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Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup

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This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup is made with fresh seasonal vegetables and greens, hearty wild rice, and a deliciously zesty, creamy broth (made with either coconut milk or cream). Instant Pot and stovetop options included!

Who’s ready to warm up with a bowl of wild rice soup? ♡

This cozy autumn wild rice soup has become one of our readers’ favorite recipes here on Gimme Some Oven these past few winters and is also hands-down one of my personal all-time faves on the blog as well. It’s loaded up with lots of my favorite fresh seasonal produce, from sweet potatoes to kale, mushrooms, carrots, celery and onions. It’s made nice and hearty with the addition of wild rice, which just so happens to be lower in calories and higher in protein than many other rices. But best of all, it is made with the most irresistible broth, seasoned with garlic and “the bays,” as I call them, and made creamy with either the addition of coconut milk, cream or a roux-based cream sauce.

After having originally written this recipe with the cream sauce, I have to say that I — as well as so many of you readers — have become much more partial to the coconut version over the past few years, which I think adds the perfect hint of sweetness to the broth to balance out all of those savory flavors, and just so happens to make this recipe vegan too. So for any of you who haven’t tried that version yet, or this soup in general, I thought I would bump it back to the top of the blog today while we’re right in the heart of cozy comfort food season. I’ve included instructions below for how to make either the dairy or vegan versions, as well as instructions for how to make this soup in either the Instant Pot (my fave), Crock-Pot, or on the stovetop. And of course, if you’re craving some nostalgic chicken and wild rice soup, you’re always welcome to toss some shredded chicken in here as well.

More than anything, though, I just wanted to pop in and say how happy I am that so many of you have tried and loved this soup! It always means so much to me to read your comments and see photos of your dinner online. So cheers to the cozy recipes that keep us all warm this time of year…and now let’s make some soup!

Autumn Wild Rice Soup Recipe (Vegan Version) | 1-Minute Video

Wild Rice Soup Ingredients

Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this wild rice soup recipe:

  • Wild rice: I love using 100% wild rice in this recipe, which is different than a wild rice blend or black rice (which, look out, will turn your soup purple!). That said, though, you are welcome to use whatever type of rice you prefer in this soup. Just note that different varieties of rice will require different cooking times.
  • Vegetable stock: You could use either vegetable stock or chicken stock as the base for this soup.
  • Autumn veggies: A seasonal blend of sweet potato, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms and garlic.
  • The “bays”: I’m a big fan of using Old Bay seasoning and a bay leaf to season this soup. But if you don’t have Old Bay on hand, I have included some alternate seasoning options below.
  • Coconut milk or cream sauce: I prefer the vegan version of this soup made with coconut milk, which I believe adds the perfect touch of creamy sweetness to balance out all of those savory flavors. But alternately, you could choose to make a cream sauce (made from milk and thickened with a flour/butter roux), or you could just add in some half and half or heavy cream to taste.
  • Greens: I love adding lots of fresh kale to this soup, but baby spinach, collard greens, or any other soup-friendly greens that you have in the crisper drawer would do.
  • Salt & pepper: As always, for seasoning!

How To Make Wild Rice Soup

As mentioned, I have included detailed instructions below for how to make this wild rice soup recipe either in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) or on the stovetop. But in general, the method is to…

  1. Cook the base of the soup. Whichever cooking method you choose, we will simmer the veggies and rice in the broth (sans cream) until the rice is completely tender.
  2. (Optional) Make your cream sauce. If you choose to use the cream sauce method, you can prepare the cream sauce in a separate saucepan while the soup cooks by melting the butter, whisking in the flour, stirring in the milk and cooking the mixture until thickened. (Or you can skip this step and add in a can of coconut milk or some half and half instead.)
  3. Add in the coconut milk (or cream sauce) and kale. Once the rice is ready to go, stir in the coconut milk (or cream sauce) and kale until combined. Then taste and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Serve. And serve it up nice and warm! I love serving this soup with some crusty bread and a simple green salad. Also, note that the soup will continue to thicken as it cools. So if it gets too thick, feel free to add in extra broth and Old Bay, to taste.

