help you make this Vegan Creamy Wild Rice Soup perfectly every time. These small adjustments can make a big difference in the flavor and texture.
Karielyn's Expert Cooking Tips
- Use 100% wild rice for the best texture: wild rice blends cook faster and can become mushy.
- Simmer low and slow: this will prevent the rice from splitting and becoming sticky.
- Add coconut milk at the end: this will avoid curdling and it only needs to be warmed up, not cooked.
- Add optional protein: if you want to add extra vegan protein to the soup, try chickpeas or white beans.
Ingredient Substitutions
Wild Rice: For this particular recipe, make sure you use "100% wild rice" and not a "wild rice blend". They do not cook the same, and the texture will be different. Because this recipe has several veggies that need to cook for a longer period of time to become soft (such as sweet potatoes and carrots), the extended cook time is critical.
Mushrooms: I used "baby bella" mushrooms but feel free to use your favorite variety or whatever you have on hand.
Red Onions: You could substitute this with white onions but I would not use a sweet onion variety since this is a savory recipe.
Shallots: I added this ingredient to give extra depth to the flavor, but they could be omitted if you don't have any.
Garlic: I used (4) large garlic cloves and freshly crushed garlic will give you the best flavor. If you don't have fresh garlic, you could use ground garlic instead.
Avocado Oil: This could be substituted with extra-virgin olive oil. Also, if you would like to keep the recipe oil-free, you could sauté the veggies in veggie broth instead of oil.
Veggie Broth: If you use a low-sodium broth, you may need to adjust the salt in the recipe. Just taste it once it's cooked and see if you feel like it needs a little more.
Sweet Potatoes + Carrots + Celery: For best results, make sure to cut them into tiny, diced pieces so they will be cooked and soft. The larger the pieces, the longer it will take for them to cook.
Kale: I added this to increase the nutritional content of the soup, but it could be omitted if you prefer or don't have any on hand. If you do use it, make sure to de-stem it before chopping it into smaller pieces and make sure you add it at the very end. You could also substitute with chopped baby spinach.
Coconut Milk: I used this as a substitute for dairy and to give the soup a creamy texture instead of a broth-type texture. You will need to use full-fat coconut milk in a can (not coconut milk in a box) and use the entire can (fat and coconut water).
Bay Leaves: I added this because it gives a layer of flavor to the soup, but you can omit them if you don't have any. If you use them, make sure to take them out before serving the soup.
Thyme: Fresh thyme will give you the best flavor, but it could be substituted with dried thyme.
Himalayan Pink Salt: This is my salt of preference, however, feel free to substitute it with your favorite sea salt. You may need to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe depending on whether you use low-sodium veggie broth, or prefer a little saltier taste.
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Gluten-Free Vegan Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
For the saute':
- 1 cup organic baby bella mushrooms (chopped)
- ½ cup organic red onions (diced small)
- ¼ cup organic shallots (diced small)
- 4 cloves organic garlic (freshly crushed)
- 2 tablespoons pure avocado oil
For the soup:
- 32 ounces organic vegetable broth
- 1 cup organic 100% wild rice (not a blend; uncooked)
- 1 cup organic sweet potatoes (small cubed pieces)
- 1 cup organic carrots (small cubed pieces)
- ¼ cup organic celery (small cubed pieces)
- 2 organic bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons organic fresh thyme (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
- 1 teaspoon organic ground black pepper
For the add-in:
- 1 can organic unsweetened full-fat coconut milk (13.5-ounce, BPA-free can)
- 1 cup organic kale (de-stemmed, chopped)
Instructions
Prepare the veggies:
- Prep the veggies by cutting the carrots, celery, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes into small, cubed pieces, and then dice the onions and shallots into small pieces.
Prepare the sauté:
- Add the ingredients for the sauté to a large Dutch oven and lightly sauté on medium-high heat for approximately 3-4 minutes, or until softened, taking care to not burn the garlic.
Prepare the soup:
- Add the remaining ingredients for the soup (excluding the add-ins) to the Dutch oven and stir until everything is well combined.
- Bring the soup to a simmer on medium-high heat.
- Cover and reduce heat to low; cook the soup on low heat for approximately 45-50 minutes, or until the rice and veggies are soft, stirring it occasionally.
Add the add-ins:
- Once the rice and veggies are soft, add the entire can of full-fat coconut milk and chopped kale.
- Stir everything together until well combined.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Store in an airtight, BPA-free container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months using a non-toxic Super Cube container.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The instructions, notes, and photographs for this recipe by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home™ website are copyrighted material. This copyrighted work is protected and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and cannot be legally used without my written permission.
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