Maybe it's just residual from the holidays, but I've been feeling rather homesick lately. No surprise that this manifests as food! My family is from Minnesota, and this soup was a winter staple in my house. Even when we moved out of state, relatives would send us bags of Minnesota wild rice to keep us supplied.
The grassy aroma of the wild rice as it cooks, the deep savory taste of caramelized mushrooms, the first creamy sip of soup: all these things make me feel one step closer to home.
My mother always made this soup with plain old white button mushrooms. I most often use baby bellas in my version, but I'll also throw in chanterelles or other wild mushrooms when I can find them.
Whichever mushrooms you choose to use, be sure to cook them deeply before adding the stock. They should get really brown and caramelized, and a sticky brown glaze should build up on the bottom of the pan. This takes a little while, but this is also where the soup gets its deep savory flavor and richness. You'll thank me later.
At its base, this soup is vegetarian. If you'd like to add some meat, try some shredded turkey, a few strips of meaty bacon, or my personal favorite, diced-up leftover ham.

Makes about 6 servings
1 cup wild rice
1 large onion, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 pound mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1-2 cheese rinds (optional)
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 teaspoons rosemary
1 cup whole milk or cream
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt, divided
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the wild rice and one teaspoon of salt, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 40-50 minutes, until the rice has burst open and tastes tender. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid to use as stock if desired.
While the rice cooks, prepare the rest of the soup. Warm a teaspoon of oil in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery with a half teaspoon of salt, and cook until the onions have softened and turned translucent, 3-5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the mushrooms and another half teaspoon of salt. Cook until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and turned dark brown, 15-20 minutes. Don't skimp on this step! This is where the soup gets its deep, rich flavor.
Add the garlic and oregano, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir until the vegetables become sticky and there is no more visible dry flour. Increase the heat again to medium-high and pour in the wine. Stir and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue simmering until the wine has reduced and thickened a bit.
Add the bay leaf, cheese rinds, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Add the rosemary, milk, and wild rice. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until the soup has thickened to your liking. Stir in the cider vinegar. Taste and add more salt or vinegar to taste.
Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to a week.
Related: Good Product: Trader Joe's Wild Rice
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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Comments (41)
Ooh, this looks wonderful, a nice variation on my stand-by mushroom barley. (Actually, I swear I can see barley in that photo...) Given the milk/cream, how does it freeze? If I wanted to freeze some to save, would it be worth leaving out the milk until it's ready to heat and eat?
@Brooklynnina - No barley, I swear it! Just good ol' wild rice. :) And I agree - leave the milk out of the portion you want to freeze and add a splash in when you re-heat.
Oh this looks fantastic. I'm eating a pretty tasty mushroom and lentil soup for lunch today but mine pales in comparison to this one. Must try-thank you!
This looks amazing.
Is it a big deal if the vinegar is omitted?
My Minnesotan husband would die and go to heaven if he walked into our Colorado home to find THIS simmering!
Chicken wild rice soup is my favorite, and what I would always get at Byerlys growing up. One friend had it as the appetizer course at his wedding and the rest of us in our group are now all intent on doing the same. Go MN!
This kind of basic recipe is endlessly variable. As a Minnesotan, the only thing I'd say is that one should really try to get wild rice that has been hand-parched by Native folks. The (uncooked) kernels won't look like the ones in the picture, all glossy and black--they'll look dull and gray, but they'll taste MUCH better. The traditional processing method lends wild rice a really nice smoky flavor. I also find it speeds up the cooking time, which can be shortened even more by soaking the rice overnight or even just for a few hours.
Oh my goodness, this looks absolutely amazing! I can't wait to try it!
This sounds delicious. Is that 2 tsp fresh rosemary, or dried?
@Vania - No biggie if you want to cut out the vinegar. I like the brightness it adds to the creamy soup, but it doesn't affect the recipe that much. You could also sub in another kind of acid if you just happen to not like cider vin; sherry vinegar or a splash of white wine would also do the trick.
@papergrader - That's excellent info! Do you have a favorite brand or know where we could find some online?
hello yum yum and gorgeous images - love your use of 'ingredient' shots in there - nice work!!!
I never thought of making soup from wild rice! Seems very hearty, especially in this weather we've been having!
Emma,
I buy from my local food coop (in Duluth), and I think their supply comes from the Leech Lake Reservation (http://www.bineshiiwildrice.com), but this is a good organization to try, too: http://nativeharvest.com, associated with with White Earth Reservation.
oops: should be "with the White Earth Reservation."
Papergrader - Thanks! I'll check those out! (Or, you know, make my mom pick up some for me next time she's over in Duluth!)
this sounds like a soup recipe I'll be bringing with me on our ski vacation.
thank you!
any suggestions for making this dairy free? my husband claims lactose intolerance
@Meplus3 - You could try simply cutting out the dairy. The soup is pretty darn good on it's own; the milk/cream just makes it richer and creamier. Another idea is to puree a slice or two of sandwich bread with some broth and mix that in for a creamier flavor. Sounds weird but it works! (Or you could always be crafty and add milk to half the batch while leaving the other half for your husband!)