Recipe Variations

This recipe is quite flexible, so feel free to experiment with whatever ingredient variations sound good! For example, you could…

  • Add chicken: To make chicken and wild rice soup, you can either add pre-cooked diced or shredded chicken to the soup. Or you can poach a raw chicken breast in the soup while the rice cooks, then remove, shred, and add it back into the soup before serving.
  • Use a different seasoning: This soup would taste delicious with a variety of different seasoning blends (in place of Old Bay), such as Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence.
  • Make it milder. Old Bay seasoning is mildly spicy, so if you prefer your soup with less heat, I would begin with just 2 teaspoons of Old Bay. Then you can always add more to taste later, if you would like.
  • Make it gluten-free: The vegan version of this soup is naturally gluten-free. But if you are making the dairy version and would like to thicken the broth a bit, I would recommend adding a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cold water and cornstarch mixed together) to the soup until it reaches your desired consistency.

More Vegetarian Soup Recipes

Looking for some more simple, cozy, vegetarian soup recipes this season? Here are a few more of our faves… ♡

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Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 978 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x

Description

This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup features fresh seasonal produce, hearty wild rice, and a zesty creamy broth. The vegan version of the soup is listed here in this recipe, or see options below for the cream sauce version.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
  • 1 cup uncooked wild rice*
  • 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 1 large (about 1 pound) sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (or see cream sauce option below*)
  • 2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
  • fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Instructions

Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Method:

  1. Combine base ingredients. Combine vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning in the bowl of an Instant Pot pressure cooker.  Stir briefly to combine.
  2. Pressure cook. Cover and cook on manual (high pressure) for 25 minutes.  Let the Instant Pot rest and naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes.  Then carefully open the vent and quick release the remaining pressure.  Remove lid and discard the bay leaf.
  3. Add final ingredients. Add the coconut milk and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined.  Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
  4. Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!

Stovetop Method:

  1. Sauté the veggies. Heat (an extra) 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.  Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
  2. Add base ingredients. Add in the vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning.  Stir to combine.
  3. Simmer. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add final ingredients. Add the coconut milk and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
  5. Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!


Notes

Wild rice: I used 100% wild rice which I love and recommend for this soup.  Cooking time may vary if you use a wild rice blend or a different type of rice.

Alternate cream sauce recipe: In place of the coconut milk, you can either add 1 1/2 cups half and half.  Or you can make a cream sauce by melting 3 tablespoons of butter in a (separate) saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking in 1/4 cup flour for one minute, and then whisking in 1 1/2 cups milk until the mixture is smooth.  Let the sauce cook until it nearly reaches a simmer, at which point it will thicken, then remove from heat and add the sauce to the soup once the rice has completely cooked.

Crock-Pot (Slow Cooker) Option: I decided to remove the Crock-Pot option from the recipe instructions because we have unfortunately found slow cookers to be too inconsistent in making this recipe. Different brands/models have proven to vary dramatically in terms of the cooking time required to fully soften the rice and vegetables, and too much of the broth can evaporate if the lid is not fully secure. I recommend the Instant Pot or stovetop options instead. But if you want to cook this soup in a slow cooker, just follow the Instant Pot method and slow cooker (instead of pressure cook) the soup as directed in Step 2 until the rice and veggies are tender.

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1,471 comments on “Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup”

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  1. I come back to this recipe over and over! I usually add more celery bc I love it, cut mushroom amount by half and add peas instead – kind of a mushroom hater :) So good!






  2. This looks delicious! I’d love to try it in my slow cooker. What size slow cooker do you recommend?

  3. This soup is unbelievably good! Such a wonderful recipe!






  4. Just curious.. does anybody else get that creamy/ orange-y color shown in the photos? I’ve made a version of this soup several times (each with wild rice, sometimes on stove, sometimes in pressure cooker) and the rice dyes it deep purple. Which is kind of pretty. But tonight I tried soaking the rice in warm water and rinsing out the color to try and get that nice creamy color (I soaked and rinsed it 3 times). Still super purple. Either way, tastes great!






