Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with mushrooms and spinach- a healthy vegetarian soup recipe that is easy, fast, and vegan adaptable! Gluten-free.
Hey friends, if you are like me, you probably have some wild rice hiding out in your pantry along with a hundred other things. Here is an easy recipe for Wild Rice Soup, made even easier in the Instant Pot. It’s kept vegetarian and loaded up with mushrooms, with a couple of handfuls of fresh baby spinach, tossed in right at the end.
Creamy and earthy, this is a stick to your ribs kind of soup, and vegans will have an easy way of adapting it. And of course, you can make this on the stovetop, just go to the recipe notes.
Because wild rice takes about 45 minutes on the stovetop, I really do like using the Instant Pot for this recipe.
We kept the soup pretty basic, with simple ingredients you most likely have, but what I love about this recipe is how you can just as easily toss in other veggies to the mix.
Veggies like fennel bulb, parsnips or other root veggies would work well here too. Comb through your fridge and see what you have.
How to make Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup (see full recipe below):
- The essential step to getting the most flavor is browning the onions and garlic in the instant pot, but after that, you are basically good to go.
- Add the remaining ingredients, pressure cook on high for 24 minutes, then stir in the creamy component, in this case, sour cream (or coconut cream or cashew cream).
- Right before serving toss in the fresh baby spinach.
No need to make a roux here with butter and flour, we are simplifying it with the sour cream.
Creamy delicious, goodness.
More recipes you may like:
- Instant Pot Chicken Artichoke Soup with Wild Rice
- Instant Pot Risotto!
- Our 25 Best Instant Pot Recipes | Easy Pressure Cooker Meals
- 25 Delicious Vegetarian & Vegan Soup Recipes
- Creamy Mushroom Soup
On the homefront: Many of us have been experiencing a little cabin fever as of late, myself included. The days are short and nights are long. By the time 5 pm rolls around, it feels like it should be bedtime. I miss being able to go out to dinner, and see friends if only to break up the week a little – I’m feeling a little stir-crazy. Anyone else? 😉
The thing that helps me most besides getting outdoors, is finding a way to be creative in some small simple way. Cooking and baking does this for me. It’s surprising how much satisfaction this brings, and thankfully Brian doesn’t mind too much either. Somehow cookie baking seems perfectly reasonable this time of year- if only for the pure act of it.
Hope you enjoy this simple Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach – a simple weeknight dinner that is easy to put together. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
xoxo
Sylvia
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Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: vegetarian soup
- Method: instant pot, stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with mushrooms and spinach- a healthy vegetarian soup recipe that is easy, fast and vegan adaptable! Gluten-free! (Inspired from Pinch of Yum)
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter or ghee)
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 16 ounces mushrooms, sliced (cremini, button, portobellos)
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
- 3–4 cups carrots, chopped large
- 3–4 cups celery, chopped
- 4 cups veggie broth (or 4 cups water plus 2–3 teaspoons veggie bouillon)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme ( or 1 teaspoon dry thyme)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
- pinch cayenne, optional
- 1/8–1/4 teaspoon turmeric, for a golden color.
- ————
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or sub coconut milk, or cashew cream-see notes)
- 4 cups baby spinach, chopped (optional)
- Optional Garnishes: chopped flatleaf parsley and parmesan or try Gremolata or Arugula Pesto
Instructions
Set Instant Pot to Saute Function and add the oil and onions and mushrooms, stirring for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant. Cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, then cook a couple more minutes until the liquid cooks off, and mushrooms begin to brown. Add the garlic, saute 1-2 minutes.
While the mushrooms are cooking, chop the carrots and celery. When the onions and mushrooms soften add the rice and saute for one minute. At this point, you could deglaze with white wine, scraping up any browned bits if the pan seems dry, (or skip it), and then cook this off for 1-2 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery, veggie broth, water, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper, cayenne and turmeric. Give a good stir, again, scraping up any browned bits.
Set Instant Pot to High for 24 minutes. Naturally release, for 10 minutes, then manually release.
Stir in the sour cream (or coconut milk or cashew cream), and taste, adjusting for salt and pepper.
