Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup

How to make wild rice soup in an Instant Pot

This wild rice soup recipe is a bit different than most. First of all, it’s made in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot! Alex and I wanted to try making a soup in our Instant Pot. To date, we had only made Instant Pot basics like rice, dried beans, sweet potatoes, etc. But, we wanted to try a soup recipe. We decided on wild rice soup because wild rice typically takes so long to cook on the stovetop. Also, we decided to create this wild rice soup without using meat or dairy, so it’s naturally creamy!

To make this wild rice soup recipe, you use the Saute mode on the Instant Pot. Saute up the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and mushrooms, then add the remainder of the ingredients and pressure cook. And while the soup is cooking, some cashews are also left out to soak. Once the soup is done, you’ll blend together the cashews with some of the soup to create a naturally creamy base without cream. That makes this wild rice soup recipe vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free! Everyone we’ve served it to positively raves about it: it’s the perfect cozy fall dinner.

A wild rice soup with dried beans

For this wild rice soup recipe, we’ve used dried white beans in the Instant Pot. In a normal stovetop soup recipe, you would typically use canned or already cooked beans and add them to the soup. Because the wild rice takes so long to cook already, Alex decided to add dried white beans to this wild rice soup recipe because they’re cheaper and taste even better than canned. Beans cooked from dried often hold up better in soups as well. The white beans also add a filling protein to the soup.

Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup Recipe

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 (46 votes, average: 4.26 out of 5)

•  Prep Time: 15 minutes
•  Cook Time: 1 hour
•  Yield: 8 servings 1x

DESCRIPTION

This Instant Pot wild rice soup recipe is cozy and naturally creamy, so it’s a 100% plant based dinner. Serve with crusty bread. (Alternate stovetop instructions are below.)

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INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup raw or roasted cashews*
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 4 medium carrots
• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup wild rice (not a wild rice blend)
• 1 cup dried great northern white beans (not canned! The Instant Pot will cook the dry beans)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, tamari, or liquid aminos

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the cashews in a bowl and cover them with water. Leave them to soak while you make the recipe.
2. Dice the onion. Thinly slice the celery. Cut the carrot into rounds. Slice the mushrooms. Mince the garlic.
3. Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn on Saute mode. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and oregano and stir for 2 minutes.
4. Add the broth, wild rice, dried white beans, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and black pepper. Lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Place the pressure release handle (vent) in the “Sealing” position.
5. Cook on High Pressure for 45 minutes: Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. Note that it takes about 5 to 10 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
6. Quick release: Vent the remaining steam from the Instant Pot by moving the pressure release handle to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. Open the pressure cooker lid. Taste a bean to see if it is tender (bean brands can vary). If not, cook on High Pressure for another 5 minutes and do a quick release.
7. Using a liquid measuring cup, carefully remove 2 cups of the hot soup (including the broth, veggies and rice) to a blender. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender with the dried sage. Blend on high for about 1 minute until creamy. Then pour back into the soup.
8. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and the soy sauce. Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh ground pepper.