    • When i first poured the rice in, i noticed the purple color. But it was only temporarily . It did end up having the creamy color

  5. Winner! I used the stove top method and cooked the rice separately and added just before serving. I used poultry seasoning (no Old Bay in pantry) and a couple of bay leaves. Will be added to our cooking rotation! thank you.






  6. Love this recipe! I added a dash of nutmeg, which I think adds a great depth of flavor with kale and cream sauce. Delicious

  7. I followed this recipe using the pressure cooker directions. It was just awful, period. The ingredients were all family favorites and I highly anticipated serving the soup for dinner tonight. The Old Bay Seasoning ruined the taste of the soup and I like Old Bay! My daughter and I were extremely disappointed in this recipe.






  8. Thanks so much for adding the gluten free option. Have loved your recipes but now must eat gluten free!0

  9. I’m going to make this ALL THE TIME. Ugh delish!!!!

    I used the Trader Joe’s Umami seasoning and instead of milk, I made a slurry with a teaspoon of cornstarch and like a quarter cup of heavy cream. Fabulous.






  10. I made this recipe (or my slightly modified version of it) on the stovetop and it was delicious! I’m definitely adding it to my regular soup rotation.






  11. Loved this recipe! I substituted Cajun seasoning for Old Bay, and we noticed that it’s a lot thicker and heartier the next day, which we preferred. Overall a fantastic fall/winter recipe! Also going to try adding some andouille sausage next time as well.






  12. This was a HUGE hit with my family…and there are a lot of us. (9) ? I cooked it in the instant pot, added raw, cubed chicken before cooking, and used a can of unsweetened coconut milk in place of the roux. SO delicious! Thank you for a great fall recipe!!






  13. Holy smokes I never knew I could have a love affair with soup until this recipe! ITS SO GOOD! I added extra veggies, subbed the celery with broccoli, and used coconut cream (from Trader Joe’s) instead of milk and it turned out so thick and creamy. I’m in cozy, autumn heaven. Can’t wait to make this again since my batch is almost gone!






  14. The soup turned out purple because of the black wild rice I used. Be careful which rice you choose, unless you eat this soup in the dark :)

  15. Unpopular opinion here…I followed the stovetop version of this recipe to a T. It looked beautiful and smelled good. But both my husband and I thought it had a really funky aftertaste. I’m not sure if we’re just not fans of Old Bay seasoning or what. I wanted to love this so much! All that chopping and cooking time and then we ended up ordering pizza delivery and the soup went to waste. I’ll stick with my old trusted turkey wild rice soup recipe next time.?






  16. Yum! Was inspired to make this after seeing it on Instagram and oh my goodness, it hit the spot! Perfect for a chilly fall evening :) I made the dairy-free version on the stovetop and added a bit of shredded chicken for protein. It was so easy to throw together and loved by all – this soup is definitely going into our rotation!






  17. This was delicious! I loved all the veggies and how hearty it was. For the dys-lactics at our house I subbed Lactose free butter and a combo of oat milk and lactose free half and half with great results! I also used GF flour blend in the roux— worked great. This makes a lot and some day, when we can get together with people again, I’ll definitely make this for a larger group. It would easily serve 8 and maybe up to 10.






  18. ABSOLUTE YUMMINESS!
    A party for your mouth!
    Made in IP and only added sea salt and cracked pepper just before serving.
    Can I freeze this soup? Please reply.






