Paddy processing (Rice mill) industries are agro-based industries which discharge wastewater with high organic content, cause nutrient overloading to the environment. Amaranthus palmeri and Sorghum vulgare were used to reduce the excess nutrients from the soil collected from land near a rice mill where wastewater is being disposed. Potted plant experiments were conducted for the selected species and tested for its growth potential and compared with control soil (normal soil). Absolute growth rate (AGR) of 0.52and 1.61 cm/day were obtained for A. palmeri and S. vulgare grown in contaminated soil (APCS and SVCS) which are 2.89 and 1.23 times more than that of the species grown in control soil (APC and SVC), respectively. A positive correlation was observed between AGR and their dry weights (r > 0.685; P = 0.01), and nitrogen removal (r > 0.464; P = 0.01) where it was the negative correlation in phosphate removal (AGR: r < 0.481; P = 0.01; dry weight: r < 0.245; P = 0.05). Significant ANOVA results were obtained for the interaction effect among the species and soil on the nutrient removal efficiency (RE) with respect to AGR and dry weight. It is evident that the both A. palmeri (RE: N = 98.81% and K = 72.32%) and S. vulgare (RE: N = 99.54% and K = 73.23%) are the promising species to remediate the nutrient overloaded soil. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: 354–361, 2019. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers