This vegan wild rice soup is loaded with vegetables, nutty wild rice, mushrooms, and tender chunks of jackfruit! The broth is extremely creamy without using any butter, heavy cream, or cashews! Thanks to a slow cooker, you can get this gluten-free and oil-free meal on the table with very little effort.
This soup is my veganized version of the classic chicken wild rice soup. It's super-rich and creamy without using any butter or heavy cream, and the chunks of jackfruit are the perfect meaty replacement for chicken. This vegan soup is loaded with lots of vegetables, nutty wild rice, mushrooms, and a rich sunflower cream broth that really puts it over the top!
This gluten-free and oil-free soup is incredibly quick to assemble and easy to make in a slow cooker. Just wait until you taste how creamy the broth is after you stir in the sunflower cream. It's unbelievably yummy and it's sure to please anyone who tries it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
This creamy vegan soup is made in a large slow cooker using a combination of fresh vegetables and pantry staples. Let's talk about the most important ingredients and substitutions if you need it.
- Onion, Celery, Carrot, and Garlic - The best base for any soup (in my opinion!). You can use any type of onion you like (red, yellow, sweet).
- Wild Rice - Wild rice adds a really nice texture, nutty flavor, and color to this soup. You can substitute 1:1 any type of rice you have on hand, just make sure to rinse it first. You could also use a wild rice blend, brown rice, basmati rice, quinoa, farro, pearl barley, or orzo.
- Jackfruit - I used canned young green jackfruit as the meat replacement. It's chunky, tender, and it shreds just like a slow-cooked chicken would. The flavor is mild, so it picks up all the seasonings in the soup. Did you know that you can also use unripe jackfruit to make a delicious stroganoff, enchiladas, tacos, or BBQ sliders? It's so versatile! You could substitute canned chickpeas, great northern beans, artichoke hearts, or vegan sausage if necessary.
- Vegetable Broth - You can use homemade or store-bought broth. My favorite options are vegetable broth or mushroom broth.
- Sunflower Seeds - Sunflower seeds are magical! Once boiled and blended, they make anything super creamy. Raw cashews are the best substitute for sunflower seeds. If you use cashews, you need to boil them for 10 minutes prior to blending as well.
- Mushrooms - You can use cremini, white button, portobello mushrooms, or shiitake. Fresh or frozen mushrooms are both fine to use.
- Dried Seasonings - The bay leaf, Italian seasonings, salt, and pepper add so much flavor to the soup!
- Lemon Juice - Lemon brightens the flavor of the wild rice soup.
How to Make It
Combine all the chopped vegetables, jackfruit, wild rice, dried seasonings, vegetable broth, and just enough water to cover everything in a large slow cooker (Photo 1). Cover with the lid and set it to cook for 4 hours on High.
In a medium saucepan, boil the raw sunflower seeds in water for 10 minutes (Photo 2). Drain any excess water and then blend the seeds with fresh water until it's smooth and creamy (Photo 3). Stir the sunflower cream and fresh lemon juice into the slow cooker (Photo 4). Garnish with chopped chives before serving.
What Goes With It?
I usually serve bowls of this wild rice and mushroom soup with a big side salad drizzled with ranch dressing and a baked potato loaded with dairy-free sour cream and lots of chives. Any of the following recipes would be a delicious side dish to serve with the soup.
- Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
- Lemon Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes Florentine
- Roasted Beetroot Feta Salad
How To Store It
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days or you can freeze it for 2-3 months. When you're ready to reheat it, take the container of wild rice mushroom soup out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw for 24 hours. Then you can warm it up in the microwave or on the stove top in a sauce pan.
If the consistency is too thick (the wild rice will soak up some of the broth), add 2-3 tbsp of water or vegetable broth to thin it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
When using jackfruit as a meat replacement, you need to use canned young green unripe jackfruit in brine, not syrup. Don't use fresh or sweetened jackfruit in this soup because it will make the soup taste sweet instead of savory.Â
Nope! They will become very tender after cooking for 4 hours. The seeds are 100% edible, so you don't need to remove them.
If you don't want to use wild rice, you can use any type of rice, grain, or pasta that you like. However, I would cook it separately so it doesn't get too mushy in the slow cooker. Wild rice is starchy and takes longer to cook, so the texture holds up well in the slow cooker.
Success Tips
- Only use canned young green jackfruit in brine or water (not fresh or or if it's packed in syrup).
- Make sure to rinse and drain both the canned jackfruit and wild rice very well before adding it to the slow cooker.
- If you use any other type of rice besides wild rice, I recommend that you cook it separately and stir it in at the end so it won't get mushy.
- Boil the raw sunflower seeds for 10 minutes before blending them so they're softer and easier to blend into the cream sauce.
Want More Vegan Soup Recipes?
- White Bean Jackfruit Stew
- Creamy Lentil Chickpea Soup
- Vegan Lasagna Soup
- Vegan Cabbage Soup
- Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Vegan Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
- Large Slow Cooker
- Medium Saucepan
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 large celery stalks sliced
- 4 large carrots peeled and sliced
- 4 medium garlic cloves minced
- 10 oz cremini mushrooms sliced
- (2) 14 oz cans young green jackfruit (in brine) rinsed and drained
- 1 cup wild rice rinsed and drained (or wild rice blend)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasonings
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp salt (add more to taste)
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water (enough to cover everything in the slow cooker)
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chives
Instructions
- Put the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, jackfruit, wild rice, Italian seasonings, bay leaf, salt, pepper, vegetable broth, and 2 cups of water into a large slow cooker. Stir to combine. The liquid should just barely cover all of the vegetables.Â
- Put the lid on the slow cooker and set it to cook for 4 hours on High.Â
- Put the raw sunflower seeds in a medium saucepan and cover it by 1-inch with clean water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes. Drain any excess water.
- Put the boiled sunflower seeds in a blender cup along with 1 cup of water. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Store the mixture in the fridge or make it right before the soup is done cooking.
- After cooking for 4 hours, remove the lid and stir in the lemon juice and sunflower cream. Add a little bit more water to the blender cup and swirl it around to get any leftover sunflower cream out and add it to the slow cooker.
- Taste and add more seasonings if necessary. I added a little bit more salt and black pepper. Garnish each bowl with chives before serving.
Notes
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days or you can freeze it for a future meal.
Nutrition
This sounds lovely for a Shabbat lunch. However, it would need to be kept in the slow cooker for many hours--about 20 altogether; Would this work cooked on low for several hours then kept warm for the rest? Could the thickener be added when we take the pot out of the heating element?
I haven't tested it, but I don't think it would be a problem to cook it on low and then keep it on the warm setting for the rest of the time. You may need to add more broth if the wild rice absorbs too much of the liquid while it's cooking, just check it occasionally. Yes, you can add the sunflower cream at the end.
Thank you for sharing! This is such an easy and delicious soup to make! Your simple directions were very helpful and made it so easy to prepare.
Thank you! Enjoy =)
I made this tonight and boy oh boy was it delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe! I'll definitely be making this in the future.
Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! =)