Vegan Rice Soup

White bean rice soup is the perfect comfort food, ready in just 30 minutes and packed with flavor! This vegan rice soup can be made on the stovetop or in the instant pot for a hearty, filling and easy meal anytime! This budget friendly recipe is also great as leftovers during the week or can be frozen for later.

Why you will love this recipe

• Easy to find ingredients – you likely already have all the ingredients you need to make this soup in your fridge or pantry! The ingredients are very versatile too, check out the substitutions section for ideas on how you can substitute if you are out of ingredients. This soup is naturally gluten free, vegan, plant based and dairy free!
• One pot and 30 minutes – Comfort food in under 30 minutes! And most of that time is hands off! Even better you only have to dirty one pot! Serve this soup with your favorite salad or a slice of crusty bread or crackers for a simple but hearty meal!
• Leftovers are great for lunch the next day- the flavor of the soup is even better the next day! However the rice will continue to absorb liquid as it sits in the fridge overnight. Be sure to add more broth before packing it up for lunch!

Ingredients

• Mirepoix: carrots, celery and onion – these add so much flavor and are the base of most great soup recipes! These are budget friendly and easy to find at any grocery store.
• Spices: Dried thyme, dried parsley garlic powder, salt, ground sage – these spices help to create that comfort food flavor. You could also use poultry seasoning + garlic powder and salt.
• Bay leaf (optional) – these help give the soup more flavor but are not necessary.
• Coconut aminos (or soy sauce) – this helps deepen the flavor of the broth and really increases the umami of the broth.
• Vegetable broth – you can use vegetable broth, vegetable stock or even chicken broth/stock if you are not vegan/plant based. Using a vegetable broth as the base of the soup helps to give the soup so much flavor and makes it taste like it was cooking all day long.
• Water – water is used to account for the rice cooking and ensure that the soup has lots of liquid. You could use all broth but the water is a great budget friendly option.
• Basmati or jasmine rice – you can use white or brown basmati or jasmine rice. These are quick cooking and so tender when they cook. You could use regular white rice but I do not recommend regular brown rice, as it takes almost double the cooking time.
• White beans – use any white bean you have on hand, you can even use chickpeas! The white beans add protein and fiber and are budget friendly.

How to make vegan rice soup

Start by chopping and slicing the veggies – cut the onions, celery and carrots into small pieces that will fit on your spoon easily. Tip if you are short on time, you can use your food processor to quickly process your veggies.

Place a large pot over medium heat. Spray it with avocado oil spray or olive oil spray and add the chopped veggies. Cook 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

After 3-4 minutes, add the spices, bay leaves and coconut aminos. Cook another 3-4 minutes until the veggies are starting to soften and the onions become translucent.

While the veggies cook, rinse off the rice using a fine mesh strainer. You want to try to get off all the excess starch. White rice (especially jasmine and basmati) will have a lot of starch to release so rinse it well.

Add about ½ cup of the vegetable broth and scrape down the pot to ensure that you get all the brown bits off the bottom/sides of the pot.

Add the rest of the broth, water and rinsed rice.

Turn the heat up to high and cover the pot. Bring the soup to a boil then immediately turn it down to low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, rinse and drain the white beans. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the white beans and stir, putting the lid back on immediately.

Be sure to remove the bay leaves before serving. Serve hot with your favorite salad, crusty slice of bread or crunchy cracker.

How to make instant pot vegan rice soup

1. Finely chop the vegetables.
2. Turn the instant pot onto saute function. Spray the instant pot with avocado oil or olive oil spray. Add the veggies to the instant pot and saute 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the spices, bay leaves and coconut aminos. Cook 1-2 more minutes.
4. While the veggies cook, rinse the rice with a mesh strainer.
5. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and scrape down the bottom of the instant pot.
6. Add the rest of the broth, water and rice to the instant pot.
7. Put the lid on the top and cook high pressure for 3 minutes.
8. Rinse and drain the white beans while the soup cooks.
9. Allow the instant pot to naturally release at least 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you can manually release the pressure or allow it to naturally release.
10. Add the white beans and remove the bay leaves.
11. Serve hot.