  19. This is so delicious! Perfect to use up the veggies from my CSA this week. I added one pound of shredded chicken and used half a butternut squash instead of the sweet potato, because that was what I had at hand. And a little extra Old Bay, because I’m from Maryland :)






  20. Hi!! I love this recipe! Just one question: can this soup be frozen? Thank you!!






    • I had good luck freezing this soup. I have read that soups containing milk or cream don’t freeze well, so I followed the recipe but didn’t add the cream sauce until I was ready to reheat the soup. I recommend slightly under cooking the vegetables/rice before freezing as I noticed that the rice absorbed a ton of the liquid and got slightly mushy.

    • This was warm and yummy, exploding with flavor! I made the stovetop version. I added one large boneless chicken breast to cook with the broth and vegetables and only one teaspoon of the old bay seasoning (because it’s quite spicy/hot) and it was perfect. ?






  21. Recipe was good! Lots of flavour and healthy. I did a couple of things differently- added 2 chicken breasts which I shredded after and added coconut milk instead.
    Only thing I’d do differently next time is keep it in the instant pot for less time. I did the recommended 25 minutes and the sweet potatoes were over cooked.






  22. Just made this tonight-absolutely delicious!! I did the cream sauce version but look forward to trying the coconut milk version next time to compare. This will definitely go into my regular rotation as far as soups!!






  23. This soup is delicious! I am looking around but can’t find the nutritional information.
    How many calories per cup?
    Thanks!

  24. Absolutely deelish! I made it vegan and gf following your suggestions and a tad edgier with crushed red chili flakes. Have made it two more times and frozen in single meal containers for lunches. So darn good!! ❤️






  25. I was excited to make the coconut milk version of this recipe since we skip dairy at our house. I Used old bay Seasoning and honestly I felt like it overpowered the soup. I subbed rutabaga for sweet potato and added spinach. Overall a good soup, but next time I’ll skip the old bay for Italian or Cajun seasoning.






  26. This soup was amazing! Did the italian herbs/coconut milk version of the recipe, but added some diced chicken thigh, turmeric, and curry powder. The flavor was so good and I’ll definitely be making it again. Didn’t need the entire 45 minute cook time.






    • Delicious!! Hubby definitely went back for seconds! Made this on the stovetop and substituted regular potatoes for the sweet potato as I don’t care for sweet potato and Swiss chard for the kale as that’s what I had on hand. Will definitely be making this again and will try it with the coconut milk next time to compare. ?






  27. Really yummy. Cooked the stove top version. Modifications: Used wild rice blend , sprinkled in a little thyme, onion powder and garlic powder, cooked sweet potatoes first 20 minutes, then added the remaining vegetables. Will definitely book again.






  28. Delicious! I did the instant pot version. I did use a wild rice blend because it’s what I had, and I didn’t have old bay so I did a mix of: celery salt, paprika, parsley, and dill (don’t come at me I put in what sounded good to me ?). Anyways, turned out great!! Will definitely make again. I also used oat milk.






  29. Love this. Made it on top of the stove with the coconut milk and it’s hearty and healthy and delicious!






  30. Made this for an October ladies’ lunch. It was perfect. My only modifications were to sub butternut squash for the sweet potato and the coconut milk instead of the cream sauce. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a tee. Everyone asked for the recipe. I will definitely make again!!






  31. Made this soup tonight with red potatoes instead of sweet potatoes and coconut milk, and all I can say is WOW! It’s so flavorful and delicious. Definitely one of the best vegan soups I have tried. Thank you for this recipe! Will be making this over and over again.

  32. Holy cow!! This is the greatest soup. I did it in my slow cooker. I used both butternut squash and sweet potato. I used the coconut milk and spinach instead of kale. I added a small rotisserie chicken shredded. At the end of cooking, there was something missing that I couldn’t put my finger on. My fella who’s a fantastic chef, sprinkled in a pinch of Smokey sea salt. And bam!!! Perfection. This recipe did not disappoint. Will definitely be making again!!






