Given that it was 52° when I woke up this morning, I think it’s safe to say that soup season is officially upon us! While I am no fan of cold weather, I do appreciate the excuse to eat all the cozy comforting foods! Like this Instant Pot Wild Rice Mushroom Soup!
Unlike most wild rice mushroom soups, this soup also has white beans, which (a) adds to the creamy texture, and (b) makes it a heartier, well-rounded meal.
Plus, this soup couldn’t be easier to make! Once you chop up some veggies, you just toss everything into the Instant Pot and walk away! The cook time is pretty similar to the standard cook time on the stove for this kind of soup, but the beauty of the Instant Pot is you can set it and forget it! No need to occasionally check on the soup, stir it, or make sure it’s not bubbling over (or burning).
Table of contents:
1. Why you’ll like this recipe
2. Tips for making this recipe
3. Watch! How to make this soup
4. Recipe card with notes
Why you’ll like this recipe
Easy and Hands Off. It’s made with half of the effort of a traditional wild rice soup. The only real work is chopping up the vegetables! Then you get to dump everything in the Instant Pot and let the machine do its magic! While the Instant Pot is working, spend your free hour working on your side hustle, playing with your kids, hitting the gym, or whatever you don’t spend enough time doing.
The hands off nature of this recipe makes it a great choice for weeknight meals!
Hearty. This soup is protein-packed! In addition to wild rice (which has 6 grams in 1/4 cup, uncooked) and mushrooms (3 grams in 1 cup, uncooked, for just 21 calories), this soup has cannellini beans! So, unlike a traditional wild rice soup, this feels like a full, balanced meal!
These stats make it a great option for meal prep, in addition to the fact that this recipe makes a large quantity and stays good in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Surprisingly Creamy. This soup is incredibly creamy and, no I didn’t use the vegan superstar ingredients cashews or canned coconut milk! Or, of course, cream or milk, which is what traditional wild rice soup recipes rely on. It’s a creamy, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup that’ll satisfy your cold weather cravings.
Wholesome. Despite being creamy and hearty, this soup is 100% wholesome and made with nourishing, whole food plant-based ingredients! It’s vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free!
Tips for making this recipe
Give the cannellini beans a quick 15-minute soak in water while you chop up the vegetables and prep any other ingredients. This improves the texture of the beans, making it less likely that some of your beans will have split skins.
Beans with split skins look wrinkly and craggly. There will likely be a small number of beans that didn’t fully cook through, but not to worry – just scoop them out with a ladle and discard them. You’ll reduce the likelihood of having a few beans with split skins if you quick soak them.
Don’t skip the bouquet garni! A bouquet garni is a fancy French term for a bundle of herbs tied together. It’s what infuses the soup with a deep aroma of fresh herbaceousness.
If you’ve seen some of my Instant Pot recipes or have my cookbook The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook, you know that I typically like to sauté a few ingredients in the Instant Pot before pressure cooking them. This is because that initial sauté helps create layers of flavors.
However, with this soup, the bouquet garni (along with flavorful mushrooms) is sufficient to bring a rich depth of flavor to the soup. If you don’t have all of the specific herbs called for in the recipe, feel free to double up on another herb or use a similar herb (e.g., if you don’t have rosemary, add some oregano or add double the amount of thyme).
Pick a creamy plant-based milk. I wouldn’t use almond milk (or rice milk), which are on the thinner side. I used a carton coconut milk beverage from So Delicious (affiliate link), which is quite creamy. Another good option would be unsweetened oat milk. And if you want to go extra creamy, use a can of “lite” or reduced-fat coconut milk!
For the cornstarch or arrowroot powder slurry, make sure the milk is cold and hasn’t been sitting out. When making a slurry, you want want to make sure that your mixing liquid is cold. If you try adding cornstarch or arrowroot powder directly to the soup, you’ll get lots of clumps (eww).
Be sure to re-stir or re-whisk the slurry just before adding it to the soup, as it will congeal while it sits. If you use arrowroot powder, it will take less time for the soup to thicken.
Watch! How to make this soup
Instant Pot wild rice mushroom soup
And for full instructions, check out my Youtube video, which contains even more cozy vegan soups!
That’s about all for this creamy vegan Instant Pot Wild Rice Mushroom Soup! If you make the soup, be sure to leave a comment below!
