Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
User Reviews
5
Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
Description
This Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup features diced onions, carrots, celery, and sliced cremini mushrooms sautéed until softened and fragrant. Garlic enhances the aroma before flour is added to create a roux base. Wild rice is cooked in vegetable broth with herbs including poultry seasoning, thyme, and rosemary, imparting savory depth. After simmering and reducing the broth, half-and-half or cream is stirred in for a rich finish.
The texture balances tender vegetables and chewy wild rice grains, which retain a distinctive al dente firmness. The soup thickens as it simmers, concentrating the flavors. Bay leaves infuse herbal notes that complement the mushrooms and seasoning blend. This soup suits a warming starter or light meal.
Serve hot with fresh parsley for brightness and optional lemon juice to balance the richness. Use real wild rice, not mixtures or quick-cook variants, for proper texture. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container and consume within one week for best quality.
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion diced small, large sweet Vidalia
- 1 ½ cups carrot from about 2 to 3 large carrots, peeled and diced into small half moons
- 1 ½ cups celery from about 2 to 3 large stalks, diced into small half moons
- 10 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 4 garlic peeled and finely minced or pressed, cloves
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, fresh leaves
- ½ teaspoon rosemary dried
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste, freshly ground
- 1 cup wild rice rinsed (I used Trader Joe’s; do not use a wild rice ‘blend’ or a quick-cook version, uncooked
- 64 ounces vegetable broth 8 cups, low-sodium, chicken broth may be substituted
- 3 bay leaf
- 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
- 2 to 3 tablespoons parsley finely minced, fresh Italian flat-leaf or regular
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice optional (brightens up the flavor)
- pinch sugar optional and to taste (balances acidity and rounds out the flavor)
Instructions
- To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil, onion, carrots, celery, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir intermittently.
- Add the mushrooms, garlic, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Stir nearly continuously.
- Evenly sprinkle the flour, stir to combine, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir nearly continuously.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt, poultry seasoning, thyme, rosemary, pepper, rice, broth, bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Allow soup to boil fairly rapidly for about 30 minutes, or until liquid volume has reduced by nearly half. Stir intermittently, making sure to scrape up rice that will have a tendency to stick to the bottom.
- Turn the heat to medium low, cover, and allow soup to simmer covered for about 25 minutes, or until rice is as done as desired. Note – Wild rice has much more chewiness than other rice and even when it’s done it’s very ‘al dente’.
- Uncover, add the cream, stir to combine, and allow soup to simmer gently uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. After adding the cream, don’t allow soup to boil too aggressively because the cream can ‘break’. The soup will thicken as it cools and I find that as the leftover soup sits in the fridge, the rice continues to absorb the liquid over a few days so don’t worry if it looks a little brothy at this point.
- Remove the bay leaves, add the parsley, and stir to combine.
- Taste soup and optionally add the lemon juice, optional sugar, additional salt, pepper, etc. as desired. Amount of salt will vary based on how salty the brand of vegetable broth used is and personal preference. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use authentic wild rice, avoiding blends or quick-cook varieties for the correct chewy texture.
- Store the soup airtight in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Optional lemon juice brightens the flavor when added just before serving.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 591 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1 | |
| Calories | 591kcal | 30% |
| Carbohydrates | 74g | 25% |
| Protein | 17g | 34% |
| Fat | 26g | 40% |
| Saturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 15g | 88% |
| Cholesterol | 30mg | 10% |
| Sodium | 12391mg | 516% |
| Fiber | 5g | 20% |
| Sugar | 32g | 64% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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