Cream of Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Rich, creamy, thick, comforting, soul warming, and crazy delicious! Yet, you will never believe just how nutritious this Vegan Cream of Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup actually is…

Looks like I’ve been in “revisiting old posts” mode lately… Trust me, it’s not a bad thing; not a bad thing at all! In fact, I’m bringing a bunch of truly worthy recipes back to the top of the pile! This beautiful cream of mushroom soup, for instance… I’d created it a while back after I’d gotten inspired by one of my favorite fellow bloggers of the time, and to this day, I remember having fallen head over heels for it at first bite!

However, over the years, certain people had reported in the comments that they hadn’t had much success with the recipe. Some found their rendition turned out too watery, or grainy, while others found it to be kind of bland. I could never quite figure out why, as bland food is something I simply do not do. I would never post a recipe for something that tasted bland…

So I retested the recipe exactly as written — save for a minor change that I had to do to accommodate my new dietary reality — and frankly, I fell in love all over again. This soup, it tastes absolutely fantastic! It’s delicate, simple and earthy, just like any mushroom soup should be… but it tastes really, really good! And it’s crazy creamy, silky, and thick. So thick! Plus, it’s loaded with all kinds of pieces of creamy mushrooms and nutty, chewy wild rice. So good!

I’m thinking that perhaps the instructions were somewhat unclear and that some people may have ended up adding too much water… So I took it upon me to rewrite them, and of course to revamp the post to include all my now usual step-by-step pictures, hoping that from now on everyone who tries this soup gets to enjoy it in all its glory.

Because for my part, I can still honestly say that this was BY FAR the best Cream of Mushroom Soup I’ve had in my entire life. And this time, no way I’m gonna wait so long before I make it again… 

The first thing you want to do is cook the wild rice, because that’s really what takes the longest!

Combine 1/3 of a cup of it, along with 2 cups of water and half a teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan; bring that to a boil then reduce the heat to a slow simmer, cover and simmer until the rice is tender and almost all the grains have burst open, about 25 to 30 minutes. Once the rice is cooked to your liking, drain excess water if any, and set aside.

While your rice is cooking, you’ll have plenty of time to prep all your ingredients and then continue with the rest of the steps… When ready, place a fairly large saucepan over medium heat, add a good splash of olive oil to it, and once hot, follow with a chopped onion, some garlic, celery, salt and black pepper. Cook that for 2 to 3 minutes, until the veggies start to soften, take a slight golden coloration and become highly fragrant.

Now add the cauliflower florets and continue cooking for another minute or two… just to be sure that all the florets are well coated in all those delicious flavors.

Next, add 4 cups of water, a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard, a teaspoon of onion powder and about half of the chopped mushrooms… we’ll be adding the other half later!  

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover loosely and simmer until the cauliflower is fork tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Once the cauliflower is all good and tender, ladle this mixture into your high speed blender and process on high until super smooth and silky in consistency. Note that there’s a very good chance you will have to work in 2 or 3 batches, here, unless you have one of those extra-large capacity commercial machines! 

Once reduced to a silky puree, return the soup to the saucepan…

To it, add the rest of the chopped mushrooms as well as the reserved cooked wild rice. Bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mushrooms are fully cooked, about 3-4 minutes.

After that time, dilute the arrowroot starch in 1/4 cup of water, then mix in the almond milk and pour that right into the simmering soup. Stir well and bring back to a quick boil, then kill the heat and serve without delay!

Look at that!! I like my cream of Mushroom Soup to have tons of pieces of mushroom in it. Now this one most certainly delivers!

Garnish your Cream of Mushroom Soup with a few slices of mushroom, a handful of fresh chopped parsley and, if you are so inclined, a generous grind of black pepper! 

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4.25 from 4 votes

Vegan Cream of Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Rich, creamy, thick, comforting, soul warming, and crazy delicious! Yet, you will never believe just how nutritious this Vegan Cream of Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup actually is...

Servings: 4 Serves 4

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For the wild rice

• 1/3 cup uncooked wild rice
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the soup

• 1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 large head cauliflower, about 1.65lb (750g), cut into florets
• 1.1 lb white mushrooms, chopped rather finely
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp onion powder

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• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp arrowroot flour, or tapioca starch or corn starch

Instructions

• To start, cook the wild rice by combining it, along with 2 cups of water and half a teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan; bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a slow simmer, cover and simmer until the rice is tender and almost all the grains have popped open, about 25 to 30 minutes. Once the rice is cooked to your liking, drain excess water if any and set aside.
• While the rice is cooking, heat a splash of olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat; to it, add the onion, garlic, celery, salt and black pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened, slightly colored and fragrant. 
• Add the cauliflower florets and continue cooking for another minute or 2, then add the 4 cups of water, Dijon mustard, onion powder and half of the chopped mushrooms.
  
• Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover loosely and simmer until the cauliflower is fork tender, about 5-7 minutes.
• Ladle this mixture into your high speed blender and process on high until super smooth and silky in consistency. There's a very good chance that you will have to work in 2-3 batches.
• Return the soup to the saucepan and to it, add the rest of the chopped mushrooms as well as the cooked wild rice. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked, about 3-4 minutes.
• Dilute the arrowroot flour (or starch) in 1/4 cup of water, then mix in almond milk and pour that into the soup. Stir well and bring back to the boil, then kill the heat and serve.

Notes

The original of this recipe, published in January of 2013, called for 1 cup of Greek yogurt mixed in with 2 tbsp of arrowroot flour diluted in 1 cup of water. To keep the soup vegan this time, the yogurt has been replaced with almond milk and the water reduced to 1/4 cup, to make up for the thinner consistency of the milk vs the yogurt. 

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 5g, Sodium: 1083mg, Potassium: 975mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 90IU, Vitamin C: 75mg, Calcium: 141mg, Iron: 1.7mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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*Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January of 2013 and has since been completely revamped and updated with better wording and pictures. A few very minor modifications to the original recipe have also been made.