Instant Pot Wild Rice Mushroom Soup (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 ribs celery, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 10 ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced
- 8 ounces dried cannellini beans, soaked for 15 minutes
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice (not a “wild rice blend”)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 1/2 cups water (or more vegetable broth)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Bouquet Garni: 2 dried bay leaves + a few sprigs each of fresh thyme, sage and rosemary, tied together in a bundle with kitchen twine (see the video for instructions)
- 2 cups cold creamy plant-based milk (I used carton/drinking coconut milk; you could also use oat milk)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Instructions
- Soak the cannellini beans for 15 minutes in cool water while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Lightly grease the inner pot of the Instant Pot. This is optional but helps prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom and makes cleanup easier. If you are oil-free, skip this step.
- Place the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, mushrooms, soaked cannellini beans, wild rice, vegetable broth, water, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, black pepper to taste, and bouquet garni in the Instant Pot. Stir to combine.
- Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook (or Manual) setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 45 minutes.
- Once the 45-minute timer has completed and beeps, perform a quick pressure release by carefully switching the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting. Open the pot and remove the bouquet garni.
- While the pressure is releasing, make the slurry: whisk together the plant-based milk and cornstarch or arrowroot powder, whisking well until no clumps remain.
- Select the Sauté setting. Once the soup is starting to boil, add the cornstarch or arrowroot slurry to the Instant Pot, along with a few pinches of kosher salt and stir well to incorporate. Heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until the soup has thickened (arrowroot powder takes less time to thicken). The soup will also thicken as it rests.
- If you want the soup to be extra creamy, run an immersion blender through about half of the soup (or transfer half of it to a stand blender) and roughly purée. Stir well so the unblended soup is incorporated into the blended soup.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Very tasty! I added a splash of sherry at the end and a teaspoon of miso. Very Good!
It tastes amazing and my kids love it too!
Hi Lisa, that’s so wonderful to hear that you and your kids loved it :) Thanks for stopping by!
Is there an option to print the recipe? Am I missing it?
That looks delicious! We’re not vegan but try to incorporate vegan and vegetarian dishes into our menu fairly often. We’re empty nesters so a recipe lasts two or three meals at my house.
What bread is that? Do you have a recipe?
First of all, I have to quote my 5 years old daughter. " Mom, it tastes like heaven, can I have some for breakfast tomorrow? " So let’s just say it was a complete success here. My husband and I liked it almost a lot too.
It was easy to put together, just dump all that in and cook! I didn’t have the fresh herbs so I used 2 dried bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of each of the other herbs and it was delicious! Just wanted to let you know.
We are dans here of your recipes and made a lot of them already. Please continue to do so. The flavors are always delicious and complex which I adore!
I meant my husband and I loved it too! No almost at all, we loved it completely!
Aww that’s so sweet to hear that your little one loved it too and even asked for breakfast! You must have trained your daughter well to have a diverse palate :) Good to know that it was delicious with dried herbs too .
Thank you for your kind words and so happy you are enjoying my recipes and all the flavors!
Hi Nisha, thank’s a lot for this soup, I made it today and it turned out really good.I just had one little problem : the wild rice kind of "bled" into the soup witch became almost dark.Did you experience something similar with wild rice ?
Nisha🌈, just made this and it’s sooo delicious!! Only IP for 40 mins, large lima beans 20 min cold soak, came out perfect, wild rice too. Used WF frozen mixed Medley Mushrooms 👍🏻👍🏻, didn’t have fresh thyme or sage so used dried, and i didn’t add the slurry (cause i don’t really like creamy soup) but it’s fab!!! BTW i have you cookbook and 🤎🤎 in particular you lentil recipes and Indian cuisine. TY so much for making me 💖💖 my IP
The final product was great, but my beans were not cooked after following the directions exactly. I had to re-pressurize and cook again (6 minutes initially, then another 10). I think soaking the beans longer would have worked or doing a flash soak with boiling water for 15 minutes, but soaking for 15 minutes with cool water didn’t cut it for me. I could also have added canned beans at the end during the saute portion. I added some roasted garlic at the end and put greens in the bottom of the bowl. Very good!
Hi Samara, I’m glad you enjoyed the soup and roasted garlic and greens sound like a great addition! I’ve come to realize there is some variability in dried beans! Their cook time can vary based on how fresh they, how they’ve been stored, etc. I’ve even bought the same variety of beans from the same store and cooked them exactly the same and they ended up requiring somewhat different cook times. If you try it again, I’d be curious to hear which method you choose!
