This thick vegan white bean and wild rice dish has the most delicious, rich texture. Seasoned with tarragon and thyme, it captures the best flavors of French cooking. This easy to make soup tastes even better the next day, so make sure to make enough for leftovers!
White beans and wild rice make a hearty and protein-packed soup. It’s stick-to-your-ribs good, but it’s much lighter and better for you than the popular milk- and meat-laden puffs. Especially if you enjoy it with a recommended rustic bread or baguette to soak up every last drop.
It’s comfort food, with chewy grains of wild rice, buttery textured white beans, and tender bits of carrot and celery in every bite. You don’t want to miss this recipe!
Ingredients for vegan white bean wild rice soup:
Making this creamy wild rice soup vegan is easy! Many of the products remain the same from its non-vegan counterpart. You have onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tarragon, and thyme to spice up the dish. A sprinkling of turmeric is optional but it gives the sauce a pale golden color.
For soup, choose a light vegetable soup. I recommend using a vegan “chicken style” sauce. I personally like to use Better Than Bouillon brand No-Chicken Base and mix it with water to make as much broth as needed.
White beans, such as cannellini beans, navy beans, or great northern white beans complete the soup. All beans have a mild flavor, and lend themselves well to this dish. I used cannellini beans in these pictures.
The soup is thick in three ways. The first is the roux method, which is cooked with flour and fat (usually butter). A roux brings flavor to the dish and the flour adds strength. We use vegan butter for the vegan soup, but if you want to stick to olive oil it works too.
Second through rice. Cooked rice is soft, but when you let the soup simmer, the starches in the wild rice start working to thicken the soup as the rice becomes more watery.
The third is from the vegan cream. For the cream I really like to use cashew cream, it has a sweet nutty taste and it combines well with the cream. Corn starch also works well for shaving when the hair is warm.
For this delicious soup, I like to mix cashews with vegetable juice instead of plain water. This brings some flavor to the dish and it doesn’t do much better than cashew cream if you want a rich flavor.
To make cashew cream, or replace it:
Cashew cream requires a blender, and if you don’t have a very good blender it can be difficult to get the perfect cream.
To help your blender, soak the cashews in hot water for 30 minutes before blending. If you have more time, you can soak it in cold water for a few hours. Remove this water before adding fresh water (and bouillon paste!)
Soaking the cashews will soften them and make it easier for your blender to get a smooth cream.
If you have a high-powered blender then feel free to skip the immersion.
Now, if you want to avoid using the blender all together or have a cashew allergy you can make a vegan white bean and wild rice cream soup in another way.
Option 1: coconut milk or cream
My first choice is to use coconut cream. This is the firm fluffy white part that separates from a regular container of coconut milk. If you open the can and you have mixed milk, then it is good to use milk.
If you use coconut milk, open a 15oz can of coconut milk or cream (DO NOT use coconut milk sold in cartons-it’s not the same!!!!!). If the cream separates, then remove it and use the rest of the cream. If it’s not split it’s fine. Use 1 cup of coconut milk or milk per can (1 1/2 cups) depending on how thick you want the sauce to be.
Option 2: almond cream or sunflower seed cream
Neither almonds nor roasted sunflower seeds yield as smooth and creamy as cashews. To get a smoother result you will need to strain the cream through a nut milk bag to remove the pulp. Or you can just lean in a little almond/sunflower cream and use as is.
If you use whole almonds you definitely want to pour it through a bag of nutmilk or you will have a brown-flecked cream. To avoid the color of the almond skin, use blanched slivered almonds.
I have not tried these substitutes in this soup, but I believe that their rich nutty flavor is also delicious in it.
To make rice rice soup:
The recipe is simple, cook the mirepoix, add vegan butter and flour to the vegetables, pour in the broth, wild rice, white beans, turmeric, salt, and sprigs of thyme and cook until the rice is tender.
The mirepoix is a classic French recipe. You use an equal amount of chopped onion, carrot, and celery and cook it until it’s soft without browning.
When the rice is soft, add your cashew cream (or cashew cream substitute) and tarragon and let the sauce simmer until the sauce thickens.
Finally add salt and pepper to taste and another sprinkling of fresh thyme and fresh tarragon for an extra punch of herby flavor.
If you make this vegan white bean wild rice, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea. I want to see your relaxation!
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Ingredients
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1 tbsp olive oil
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1 cup chopped (1 small) yellow onion
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1 cup chopped (2-3 medium) carrots
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1 cup chopped (3-4 stalks) celery
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4 cloves of garlic, chopped
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2 tbsp vegan butter
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1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour)
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4 cups chicken-style vegetable broth
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1 cup (5.5oz/155g) wild rice, washed
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15oz can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
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4 fresh thyme leaves (1 1/2 tsp dried)
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1/4 tsp ground turmeric (optional, for color)
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1 tsp salt, to taste
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black pepper, to taste
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1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon (1 tsp dried)
Cashew Cream*
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3/4 cup raw cashews
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1 cup chicken-style vegetable broth
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, carrot, celery, and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, 8-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and vegan butter, and cook until the garlic no longer smells raw, about 60 seconds. Cover with flour and stir to coat the vegetables, letting them toast for about a minute.
- Slowly pour in the vegetable stock while stirring, then add the wild rice, white beans, sprigs of thyme (or dried thyme), tarragon (if using dried), turmeric, salt, and a few pinches of pepper. Return the heat to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the pot, simmering for 40 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- While the sauce is cooking, soak your cashews in hot water for 30 minutes (only necessary if you don’t use a high-powered blender). Drain the water and add the soaked cashews and juice to the blender and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add the cashew cream to the soup while the rice is tender, along with the fresh tarragon. Return to a simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Bring to a boil and season with salt, pepper, and more fresh thyme and/or tarragon as desired.
Notes
*For substituting the cashew cream, please see the details in the post.
The remaining sauce may need to be thinned with a splash of water or broth while reheating.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6
Serving Size: 1
Fees per Service:
Calories: 333Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9 gSodium: 1007mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 10gSugar: 5gProteins: 12g
Nutritional values are calculated automatically and should only be used as an estimate.