  33. Honestly, I don’t post a lot, but this soup was so good I had to comment! This recipe was fun and straightforward to make and, although the prep work can be a bit time consuming, the actual recipe was simple enough that I had no trouble with it (and I am the worst cook in my family aha). It turned out even better than expected and it looks amazing. I used coconut milk v. cream sauce and didn’t have any old bay seasoning so used a plainer seasoning salt (I like a kick but not anything too spicy). Thanks so much!!

    p.s. For a full fall meal, I recommend the pumpkin bread for a light dessert with coffee! While the soup was on the stove, I made the bread dough and my apartment smelled amazing!






  34. Hello. I will be making this tomorrow!! It looks tasty! I was wondering which one is your preferred cooking method?

    • Response to my question above. I made it in the instant pot. It was so good! I soaked my wild rice the night before. It came out perfect, did not soak up the broth!






  35. Does anyone have a recommendation between the vegetable stock vs chicken stock? Thanks

  36. Our family is COMPLETELY obsessed with this soup. The kids request it constantly. It’s a total winner!






  37. Fabulous—very tasty and hearty, wish I had made fresh baked rolls! Amazing flavor, I used Swiss chard or the green, and it was great. Also chopped up the stalks with the celery. Did stove top method in my Dutch oven. So lovely, can’t wait to eat it again! Keeper!






  38. Loved it! Even though i love all the vegetables in this soup i wasn’t sure how all the tastes will
    Come together. For me personally, i will
    Add a little less Old Bay. Definitely a keeper!






  39. Can I freeze this soup? If so, how long can it stay freezes for?

  40. Making this for the third time tonight! I use the coconut milk and its absolutely delicious. All 3 kids and husband said it was great!






  41. I used curry and coconut milk instead of old bay ( ugh I live in Maryland and am so over old bay lol?)It was delicious !






  42. Would this be freezer friendly?

  43. Great recipe for delicious soup. I’ve made this twice, both times with the coconut milk option. My grandchildren, ages 2 and 6 liked it also. Give it a try!






  44. I just made this soup in preparation for my wedding in 4 days. I’m going to freeze it to make sure it stays as fresh as possible, so I left out the greens til then. I used coconut milk instead of wheat so that it’s gluten free for my celiac mother.

    It’s absolutely amazing. I had to set a bowl aside to have now because it is just excellent. I’m quite excited to share this with our guests.






  45. I can not recommend this soup. It looks wonderful for sure but here’s where it gets murky:

    – soup turned muddy brown. Likely from the veg stock, mushrooms and wild rice. Since we eat with our eyes first, it wasn’t appealing.
    – cream sauce. This just wasn’t necessary. I would instead just add a little cream or at a minimum cut the cream sauce in half. As it is too pastry and not helpful to the recipe.
    – old bay. This could have a nice aspect to the soup but it was too much. I would cut in half.

  46. This turned out ok. Didn’t have old bay seasoning so I made my own. I didn’t love the flavors, but that may be partly the ingredients I chose: I used veggie bullion cubes to make the broth and they don’t have great flavor. I made the crock pot version and it turned out super thick like a stew so I added extra broth at the end to thin it out. I added a little splash of lemon juice at the end to lighten it up since the cream sauce made it very heavy.






  47. This was delicious! I used whole milk to make it more creamy.






  48. This soup is delicious!!! I used the coconut milk variation and I added Italian sausage, I also did regular potatoes and cooked my rice on the side, and I used spinach salad instead of kale, used Cajun seasoning instead of old bay, added other seasoning too, used Italian herbs in place of bay leaf. Made some cornbread with it, kids loved it!!






  49. Not going to lie I was a little skeptical of the recipe, as I was making it, because I didn’t have the old bay seasoning, so I made my own. But this soup turned out AMAZING! I love the sweetness the sweet potatoes bring and all of the flavours and textures, everything goes so well together. This has been added to my list of dinner items.






  50. Yum! I made this with watered down chicken stock (instead of vegetable stock), a can of full-fat coconut milk (instead of the cream base), and poultry seasoning (instead of Old Bay) on the stovetop and it was DELICIOUS!