A Vegan Mushroom Rice Casserole that's not only delicious and nutritious, it takes 15 minutes to assemble, and needs just one pot. A great weeknight option that'll leave your family licking their fingers. A soy-free recipe, can be gluten-free.
We love rice in our home, and when it is creamy, gooey and filled with flavor from mushrooms and leeks and fresh herbs, it goes down doubly well.
This creamy and vegan Mushroom Rice Casserole has become one of my favorite go-to recipes for weeknights. It needs a minimum of chopping and prepping and I use frozen mushrooms and dry wild mushrooms to add texture and flavor (fresh mushrooms work too, follow instructions below). Leeks form a delicious, oniony base along with garlic, and all of it bakes up in a creamy, decadent cashew sauce spiked with cheesy nutritional yeast.
It is really difficult to mess up this dish. You can add some tweaks of your own, like what type of mushrooms and herbs you use. But don't fool around with the rice-to-water ratio or the baking time because you want to be sure your rice cooks perfectly.
The casserole has a crunchy, whole-wheat breadcrumb topping that complements the creamy rice perfectly. But if you want this dish to be gluten-free, you can either leave out the breadcrumbs altogether, or use gluten-free breadcrumbs. If you leave out the breadcrumbs make sure you keep your skillet or casserole dish covered with foil until the end of cooking.
Looking for more tasty vegan recipes?
- Vegan Meatballs in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
- Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 20-minute Vegetable Curry
- Vegan Mushroom Stew
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Mushrooms
- Vegan Muffaletta Casserole
I love adding the dry wild mushrooms because they add a nice layer of texture, but if you are feeding someone who is not a big fan of mushrooms, just use more of the frozen kind -- they melt into the casserole, and they'll hardly notice them there.
Here's the recipe now. Let me know if you try it!
Vegan Mushroom Rice Casserole Recipe:
Vegan Mushroom Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw basmati rice
- 12 oz frozen mushrooms (I used Trader Joe's Mushroom Medley which already has some spices and herbs added. You can use another kind, even if it's not seasoned, or use an equal quantity of fresh mushrooms.)
- 1 cup dry shiitake mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small leeks, green and white parts finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, put through a garlic press or finely minced
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh herbs. I used a combination of basil and rosemary. Thyme, sage or mint would work here too.
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the cashew cream sauce:
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup fried onions (make your own or use the storebought ones. Optional, but they add a real nice flavor)
- 2 ½ cups water
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the breadcrumb topping:
- 1 cup whole-wheat or gluten-free bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place all the ingredients for the breadcrumb topping in a food processor or bowl and combine to mix well. Set aside.
- Place the dry mushrooms in a bowl and pour 1 ½ cups of hot water to reconstitute. Leave alone for at least 10 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
- Place the raw cashews in a blender along with the remaining 1 cup water, onion powder, nutritional yeast, dry rosemary and fried onions. Process into a very smooth paste. If you're not using a high-speed blender, you will need to soak the cashews first for 30 minutes before adding them to the blender.
- In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, heat the oil. Add the leeks and saute over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or until they are soft and beginning to brown. If you don't have a stove-to-oven skillet, use a skillet for the first seven steps and then pour the casserole ingredients into an oven-safe baking dish before adding the breadcrumb topping.
- Add the garlic and fresh herbs and continue to saute. Add the mushrooms, both the frozen and the reconstituted dry mushrooms. Reserve the stock from the mushrooms.
- Let the mushrooms continue to cook for another five minutes, stirring frequently. If you replace the frozen mushrooms with the fresh, make sure you saute the mushrooms until most of the moisture has evaporated from the skillet. This will add some more cooking time. Add the rice and cook another couple of minutes, stirring well to mix.
- Turn off the heat. Pour in the cashew cream sauce and the mushroom stock. Mix well and check seasoning. Add more salt and ground black pepper if needed.
- If you need to transfer your ingredients to a casserole dish, do it at this point. Spread the breadcrumb topping evenly over the top of the casserole. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil.
- Place the skillet or casserole dish into the preheated oven. Bake 45 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking another 15 minutes until the breadcrumb topping is golden. If you skip the topping, keep the foil on for the full hour of baking so your casserole won't dry out.
- Remove the casserole from the oven, and let it stand five minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Kate
Amazing and very very nice!!! However this recipe was one of the most confusing I have ever seen, I had to keep re reading. Needs to be simplified and step by step clearly (also had same questions about rice being raw. I think I did it correctly in the end, but needs to be organised/structured a little bit and re written.)
Lee
This is delicious as it pertains to flavor, but I think the recipe needs to be adjusted a bit. There is far too much bread crumb and the ratio of oil to breadcrumb creates a very, very dry mixture that came out like sand on top of the casserole. I also found the rice a bit dry so next time will increase the amount of cashew cream/liquid and also cut the topping down to at least half and use melted vegan butter instead of oil. Very flavorful and I will definitely do this again with some modifications.
Julie
Hi, Vaishali!
Any advice for a recipe snafu? I doubled this recipe, but screwed up and didn't double the liquids. I took the two casserole dishes out of the oven after baking for an hour last night and only realized this morning that the rice didn't cook and is still crunchy little grains (I used brown basmati rice). Should I just throw it back in the oven with a few cups of water and hope for the best? Or maybe the microwave would be better?
Love, love, love your blog. It's helped keep me sane during quarantine. 🙂
Vaishali
Hi Julie! Yes, you should absolutely be able to save the dish by adding more water or any liquid. If it's a large quantity and it's brown rice you'd probably be better off doing it in the oven. Add the remaining quantity of liquid that you missed adding the first time, put it back in the oven, covered, and let it go for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. All the best. 🙂
Gillian Mascis
Can this be made in advance? Any tips would be appreciated.
Vaishali
Hi Gillian, after step 9, cover tightly and freeze. You can thaw and bake before serving. Or if making a day ahead refrigerate and bake the next day.
Gillian Mascis
Thank you! Going to try it for Thanksgiving tomorrow?
Lyndsey
I only have sushi rice. Please help!?
Vaishali
You can use it no problem
Melissa
I want to use Wild Rice - any suggestions on how to adjust?
Donn
I have made this recipe a number of times. I* have used Brown Basmati rice. I have had to add moisture to the baking and go for a bit longer until the rice is done. I have the dish in the oven right now and boosted the temp to 395...it always comes out delicious and scrumptious...TY for the wonderful recipe.
joany
Does 1 cup of dry mushrooms = 8 0z? The link to the package you give is 1 oz which at 4.09 x 8 is @ 32.00.
Debbie
If I can find frozen mushrooms or dry shitake what other kind of mushrooms to I use? Also can I use regular onions or does the leeks really need to be used? Thank you
Vaishali
Regular onions are fine, and use any kind of mushrooms-- button, portobello, oyster, the teeny ones... they are all good here.
JoAnn PUCCINI
Hi..tired the mushroom & rice..wow my family r animal eaters. They licked their plates clean amazing i have been a vagan 4 35 years think they would get it..thank u 4 the wonderful recipe's..JOANN
Ratnavathy
350 degrees? celcius or fehrenheit please?
Vaishali
Fahrenheit!
Sandi
Is the 1cup of rice cooked or raw?
Vaishali
Raw! Clarified in recipe too, in case others have the same question.
Lee
Hi,
Can you suggest a work around for the use of brown rice?
My doc said no more white rice.
Thank you!
Vaishali
You can cook the brown rice till it's about 70 percent done and then add it to the casserole. No need to add the rice in step 7, do it while adding the cream sauce and after you've turned off the heat. Cheers.