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This right here is my idea of comfort food. This hearty vegetable and wild rice soup has all the essentials: root vegetables, greens, beans, grains, and spices. It’s packed with protein from the beans, kale, and wild rice and loaded with nutrients from the veggies and spices. Most of the vegetables in this soup are root vegetables, which are all cool-weather crops, making this the perfect soup to enjoy during the cold season, and a great way to give your immune system a good boost!
Below is a step-by-step guide to making this hearty soup, with a full recipe summary and measurements at the bottom of the page.
Here’s an informational list of the ingredients you’ll need to prepare this vegetable and wild rice soup:
- Onion: White or yellow onions will work best for this recipe. I typically use sweet yellow because I enjoy their milder flavor. Onions are rich in antioxidants and other compounds that help to fight against disease and cancer.
- Celery: This crunchy vegetable is also rich in antioxidants such as flavonoids and vitamin C, which have amazing anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties.
- Carrots: This common vegetable is a great source of vitamins and nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin K, calcium and beta-carotene, which is found in many orange fruits and vegetables and supports immune health and eye health.
- Garlic: Aside from the incredible flavor garlic adds, it also has major health benefits and strong anti-inflammatory properties that can protect you from illness and disease.
- Parsley: This flavorful herb is a rich source of Vitamin K and helps to support bone growth and fight against osteoporosis.
- Mushrooms: I typically use Baby Bellas when cooking with mushrooms, but again, any kind will do. Mushrooms are another good source of vitamins, protein and antioxidants.
- Potatoes: Yukon golds are my go-to for soup potatoes, but whatever kind you prefer or have on hand will taste just fine.
- Kale: This cruciferous vegetable is so unbelievably good for your body that it truly deserves an award. While it may not be everyone’s favorite, kale has one of the highest nutrient densities of any other vegetable out there. It’s rich in antioxidants and vitamins and helps to lower cholesterol and fight against cancer and heart disease.
- Green beans: For this recipe, I used canned. Although, fresh would be even better! Green beans contain a large variety of vitamins to aid in protection against disease as well as calcium, which helps keep bones strong.
- Chickpeas: Aka garbanzo beans. Same thing. These, along with the white beans, are packed with protein and fiber and other essential vitamins.
- Cannellini beans: Cannellini or white navy beans both work fine for this recipe. I’ve used both and can’t tell much of a difference.
- Vegetable broth: Vegetable stock, broth, or bouillon will work equally fine.
- Wild Rice: This impressive grain is a wonderful source of protein and fiber, as well as being full of other nutrients such as manganese, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. It’s also high in antioxidants and helps to reduce heart disease and other illnesses.
- Garlic powder, Onion powder, Dried bay leaf, Crushed red pepper, Thyme, Salt/pepper: According to NutritonFacts.org, spices offer a wide range of benefits and are known to improve health issues such as cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and they can even be mood boosters! Therefore, it’s important to include at least a small amount of herbs and spices in your daily diet.
Pro tip: I always try to buy my produce and herbs from the local farmer’s market because the quality of flavor makes a huge difference! Plus I love to support my community and the environment, and you can’t beat the piece of mind of knowing exactly where your food comes from. I encourage you to check out your local farms (if you haven’t already) and see what they have to offer!
Step 1:
Gather your ingredients and start chopping! You’ll need to mince the garlic and chop the onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, parsley, and kale.
Step 2:
First, we’ll sauté the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery with the spices for a few minutes. Once the veggies start to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a small amount of vegetable broth to deglaze and scrape all those bits of flavor off the bottom.
Pro tip: Sauteing the veggies and dried herbs really intensifies the flavor of the soup by reawakening the herbs and maximizing their rich depth of flavor.
Step 3:
Once the veggies start to become translucent, add the remaining vegetable broth, potatoes, mushrooms, parsley, beans, and wild rice. Pressure cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
Step 4:
After the soup has cooked and the pressure has released, add the kale and turn the pressure cooker off. After a minute or two, once the kale has wilted, it’s ready to serve!
That’s all there is to it! You can store this soup in the fridge for up to 7 days, or even freeze it to enjoy in the future. If you try this recipe and enjoy it, share it with a friend and comment down below. I always love to hear your feedback!
Don’t own a pressure cooker?
Don’t worry! You can always cook this on the stove or use a slow cooker, it will just some extra time. Using a pressure cooker is a great time saver and also allows your food to retain a lot of it’s vitamins and nutrients, whereas cooking in open containers with exposure to oxygen can lead to a loss of nutrients and flavor. I literally use my Instant Pot almost every single day and highly recommend investing in one to save yourself some time and energy! Here’s a link to the one I have been using for years: https://amzn.to/3z1656A
Hearty Vegetable and Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker (Stove top instructions in recipe notes below)
Ingredients
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 3 carrots diced
- 4 mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups kale chopped
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice
- 15 oz. can chickpeas drained, rinsed
- 15 oz. can cannellini beans drained, rinsed
- 15 oz. can green beans drained, rinsed
- 12 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Add garlic, celery, onion, carrots, and seasonings to pressure cooker and sauté for 7 mins, or until veggies are fragrant and translucent. Add a splash of vegetable broth to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the mushrooms, potatoes, parsley, chickpeas, cannellini beans, green beans, wild rice, and vegetable broth.
- Pressure cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add kale.