***If going the vegan route– keep in mind, sour cream adds a nice tanginess- which you can replicate by adding a few drops of lemon juice or AC vinegar to the soup to brighten it up.
Stir in the fresh chopped spinach just before serving.
Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of fresh Italian parsley, parmesan or other optional garnishes.
Notes
Cashew cream: Blend 1/2 cup soaked cashews with 1/2 cup water until smooth and creamy. (If no time to soak, simmer cashews in boiling water 10-15 minutes before straining and blending.) You may not need all the Cashew cream in the soup – so add incrementally to taste. Add a few drops lemon juice or AC vinegar.
Stovetop Version: In a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pot, saute onions and garlic until golden. Add mushrooms, release their liquid and begin to caramelize. This will take a little time. Add the rice and saute for one minute. Add the wine if using and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Add the remaining ingredients- carrots, celery, veggie broth, water, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper and turmeric. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently on low heat until the rice is tender about 35-45 minutes. Stir in the sour cream or vegan alternative. Taste, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
If your soup lacks depth or flavor- it is most likely your veggie stock-try adding another bouillon cube, more salt or even a little miso paste. 😉
Keywords: wild rice soup, instant pot wild rice soup, vegetarian wild rice soup, gluten free wild rice soup, healthy wild rice soup, wild rice soup with mushrooms,
This was another winner Sylvia. I followed the recipe except I omitted the turmeric since my husband does not like it.☹️ I also added a teaspoon of cayenne which must be more than a pinch because it came out with a little kick. I loved it still but it was too spicy for everyone else. On the other hand, I may be an evil genius and did it so I could eat all myself. Very flavorful and easy to make. Oh I also didn’t need the wine to deglaze, there was still some moisture from the mushrooms even though I did cook the a few extra minutes,
★★★★★
thanks Mimi!
This was delicious! My only issue was, the mushrooms produced so much water in the sauté stage that they weren’t really able to sauté, but rather steam/stew. Likewise, with the deglazing option, there was so much liquid at that point that there was nothing to deglaze. I found this affected the texture of the mushrooms, making them rather chewy. Did I do something wrong? The size of the instant pot plus the amount of mushrooms seems doomed to produce this result, but I see no one else had this problem! Either way, we enjoyed the flavors very much. Thank you! 🙂
I hear you, and I adjusted the recipe. Yes, it can be difficult to get that lovely browning in an instant pot- you just need to let it go a bit longer, so liquid gets cooked off first. I made the instructions more clear. 🙂
Thank you! That’s so helpful to know. 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Sylvia I would really like to make your recipe but I cannot get wild rice can you please suggest an alternative thanks in advance.
I bet other whole grain rice would work- would need to shorten cooking time though.
This is delicious! I have made it several times and hate sharing it with the family 😉
★★★★★
Haha!
This was so delicious! Great recipe! I did not have sour cream but I used Greek yogurt instead.. it’s a keeper👍👌
★★★★★
If I double the recipe, does that affect the Instant Pot cooking time? Thank you very much.
Theoretically no. But I haven’t tried doubling. 🙂 I might add 1 minute.
Will try that. Thank you.
I’m curious about the rice you used here – the recipe calls for wild rice, but the photo looks like white or brown rice. I know that sometimes it’s sold as a mix of wild rice and another (cheaper) rice. What do you recommend? Thanks!
I used Lundberg wild rice “blend”. I will add a link to the rice in the post.:)
This was incredible – I am not the greatest cook and everything I make is a bit bland but this tasted outstanding! Thank you so much
★★★★★
This recipe was so easy and tasty. The wild rice add the perfect texture. Got rave reviews from my husband and in-laws. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Loved this soup! Very hearty. My family enjoyed it. Thank you!
★★★★★
This sounds wonderful, and I am making it tonight!
Is the 3-4 cups of both celery and carrots correct, or did you mean 3/4 C or 3-4 stalks of celery and 3-4 carrots? That seems like a lot!
It is correct. Yes, it seems a lot.
Thank you! This was delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you! It was delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Loved the flavors and texture of the recipe. I substituted vegan sour cream and cashew cheese to get the consistency I needed. It needed to get whisked in because it separated a bit. Very hearty and make it in one hour on the stovetop. Love all your recipes!
★★★★★