Inspired by Hungarian mushroom soup, these wild rice, chickpea, and mushroom loaded baked potatoes feature a creamy cashew-based “sour cream” sauce, paprika, dill, and quick-pickled beets for a fabulous, hearty vegan meal!

Happy March! It’s hard to believe that it will technically be spring in a few short weeks. I happen to enjoy winter, so I’m still loving the hearty, cozy foods that go hand in hand with the season. These Hungarian wild rice, chickpea, and mushroom loaded baked potatoes definitely fit the bill when you’re in need of a wholesome, hearty, and comforting vegan dinner. 🙂

I came up with the idea for this recipe when I made a wild rice, chickpea, and mushroom soup for dinner one night. It was one of those clean out the fridge style soups, but the stars of the show were wild rice, chickpeas, and mushrooms, spiced up with paprika, cayenne, and dill for a Hungarian flair.

Well, remembering how much you all, my family, and I loved my Moroccan Chickpea Loaded Baked Potatoes, I thought it would be nice to create a Hungarian version with the aforementioned trio of wild rice, chickpeas, and mushrooms tossed in cheesy cashew sour cream and topped with quick-pickled beets.

I’m really happy with the way this recipe turned out. The rice and chickpeas are quite mild in flavour, and the beets provide a salty and tangy counterpoint to offset their creaminess. It has a few elements, but everything comes together relatively quickly. You can prepare the toppings while the potatoes are in the oven, so this recipe takes just over one hour to prepare from start to finish. The quick-pickled beets were a bit of a revelation: having only done quick-pickled onions, radishes, and carrots previously, the beets were an experiment that turned out incredibly well. You can enjoy leftovers on sandwiches and salads, too!

ingredients you’ll need

For the wild rice, chickpeas, and mushrooms: Wild rice, onion, garlic, sea salt, pepper, paprika, smoked paprika, mushrooms, dill, and chickpeas.
For the cashew sour cream: Cashews, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, sea salt ,and water.
For the quick-pickled beets: Beets, water, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, maple syrup, and chili flakes.
Plus russet potatoes.

how to make the Hungarian Wild Rice, Chickpea, and Mushroom Loaded Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet and pierce each one a few times with a fork. Bake for 60-70 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes, until fork tender all the way through.
Meanwhile, cook the wild rice: Combine the water, wild rice, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stir, and turn down heat to low. Cover and cook for 45-60 minutes, until all of the water has been absorbed.
Make the quick-pickled beets: These can be made well in advance, if desired. Grate the beets in a food processor or a box grater and place in a heatproof 16-oz jar. Combine the water, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, maple syrup, and chili flakes in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and pour over the grated beets. Set aside until everything else is ready. Note: Leftover beets keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for at least a week.
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the pepper, smoked paprika, and mushrooms. Cook until all of the liquid has evaporated off of the mushrooms and they are nicely browned, about ten minutes. Finally, mix in the fresh dill and the chickpeas, followed by the cooked wild rice.
Make the cheesy cashew sour cream: In a blender, combine the cashews, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, and water. Blend until very smooth. Pour three quarters of this cream over the wild rice/mushroom/chickpeas mixture and stir to incorporate. Reserve the remainder for spooning on top of the loaded potatoes right before serving.
To serve, slice the baked potatoes in half, lightly mash the flesh with a fork, and spoon the creamy rice, chickpeas, and mushrooms over top. Add a dollop of cashew sour cream, followed by the quick-pickled beets and a sprinkle of chopped dill.

what goes well with these loaded baked potatoes?

Simple steamed kale or broccoli with a maple mustard dressing go quite nicely. The loaded potatoes are quite filling, so you probably won’t nee much else. For the maple mustard dressing, combine the following ingredients in a jar, secure the lid, and shake to combine:

-¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
-2-4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
-2 tablespoons dijon mustard
-2 tablespoons maple syrup
-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
-2 large garlic cloves, minced
-¼-1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
-Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

a few final thoughts

If you are avoiding nightshade vegetables, the filling tastes great on baked sweet potatoes, too- especially if you can find the Hanna variety of sweet potatoes with white flesh. They’re starchier and more similar to baked potatoes in texture! Sweet potatoes tend to be smaller, so will take less time to bake- closer to 50 minutes rather than 60-70.

If the case of nut allergies, feel free to swap out the cashews for ¾ cup of soaked and drained raw sunflower seeds.

If you don’t have any wild rice on hand, use any grain or pseudo grain you like. Quinoa, buckwheat, millet, brown rice, etc. are all good options.

more loaded potato recipes

I hope that you love this recipe! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made. 🙂

Enjoy!