Creamy vegan mushroom soup with lentils and brown rice is cozy and warming.
The flavor is reminiscent of a mushroom stroganoff without the noodles.
With the fragrant addition of rosemary, thyme, garlic, and onions, this soup packs a wallop of homey deliciousness. Vegan & gluten-free.
Cooler days call for a hearty, warming bowl of vegan mushroom soup with lentils & brown rice.
You’ve got to love a full meal in one pot with mushrooms and cashew cream, lentils for protein, and Basmati rice for staying power.
This is the kind of soup that only requires some crackers or a loaf of crusty bread for dipping and nothing else.
Dinner is served.
If you’re a big mushroom fan like I am, you’re going to love this cozy sauna-in-a-bowl.
In this post:
This filling soup includes:
- Cremini or button mushrooms
- French lentils du Puy
- Basmati brown rice
- Onions & garlic
- Rosemary & thyme
- And a mushroom-y cashew cream
For this vegan mushroom soup with lentils, I opt for delicate French lentils du Puy.
They hold their toothsome shape, unlike their brown or red brethren.
Step by step instructions
Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
Make a mushroomy cashew cream in a high speed blender.
Blend the following:
- Raw cashews
- Water
- Miso paste
- Cremini mushrooms
Set aside.
Sauté onions and garlic in a pot with oil, until fragrant.
Add sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt.
Cook a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, while the mushrooms release their liquid and soften.
Then add the following:
- Water
- French lentils du Puy
- Brown rice
- Bouillon
- Dried rosemary
- Dried thyme
- Salt
Stir and bring to a simmer.
Once the liquid has started to simmer, lower heat and cover for 30 minutes.
Add the cashew cream to the pot, stir, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
Add freshly ground pepper and any additional salt to taste.
Standard blender instructions
No high speed blender?
No problem.
Grind dry raw cashews in a coffee grinder until they become a flour.
Then add the cashew flour to your standard blender along with the other cashew cream ingredients (water, miso paste, and mushrooms).
If you don’t have a coffee grinder, you’ll need to soak the raw cashews for a few hours in water to soften them.
Just drain off the soaking liquid before starting the recipe.
Storage & reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
It will keep for about 4 days.
Reheat on the stove in a pot, or in the microwave.
The soup will continue to thicken in the refrigerator. So you’ll need to add a splash of water before reheating.
📖 Recipe
Creamy mushroom soup with lentils and brown rice
Ingredients
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons raw cashews*
- 4 cups water divided
- ½ teaspoon white miso paste
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms or white button mushrooms, divided
- ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ onion chopped (about 1 cup chopped onion)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup French lentils du Puy
- ½ cup basmati brown rice
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube or 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon no chicken base
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, combine raw cashews, ½ cup water, miso paste, and 2 large mushrooms that have been cut into quarters. (Save the remaining mushrooms for the soup.) Once it is fully blended and creamy, set aside for later use.(If you don't have a high-speed blender, see the notes for workarounds.)
- Cut the remaining mushrooms into thin slices and set aside.
- Bring a soup pot to a medium heat with extra virgin olive oil. Saute onion and garlic in the pot for a few minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Continue cooking for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, while the mushrooms release their liquid and soften.
- Add 3 ½ cups water, French lentils du Puy, brown rice, vegetable bouillon cube, dried rosemary, dried thyme, and a pinch more salt. Stir and bring to a simmer. Once the liquid has started to simmer, lower heat and cover for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, test the rice and lentils to make sure they are done. If not, cook for 5 minutes more. Then add the cashew cream to the pot, stir, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
- Add freshly ground pepper and any additional salt to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Content updated October 28, 2022. Originally posted December 18, 2016.
Bianca Phillips
Wow. That looks like my dream soup! I love a good chunky, rice-filled, mushroomy, creamy lentil soup! And it’s so cold here today, so that just looks perfect.
Cadry
Thanks, Bianca! I agree, I’m all about a good, hearty soup, especially when it’s cold outside.
Shannon
I’m admittedly not a mushroom person, but this looks deliciously savory and creamy & I love how you styled the photos! Happy holidays!
Cadry
Thank you, Shannon! That’s really nice to hear. 😀 Happy holidays to you too!
Becky Striepe
Oh my gosh, this looks so good! I love mushroom soup, and adding lentils is genius.
Cadry
Thanks, Becky! Yes, as much as I love a mushroom soup, if I really want it to stick with me, adding something protein-dense like lentils is a must. Plus, lentils and mushrooms play very nicely together.
Dianne's Vegan Kitchen
This looks so warm and hearty – I’m not a big soup person, but I could definitely go for a big bowl of this!
Cadry
Thanks, Dianne! That’s interesting that you’re not much of a soup person. During the winter months, I make a lot of them. They’re like cold weather salads. 😀
Mandy
Oh, my!! This soup sounds so wonderful! Savory, hearty, and comforting – I could definitely live off of this all winter. It looks so thick and delicious!! What a great recipe, Cadry!