Top tips

• This recipe is pretty versatile and you can really add in whatever veggies you have on hand to make this more filling. Frozen peas, frozen green beans, frozen cauliflower rice, zucchini, spinach, or kale would all be great additions.
• If you know you will be serving most of this recipe as leftovers, you may decide to cook the rice separate from the soup. This will help keep the rice from absorbing the broth as it sits in the fridge. Simply add a large scoop of rice to the bottom of the bowl and add broth over the rice. Stir well and you will have an equally flavorful soup.
• If you decide to cook the rice in the soup and still have leftovers, be sure to add more broth or water to the soup before reheating it. The rice will absorb most of the broth making it packed with flavor but a very thick soup, almost like a stew instead of soup.

What to serve with this soup

The soup is pretty filling since it has white beans and rice but it really pairs well with a simple salad or a crusty slice of bread or crackers. Here are some great side dishes to go with vegan rice soup:

• Almond flax crackers or Simple seed crackers
• Crucificerous Crunch Salad or Crunchy Broccoli Salad
• Air fryer sweet potato wedges or air fryer carrot fries
• Almond flour corn bread

What kind of white beans to use

Adding white beans to this rice soup helps to make it more filling with the addition of more fiber and protein from the beans. You can use any white bean you have on hand. Some great options include:

• Cannellini beans
• Great northern white beans
• Chickpeas
• Lima beans (large or small)
• Navy beans
• Lentils

Storing leftovers

• Fridge – you can store this soup in a air-tight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Be sure to add more broth or water to the soup to get the consistency of the soup you prefer, as the rice will soak up most of the liquid overnight.
• Freezer – transfer the soup to a freezer safe container after allowing the soup to cool to room temperature. If you can freeze it the same day, you won’t have to worry about the rice absorbing the liquid overnight. I like to use Soupercubes to freeze soup into 1 or 2 cup portions. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Be sure to label the bag with the name of the recipe, freeze date and use by date.
  • To reheat from frozen, add the frozen soup to a pot with a lid. Add about ¼- ½ cup of water or broth and heat over medium low heat covered. Cook 5-10 minutes until defrosted and hot.

Substitutions

• Miropoix vegetables – if you don’t have any of the veggies, you can simply leave them out of the soup. You could add leeks or green onion in place of the onion. I have also replaced the onion with 2 tablespoons of dried chives as well. If you don’t have carrot, you could add parsnip or even sweet potatoes for a touch of sweetness. If you don’t have celery, you could add 1 zucchini in place of the celery or omit it completely.
• Spices – If you don’t have the spices or want to take a short cut, you can instead use 2 tsp. of poultry seasoning + 1 tsp. garlic powder + 1 teaspoon salt. The dried thyme, parsley and ground sage will be replaced by the poultry seasoning. If you don’t have poultry seasoning, you can substitute the dried spices with herbs de provence or Italian seasoning.
• Coconut aminos – you can use soy sauce or gluten free tamari in place of the coconut aminos or you can just omit it if you don’t have it on hand.
• Vegetable broth or stock – you can use store bought or homemade vegetable broth or instead use chicken broth or chicken stock if you aren’t vegan, vegetarian or plant based.
• Jasmine or basmati white rice – you could also use brown jasmine or brown basmati rice or you can use white rice or arborio rice in place of the jasmine or basmati rice. Brown rice takes too long to cook and the veggies could get too soft.
• White beans – you can also use cooked lentils, kidney beans or pinto beans in place of the white beans or you could add cooked chicken for a non-vegan version.

If you love this recipe, you should try

• Brown Rice Lentil Soup
• Greek Chickpea Soup
• Instant Pot White Bean Soup
• Mexican White Bean Soup
• Vegan Mushroom Soup
• Vegan Gnocchi Soup
• Spicy White Bean Soup

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Vegan Rice Soup

$4.88 Recipe/$1.22 Serving

Vegan rice soup is easy to make and ready in just 30 minutes. This one pot soup is budget friendly, plant based and gluten free!

