Years ago in Chicago, I used to frequent this great little carryout spot called the SoupBox. They served 12 homemade soups every day and one of my favorite orders was their Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice soup in a bread bowl. In a city where you’re wearing a scarf for at least 8 months out of the year, a place like the SoupBox was a girl’s best friend.
I’ve always wanted to create a “plantiful” version of that soup in all it’s hearty glory and I think I’ve done it. I’m also experimenting and perfecting some plant-based, gluten-free baking recipes to share with you, so you’ll see that I have an actual bread bowl to serve my soup in!
If you are interested in the bread bowl recipe, check out the Gluten-Free Baking Academy’s Gluten-Free Bread Baking Course
Tools:
Large soup pot
Chef’s knife
Blender
Make about 14 servings of soup, so split the recipe if you want less, or freeze some for future dinners.
Ingredients:
Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.
1 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 bay leaf
12 cups veggie stock (make your own)
3 cups cooked chickpeas, start with 1 cup dry (how to soak and cook)
1 1/2 cups wild rice (short- or long-grain)
1/2 cup cashews, soaked
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
1 1/2 tsp fine-ground sea salt or more to taste (use applewood smoked for extra flavor)
1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper to taste
1/2 small, fresh lemon
Let’s get started.
1. Place onion, celery and carrot in a large pot with coconut oil. Warm to medium-high and stir together for 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic, thyme, sage and bay leaf to pot with veggies and stir together for 3 minutes.
3. Add veggie stock, chickpeas, and wild rice to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until rice is tender.
4. Using a ladle, scoop out 1 cup broth and transfer to the blender. Add one more scoop of soup to blender, with veggies and chickpeas (be sure the bay leaf isn’t in this scoop). Add cashews…
… and blend together until you get a nice, creamy purée.
Add back into soup.
5. Now, season with salt, pepper and liquid smoke if you like. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and serve warm.
Note: This soup gets better and better each day that the flavors can infuse together. It can be made up to 4 days in advance. Store in an airtight, glass container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Now, I want to hear from YU. What do you think of this recipe? Tell us with a comment below.
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This soup turned out really good and really comforting! Your ingredient list was missing the amounts of lemon juice and lemon zest so I just guessed on that. To have soup in a bread bowl again sounds so dreamy! I can’t wait to see what you come up with! My pre gluten free days I lived off of the Atlanta Bread Company’s soup and bread bowls.
Excited for leftovers this week!
This soup looks delicious. I can’t wait to try it. I’ll let you know how it turned out.
🙂
This soup was incredible! I can’t wait to have a fun family dinner party and make another batch of this delightful and hearty soup! I am brand new to a primarily plant based way of eating and it is so inspiring to find wonderful recipes like yours that keep me going AND ones that my picky kids enjoy as well! Thank you!
This is wonderful Lauren, thank you! So happy..
can brown rice be used instead of wild rice and it still turn out the same
You can definitely try brown rice instead—let us know how it works for YU 😉
How much lemon juice and zest did you use?
Was adding lemon juice and zest a typo? If not, how much should I use?
Yes! I updated the recipe, thanks Rose 😉
Your Creamy Chickpea soup with Wild Rice is unbelievable. I love everything about it! Thank you so much for sharing gluten-free, tomato free, meat and dairy free recipes like this one. Is is so delicious! The creamy cashew idea is fantastic!
Thanks so much Julia! x
This recipe is super delicious and will be making it again and again! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy! It’s a fave in my house, too 🙂
This looks amazing! I have a severe nut allergy so wondering if there is an alternative for the cashews? Im guessing they add the creamy element?
Hi Rebecca,
Yes, the cashews make it creamy… you can always skip them, or try substituting with sunflower seeds, roasted potato, cauliflower, or canned coconut milk instead of cashews! Let us know what you try and what works! x
This recipe is amazing. The flavour combination really rocks your tastebuds and the overall soup recipe is like a really warm hug on a cold day. I highly recommend this recipe and would serve it next time I have guests over!
P.s. I prefer eating this recipe the next day as the rice/quinoa (I added in a bit of quinoa) suck up more broth and it becomes more stew like than a runny soup.
So happy you love it and will share with friends! 😀
This Creamy Chickpea and Wild Rice Recipe was absolutely delicious! I love chickpeas but have very seldom made wild rice – and never in a soup. Perfect combination added with all the vegetables and flavors – a new favorite! Thank you for publishing this recipe. We also loved it the next day for lunches.
I’m so happy you like this one, Julia! x
YUM! I added a little lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice to each serving and it reminds me of Avgholemono (sp?), which I love and miss!