Creamy vegan wild rice soup with seitan

Creamy wild rice soup with seitan in bowl by bread.

5 from 7 votes

Creamy vegan wild rice soup with seitan

It doesn't get cozier than seitan chicken and wild rice soup! Packed with onions, garlic, celery, and carrots, it's super satiating. The fragrance of rosemary, thyme, and herbs de Provence lures as it cooks. Plan to make leftovers, because you'll want every last bite!

Don't worry about the long cooking time. Most of it is hands-off while the wild rice hydrates on the stove.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: comfort food, one pot meal, winter food

Servings: people

Calories: 285kcal

Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

Cashew cream

1 cup water
¾ cup raw cashews soaked & drained if necessary

Vegan chicken & wild rice soup

1 teaspoon organic canola oil or your preferred oil
1 medium yellow onion chopped
4 carrots sliced thick
4 celery ribs sliced thick
2 garlic cloves minced
Pinch salt plus more to taste
1 cup wild rice rinsed
1 teaspoon dried rosemary crumbled in fingers
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
Dash pepper
8 cups water
1 Tablespoon Better Than Bouillon no chicken base or your preferred bouillon
2 cups diced seitan chicken in bite-sized pieces (about 11 ounces)
4 leaves curly kale chopped with ribs removed (about 2 big handfuls)

Instructions

For the cashew cream

Put 1 cup of water and ¾ cup of raw cashews in a high speed blender. Blend until completely smooth. (You'll know it's ready when there are no crunching sounds in the blender.)
If you don't have a high speed blender, check out the workarounds for standard blenders in the notes section below.
Set the cashew cream aside for use later in the recipe.

For the soup

Bring a large soup pot or Dutch oven to a medium heat with oil. Add chopped onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt. Saute for several minutes, until the onions are translucent and fragrant.
Add wild rice, rosemary, thyme, herbs de Provence, and pepper. Stir and saute for a couple minutes more.
Add 8 cups of water and Better Than Bouillon no chicken base. Stir and bring to a low simmer.
Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the wild rice is tender. Once the rice can be bitten easily, continue with the recipe.
Add diced chicken seitan, cashew cream, and chopped curly kale. Bring back to a low simmer, and cook for another 10 minutes. This allows the kale to soften, the flavors to meld, and the soup to thicken in creaminess.
Once the soup has thickened a little, add more salt and pepper to taste. Then serve.

Notes

If you don't have a high speed blender to make cashew cream, here are three options for workarounds:

Grind dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder until it becomes like a flour. Add it to the blender with water.
Soak raw cashews in water for several hours. Then drain and add to the blender with fresh water.
Microwave raw cashews in water until hot or cover them in hot water from the stove. Soak for at least 10 minutes. Then drain and add to the blender with fresh water.

I recommend cutting the carrots & celery extra thick for this soup recipe, so that they don’t disintegrate in the long cooking time.

Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator. They will keep for about 4 days. The soup thickens as it cools. So when reheating in the microwave or on the stove, add water until the soup has reached your preferred level of soupiness.

This soup also freezes well. Store in a freezer-proof container or flat in a freezer bag. Then thaw in the refrigerator. (If you're using a microwave safe container, you can thaw using the defrost function on the microwave.)

Reheat on the stove in a soup pot or in the microwave.

Nutrition