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vegan rice soup, white bean rice soup

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Author: Samantha Rowland

Ingredients

• 4 large celery stalks - $0.50
• 3 large carrots - $0.22
• 1 medium white onion - $0.33
• 1 tsp dried thyme - $0.10
• 1 tsp dried parsley - $0.10
• 1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
• 1 tsp sea salt - $0.05
• 1/2 tsp ground sage - $0.05
• 2 medium bay leaves, dried - $0.20
• 1 tbsp coconut aminos - $0.18
• 4 cups vegetable broth - $1.99
• 2 cups water - $0.00
• 2/3 cup white jasmine or basmati rice - $0.27
• 1 can white beans (15 oz. can) - $0.99

Instructions

• Dice or chop the veggies into bite size pieces.
• Add large pot to stove and turn on medium heat. Spray the bottom of the pot with avocado oil or olive oil spray. Add veggies.
• Cook the veggies 3-4 minutes.
• After 3-4 minutes, add spices, bay leaf and coconut aminos. Stir and cook 1-2 more minutes.
• While veggies are cooking, rinse the rice well.
• Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and scrape the bottom/side of the pot removing any brown bits from the bottom.
• Add the rest of the broth, water and rice to the pot. Stir and cover. Turn the heat up to high.
• Once the soup comes up to a boil, turn down the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
• While the soup is cooking, rinse and drain the white beans. And add them to the soup.
• Right before serving, remove the bay leaves. Serve hot.

Notes

Instant Pot Directions

1. Finely chop the vegetables.
2. Turn the instant pot onto saute function. Spray the instant pot with avocado oil or olive oil spray. Add the veggies to the instant pot and saute 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the spices, bay leaves and coconut aminos. Cook 1-2 more minutes.
4. While the veggies cook, rinse the rice with a mesh strainer.
5. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and scrape down the bottom of the instant pot.
6. Add the rest of the broth, water and rice to the instant pot.
7. Put the lid on the top and cook high pressure for 3 minutes.
8. Rinse and drain the white beans while the soup cooks.
9. Allow the instant pot to naturally release at least 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you can manually release the pressure or allow it to naturally release.
10. Add the white beans and remove the bay leaves.
11. Serve hot.

Top tips

• This recipe is pretty versatile and you can really add in whatever veggies you have on hand to make this more filling. Frozen peas, frozen green beans, frozen cauliflower rice, zucchini, spinach, or kale would all be great additions.
• If you know you will be serving most of this recipe as leftovers, you may decide to cook the rice separate from the soup. This will help keep the rice from absorbing the broth as it sits in the fridge. Simply add a large scoop of rice to the bottom of the bowl and add broth over the rice. Stir well and you will have an equally flavorful soup.
• If you decide to cook the rice in the soup and still have leftovers, be sure to add more broth or water to the soup before reheating it. The rice will absorb most of the broth making it packed with flavor but a very thick soup, almost like a stew instead of soup.

Storing leftovers

• Fridge – you can store this soup in a air-tight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Be sure to add more broth or water to the soup to get the consistency of the soup you prefer, as the rice will soak up most of the liquid overnight.
• Freezer – transfer the soup to a freezer safe container after allowing the soup to cool to room temperature. If you can freeze it the same day, you won’t have to worry about the rice absorbing the liquid overnight. I like to use Soupercubes to freeze soup into 1 or 2 cup portions. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Be sure to label the bag with the name of the recipe, freeze date and use by date.
• To reheat from frozen, add the frozen soup to a pot with a lid. Add about ¼- ½ cup of water or broth and heat over medium low heat covered. Cook 5-10 minutes until defrosted and hot.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Amount per Serving

Calories

288

Fat

 

2

g

Carbohydrates

 

54

g

Fiber

 

8

g

Sugar

 

5

g

Protein

 

14

g

Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.

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