Creamy Cauliflower Wild Rice Soup
on Nov 17, 2020, Updated Aug 28, 2024
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This creamy vegan cauliflower wild rice soup is packed with nutrition, easy to make and perfect for warming up on a cold day.
About the Recipe
This incredible cauliflower rice soup has a nutty, cheesy flavour and luxuriously creamy texture with tender bites of cauliflower, carrot and wild rice. The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and soy-free as well as high in protein and low in fat.
You’ll need minimal prep time and about 45 minutes of total cooking time to make it, though it’s faster if you cook the rice in advance.
Enjoy this cozy soup year-round but especially during the fall and winter months. It’s the perfect way to warm up on a cold day and is extra delicious served with a nice piece of bread for dipping.
If you have extra wild rice, try it in this Wild Rice Bowl, Wild Rice Salad or Vegan Mushroom Wild Rice Soup. For more cauliflower soup recipes, this Vegan Broccoli Cauliflower Soup and Cauliflower Sweet Potato Turmeric Soup are delicious.
Ingredients
- Onion: You can use white or yellow onion.
- Stock: You can use any homemade or store-bought vegetable stock or bouillon.
- Nutritional Yeast: This is what makes the recipe “cheesy”. Nutritional yeast is easy to find in well-stocked grocery stores, health food stores or online. If you’re unsure what it is, you can read more about nutritional yeast here.
- Wild Rice: Any wild rice or wild rice blend works. It’s cooked separately from the soup so varied cooking times don’t matter. Since you cook the rice separately and stir it in at the end, any variety of rice or any grain works. If you don’t have wild rice on hand, try brown rice, long-grain white rice, a wild and brown rice blend, bulgur, farro or even quinoa.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
Adjustments
- Potato: Potatoes work well in place of, or in addition to cauliflower for a variation on this recipe. Use an equal amount of peeled, cubed Yukon gold potatoes in place of cauliflower or do half cauliflower and half potato.
- Beans: You can substitute up to half of the cauliflower or wild rice for chickpeas or white beans. Stir the beans in when you add the wild rice.
- Heat: For spicy soup, add up to 1 tsp of cayenne pepper or chili flakes when you add the herbs or add 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper with the veggies at the beginning.
- Thickness: The amount of stock can be reduced or increased to adjust the consistency. If you like your soup very thick, reduce the broth to 4 cups. You can always add more at the end if it’s too thick.
Step-by-Step with Photos
Step 1: Start cooking your wild rice according to the package instructions. Most varieties take about 45 minutes to cook.
Step 2: When you’re ready to start the soup, heat 2 tsp oil in a dutch oven or large soup pot then add the onion, garlic adn celery. If you’re not using oil, add the veggies with 1-2 tbsp water and heat.
Cook them for 5-6 minutes over medium heat until they’re softened then stir in the thyme and oregano and cook for another couple of minutes.
Step 3: Add the cauliflower, carrot and stock and lightly simmer the soup for about 20 minutes until the carrots and cauliflower are nice and tender. Once the veggies are cooked through, stir in the nutritional yeast.
Step 4: Carefully scoop about half of the soup into a blender. Start blending the soup on low then slowly increase to high speed for 10-20 seconds until the soup is smooth and creamy. Make sure you allow the step to escape while you’re blending.
Pour the blended portion back into the pot with the remaining soup.
Quick Tip: You can use an immersion blender directly in the pot if you don’t have a blender. With either method, blend as much or as little of the soup as you like!
Step 5: Finally, stir in the cooked wild rice. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the soup, taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. That’s it! It’s ready to enjoy.
I like to serve the soup with more fresh lemon and thinly sliced scallions.
Storing
- Fridge: Let cool then store in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Let cool then store in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheating: Reheat on the stovetop in a pot or in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until heated through.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to comment section below to leave your star rating and review.
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Creamy Cauliflower Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped celery, 150 g
- 1 medium white onion, diced (approx. 1 1/2 cups, 215 g)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground tyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cups peeled and diced carrots, 300 g
- 4 heaping cups or 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into small florets (450 g)
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, 30 g
- 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice, 250 g
- 1 tsp each sea salt and black pepper, or more to taste
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook the wild rice according to package instructions. While it's cooking, proceed with making the soup.
- Add the onion, garlic and celery a large soup pot with 2 tablespoons of water and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until starting to soften, stirring often (alternatively, you can saute the veggies in 1 tbsp of olive oil). If the pot starts to dry out at any time, add another tablespoon of water.
- Add the thyme and oregano, stir to combine and cook for another 2 minutes until fragrant, stirring frequently.
- Add the cauliflower, carrot and all of the vegetable stock and simmer over medium-low heat until the carrots and cauliflower are tender. This should take approximately 20 minutes.
- Stir in the nutritional yeast.
- Scoop half of the soup into a blender. Make sure you leave a crack in the lid to let the steam escape. Start blending on low then increase to high and blend until smooth and creamy. Once it's blended, pour it back into the soup pot with the rest of the soup. Alternatively, use an immersion blender directly in the pot to blend about half of the soup.
- Stir in the cooked wild rice and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve right away with chopped fresh chives or green onion and lemon wedges.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on February 19, 2018.
Tasted great! I roasted the cauliflower florets for 20 minutes while the rice cooked & the veggies were sautรฉed. It intensified the cauliflower flavors! Thanks!
Great recipe. I made a few substitutions because i didn’t have a few ingredients, but it still came out great. Very filling. Very nutritious. I made a big pot to freeze for lunches. I’m looking forward to eating the rest. ๐
Followed the recipe exactly and it was fantastic! I will definitely make it again. Thanks!