We’re heading into the coldest days of the year, and I for one am all about soup! I can’t get enough of it and find myself cooking big weekly batches of hearty soups for lunches and dinners. Soup is delicious, can often be on the healthier side, and it’s great for meal prep (often being freezer-friendly!). This vegan wild rice soup is a favorite that’s going right into heavy rotation. Wild rice always makes for a hearty, wintry meal, and it really shines in some of my favorite dishes like my wild rice pilaf and creamy wild rice mushroom soup. This soup is delicious, satisfying, and versatile! You can have a cup of it on it’s own for a light lunch, pair it up with some crusty bread, or even add vegan sausage for a stick-to your-ribs winter dinner. Let’s talk about how it’s made!
What You’ll Need
Olive oil. Feel free to substitute another high-heat oil, such as avocado or canola oil, or leave it out and sauté the veggies in water for an oil-free version. Onion. Carrot. Celery. Garlic. Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor, but use your favorite! Wild rice. Diced tomatoes. Use the canned variety that’s packed in juice. Tomato paste. Fresh rosemary. Dried rosemary can be substituted, but you’ll need to cut the amount down to a teaspoon. Sweet potato. We’re using a fresh sweet potato of the conventional orange variety (sometimes labelled as yams in U.S. supermarkets). You could substitute another type of sweet potato, or even winter squash or a regular potato if you’d like. Fresh kale. You can use another type of green if you’d like, but you might need to adjust the cook time — softer greens like spinach will cook much quicker than kale. Salt & pepper.
How to Make Vegan Wild Rice Soup
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Heat your oil in a large pot, then add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Sweat the veggies for a few minutes, until they begin softening up, then add the garlic and continue cooking the mixture for about a minute. Stir in the broth, wild rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, and rosemary. Crank up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
Stir in diced sweet potato and let the soup continue simmering for about 15 minutes. By this point the sweet potato and wild rice should be starting to soften up. Stir in chopped up fresh kale. Tip: You might need to add the kale a bit at a time and let each addition wilt before adding more. Let the soup simmer for another 15 minutes or so. You can let it go longer if you prefer your wild rice and/or kale to be more tender. As you make this soup again and again you might find yourself adjusting the timing of adding different ingredients to suit your personal tastes — that’s just fine!
Take the pot off of the burner and season your soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle your vegetable wild rice soup into bowls and dig in!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover wild rice vegetable soup will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months. The wild rice will continue to absorb water while you store the soup, so feel free to add more broth when reheating if needed.
More Hearty Vegan Soups
Classic Lentil Soup Vegan Chicken & Rice Soup Smoky Navy Bean Soup Vegan Lasagna Soup Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