Cadry
Thank you, Mandy! It’s definitely an enveloping & cozy soup. 😀
Shell
Our weather makes this a perfect time for a soup like this! It is so warm and cozy.
Cadry
Absolutely! This is soup weather at its finest. 😀
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
This looks so delicious! I’ve been so cold lately and this looks like the exact soup I need! I have all the ingredients in my house so I’m going to make this probably tomorrow!
Cadry
Excellent! I hope you enjoyed it, Mary Ellen. 😀
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
Cadry, you’ve combined all the best ingredients in this soup! I can’t wait to try it.
Cadry
They’re some of my favorite ingredients too! I hope you love it, Amy!
Mel | avirtualvegan.com
One of my favourite meals ever is risotto and this is kind of a soup version which I love! Any excuse to eat more of it and I’m in!
Cadry
Absolutely, this is a lot like risotto. One lovely difference is that you don’t have to wait by the stove and ladle in a little broth at a time. Got to love that!
Sarah
I’m al about the soups right now too! Plus they make the best leftovers! I am LOVING your aqua blue pot—gorgeous!
Cadry
Yes, soup is so great for leftovers! It only gets better as the flavors combine. And thanks for the compliments on the aqua pot. I love it too! It was a gift from my best friend.
Ginny
This looks like the best meal. I would love to have it for lunch in this cooler weather too.
Cadry
Thanks, Ginny! Nothing comforts quite like a hot, steamy bowl of soup.
Sarah Kate
I am about to make this delicious soup for the third time. It’s so, so good! Hearty and delicious! Thank you fir the great recipe 🙂
Cadry
Yay!! I’m so glad to hear that, Sarah. Thanks for letting me know!
in2insight
Made this last night and Wow!
Such wonderful and complex flavours from this easy to make soup.
Ended up making in the iPot at 20 min and natural release, adding the cashew cream once that was done and let sit for 5 min.
Looking forward to having leftovers for lunch.
Cadry
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! Thank you for letting me know that the recipe works in an Instant Pot. I updated the recipe with your directions for others who also use them.
Kennedy
How do you make it without the miso and cashew?
Cadry
You can easily omit the miso paste. That’s no problem. It adds some saltiness and umami, but it’s not essential. The cashews are trickier, because they’re what gives the soup creaminess. If you just left out the cashews, you’d have a brothy soup. It’s that creaminess that makes it kind of magical. You could try using some kind of non-dairy creamer instead… But I’d probably recommend just making a different soup. This double lentil mushroom barley soup is very nice, and it doesn’t include cashews or miso paste.
Kate Bowden
This popped up on my Pinterest and it looks amazing! Just wondering if you thought that replacing the cashews (nut allergy) with sunflower seed would work. I looked up good replacements for cashews and apparently sunflower seeds is a good one if creamy results are wanted.
Thanks!
Cadry
Thank you, Kate! I haven’t tried it with sunflower seeds, but it’s worth a shot. I’ve heard really good things about Isa Moskowitz’s sunflower seed-based mac and cheese. So it seems like it would work! Let me know if you try it!
Kate Bowden
Thanks so much for the quick reply!
It has 3 of my favourite things in it (mushrooms, lentils and rice) so I think I will try it this weekend and report back.
Cadry
Excellent, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it works out!
HEATHER
I made this recipe today – well my version of it because that’s how I cook – and it was super delicious!
I used twice the amount of mushrooms (baby bellos) and skipped the cashews because I didn’t have any. After the cooking was done I put half of the soup in my Vitamix with some pine nuts and blended it to a silky-cream consistency and added it back to the pot. Oh yeah, I added sherry and lots of fresh garlic when I sauteed the mushrooms and onion. Thank you for the recipe!
Cadry
Those sound like delicious substitutions and changes, Heather! That’s the beautiful thing about cooking. You can easily tweak a recipe to fit your preferences & availability. I’m glad you enjoyed the soup!
Robin
What a great soup! I love the cashew cream. I made it in an Instant Pot, high pressure for 12 minutes with a natural pressure release, which I found to be plenty 😉
Cadry
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup, Robin. I agree that cashew cream is a pretty magical ingredient. And thanks for the info on how to make this soup using the Instant Pot. I’m sure other IP users will appreciate that! 🙂
Kathy
This soup is fantastic. I saw the post earlier in the week and since we are having a chilly weekend and I miraculously had (almost) all the ingredients I gave it a whirl. So much mushroom flavor! Will definitely be making this on the regular during cooler months. I made a few substitutions: no rosemary in the house so subbed with freeze-dried parsley. Used Better than Bouillon Mushroom base instead of the other bouillon options, and used Lundberg Wild Blend rice. Other than that, followed the recipe to a T as far as ingredients and time. Eating it as I type. YUM.
Cadry Nelson
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kathy!