Nisha this soup is a big hit at my home and a great way to get my hubby to enjoy a vegan meal. Even my Mom approves (she is from Italy). I love the simplicity of the recipe and, most of all, the taste. I tried it with cannellini, pinto and navy beans. The navy beans kind of get lost. The pinto beans made the soup even richer. I have enough left over for only one day. My family loves it and it has become a go-to as long as I have some mushrooms in the fridge
Hi there, so happy to hear that this soup is a hit at home! Good to know that the pinto beans make the soup even richer – I will have to try that myself :) So glad to hear it’s now a go-to recipe. I can’t wait to make it again when I’m back in my kitchen!
Hi Nisha! I absolutely love all your recipes (and your book) and really want to make this today, however I don’t have wild rice on hand. Any other options for a grain?
HI Melissa, I am so happy you love my recipes and book. I appreciate that so much! I haven’t tried this but my best guess would be brown rice since they have fairly similar cook times in the IP. Just keep in mind – the rice will get very soft in this soup!
Have a 3qt Instant and was curious if I needed to half the recipe or do you think it would work as? Know sometimes recipes don’t fill up a 6qt. Would love to try this. The Pumpkin lasagna soup was great and enjoyed the pumpkin mousse from the cookbook. Thanks for any advice
Hey Robin, I don’t have a 3 quart so I can’t say for sure, but I think you’d be better of cutting it in half. There’s 6.5 cups of liquid and then the rice and beans swell up, so I think it might be a bit too voluminous for the three quart. I am so happy you enjoyed the pumpkin lasagna soup and the pumpkin mousse tart – thanks for letting me know!
Nisha, why do you say not to use a “Wild Rice Blend” in this mushroom soup. In the Instapot?
Hi Sharleen, the wild rice blends are made with a mixture of rices, some of which have a lower cook time than true wild rice. So they might get overcooked in the instant pot and turn mushy. I personally have not tried it but that’s my fear and why I recommended against it.
I can’t find cannelini beans can I use Navy beans instead?
Hi, can you freeze this recipe?
Definitely a freezer-friendly recipe :)
Could this be made in a crock pot?
Hi Jenny,
I don’t have a crockpot and haven’t tried it myself, but based on my research, I would cook the soup on low setting/heat for 8 hours. You can also soak the beans in advance to ensure they’re really soft (it also helps with digestion). Hope that helps!
5 out of 5!! I only blended about 1/3 of the soup and probably should have blended more just for a cralmier texture. But the flavor is still delicious and sooo easy to make!
Hi Julie! So happy you love the soup! It really is so easy to make so I’m glad you thought so too :)
I just made this soup in my instant pot and it is fabulous!!! I gave it a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving which added a nice bright note.
I bought your cookbook last week, but this is the first recipe of yours that I have tried (from the blog). Consider me a new fan girl!
Hi Becky! So happy to hear that. A squeeze of lemon juice sounds like a great fresh finish – that’s also my favorite way to finish most soups. I am so happy you are a fangirl hehe. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy my cookbook!
I can’t find how to print this recipe!
Hi Linda! I’m sorry about that! I’ve been trying to add a print button to my blog but Squarespace (where I host my blog) doesn’t make it easy. I am still trying to figure it out, hopefully I can add that function soon!
I also don’t have an instant pot—but I do have a crock pot and this recipe sounds amazing. Do you think it would work to add all ingredients and set on high for 4-6 hours?
Hi Erika, I don’t have a crockpot and haven’t tried it myself, but based on my research, I would cook it on low for 8 hours. You can also soak the beans in advance to ensure they’re really soft (it also helps with digestion). Hope that helps!
Would love to make this but don’t have an instant pot…. might you share tips for cooking in traditional pot on stove?
Hi there,
I haven’t tried it myself, but you’d need to soak the dried cannellini beans first (overnight or 8 hours). Or you can just use canned beans and add them during the last 15-20 minutes of cooking.
Then start by sauteing the aromatics (onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, celery) in some olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot until softened. Add the remaining ingredients (soaked, dried cannelini beans) and simmer for 45-50 minutes until softened. Or add the canned beans for the last 15-20 minutes.
Then add the cornstarch/arrowroot slurry at the end for a few minutes to thicken.
Hope that helps!