* "it's" should be "its." Silly late-in-the-day grammar error...
My family is from Minnesota too! Nice to see a real homemade wild rice recipe (rather than one using a "cream of..." canned soup). :)
Do you think the texture would still be as good with a blend of brown rices and wild rice? That is what I have at my house and it seems like it would work...
As a Minnesota woman, I'm sold on anything with wild rice & fresh mushrooms. This is definitely going in my recipe file.
@lcashio - I say, go for it! Brown rice cooks up a little softer than wild rice (which I'd describe as more on the chewy side), but I think you'll still get a super-tasty soup with a blend of the two.
Made it and it was awesome! Really nice flavour!
Made this last night and just finished it for lunch. This is a keeper. I used a wild rice blend which I always have on hand instead of straight wild rice. I didn't have celery but I did have carrots. Also, I had left over roast chicken which I diced up and added at the end. Oh, one more thing- I used a splash of dry sherry to deglaze the pot and that was good too.
could you start adding the stats for the various carbs calories etc for your recipes? it would be helpful to all that are trying to watch their weight.
I was out of wine and put some nutritional yeast in at the end for some cheese rind like flavor. Thanks for the great recipe! Thanks for posting the Trader Joes price of rice. I paid a lot more for mine at another store, lame.
This was great! I didn't have any wine so I used extra stock. I did use two small cheese rinds and they added a nice flavor. I will definitely be making this again!
Made this soup tonight -- it is fabulous! I used my turkey stock and threw in some leftover deli roast turkey. The vinegar does make an indescribable difference -- and it doesn't take much! Definitely a winner!
I have a pot of this soup on my stove right now! I kept it vegan by using two cups of this broth, http://herbivoracious.com/2011/09/umami-packed-vegetarian-broth-recipe-also-vegan.html two cups water from the wild rice, and soy milk. I left the cheese rind out completely. This soup is fantastic!!! Thank you!
wow. my only complaint is that it doesn't make more. next time I'll quadruple the recipe!
I made this last week and it was great! I think that the rosemary adds a lot.
I made this tonight for our Valentine's Dinner! I followed the recipe almost exactly, I just added a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce when I was sauteing the mushrooms, and again at the end before serving. Mushrooms and worcestershire were made for each other. I used ground oregano and fresh rosemary. Also added a pat of butter to the soup right before serving. My family loved it!
I made this soup today for a Saturday lunch. It was as much pleasure making it as it was to eating it. We ate one meal out of it and we have enough left over to eat as a side with another meal. Also, thanks to this recipe we got to try wild rice for the first time and we really enjoyed it. I am going to order a few pounds of it online. Our local grocery store only seems to carry half a cup packets and that doesn't go too far.
This recipe is one of my favorites, thank you so much! I chose the less pricey red rice and it's amazing too. I add a poached egg to it sometimes, really good.
Was looking for a good wild rice & mushroom soup recipe, and this made into my recipe file. I am making it as I type, and I made it with a few variations: no onions (I don't like them so I never use them in recipes); 1/2 the celery; added a little butter, which worked great when I then added the flour; used beef stock and a bit more stock overall; used fresh thyme instead of the oregano and rosemary; and I also added some soaked dried porcini mushrooms and the soaking liquid. My soup will be ready in about 20 minutes now, and I am really looking forward to trying it out and nursing a cold. Thanks so much for posting the recipe!
I have a question about cooking the wild rice. How much water and is the pot covered or uncovered? Thanks
Made this with white button mushrooms that needed to be used and a bag of dried porcini mushrooms that I rehydrated before cooking with the rest of them. Fam also isn't big on wild rice, so I used brown rice. Next time will tone down the amount of rosemary (was a touch over powering) but it got two thumbs up from my picky-eater grandmother and high praise from my very critical uncle. Will definitely make this again-- it was AMAZEBALLS.
@mbgrimm; I've been sneaky in my cooking for quite some time; common sense will go very far with making a meal more nutritious without making it taste blah. If you're watching you weight-- using this recipe as an example, know firstly that using heavy cream and butter will shoot the fat and calorie content through the roof. I used 1% milk (it's what I have on hand) and olive oil and decided to keep in the cheese rind (knowing full well that the dryer the cheese, the higher the fat content, but it's a compromise). You can in this instance, as someone mentioned above, use nutritional yeast to drive down the calorie and fat content even further without compromising the taste. I have several recipes that people swear I've used cream in but haven't (chayote soup, vegan chocolate pudding).
This was absolutely delicious. Will certainly make again. Tweaked it here an there, but concept stayed the same. Did not even need a cold weather day to try it as it was 62 degrees in NoVA today. Yum! Thanks a bunch.
This is such a good winter soup. My only changes: cheese rinds are not optional, they are a must! And I upped the vinegar a little bit. My version here: http://www.thingsimadetoday.com/2012/12/23/wild-rice-and-mushroom-soup/