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Winter is soup weather. If you’re a soup fan, you’re going to want to check this one out. It is unique to every other wild rice soup I’ve ever had. Most wild rice soups are thick and hearty. I love ’em. My creamy chicken and rice soup is thick like this. Yum! But this soup is not like that.
For some reason, decades ago, when my mom got the recipe for this wild rice soup, she didn’t thicken it as much as called for. What that leaves you with is a silky, creamy broth. It’s totally unique. And wonderful!
We have this soup every Christmas as an appetizer. I have this soup every Christmas as an appetizer and side dish to my dinner and as leftovers the next day.
True Wild Rice
If you’ve never had true wild rice, you might be surprised. When my husband came to his first family Christmas at my parents, my mom asked if he wanted a bowl of wild rice soup. Rice? Greg thought, I like rice. After seeing the soup, he leaned over and whispered to me, “Why did your mom just give me a bowl of bugs?” Always the jokester, he then said, “Seriously, this is not rice.”
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And he was right! Wild rice has a distinct texture and taste. I’ve learned that it’s not even rice, nor is it wild (anymore). It is a cultivated grass, actually. It looks sort of like a piece of brown rice with a jacket on. When cooked properly, the jacket opens up a bit and the rice curls slightly. It has a toothsome, chewy texture much like other whole grains. The flavor could be described as slightly nutty or toasty.
Most wild rice “blends” that you find in grocery stores have exactly 10 grains of wild rice and the rest is brown and white rice. If your grocery doesn’t sell bags of wild rice, you can order it online.
Aside from the wild rice, the rest of the ingredients to this soup are pretty standard. Carrots, onion, chicken broth/stock, cream and almonds plus seasonings. (The almonds add a delightful crunch!) Mostly stuff you probably have in your pantry.
Wild rice is fantastic in other recipes as well. It makes a hearty casserole with chicken and some cream soup. And mix chilled cooked rice with other fresh ingredients and a vinaigrette for one of my favorite salads. I also have a recipe for wild rice cornbread stuffing that I’ve made for Thanksgiving frequently that’s a hit, too. Yeah, I’ll have to share those with you. Stick with me and we’ll get there eventually!
Growing up in Minnesota, wild rice was nothing out of the ordinary. When I lived in Georgia, I couldn’t find it anywhere and no one had heard of it. I think that’s kind of cool about regional cuisine. That’s why I love making gumbo and jambalaya, traditional Louisiana dishes, for our Minnesota friends.
Have you had wild rice before?
I’d love to know what you think if you try my mom’s soup!
Here’s the recipe, my mom doubles it for our Christmas dinner:
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 6 Tbsp. flour
- 6 cups chicken broth/stock
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup grated carrots
- 6-8 Tbsp. slivered almonds
- 3 cups cooked wild rice (Note: Follow package instructions. Cook time is about 45 minutes)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 cups half & half
Instructions
- Melt butter and saute onions till tender
- Blend in flour, cook about 1 minute
- Gradually add broth.
- Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens very slightly
- Stir in rice, carrots, almonds and salt
- Simmer 10 minutes
- Stir in half & half and heat through
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Delicious looking and sounding soup. I love Wild Rice and will have to try it.
Susan, that sounds AMAZING, esp on a chilly day like today!! We used to travel (when I was younger!) to MN over the Thanksgiving holiday and with turkey leftovers, my aunt, Myrna, would make a wonderful turkey & wild rice soup – I’ll have to compare your recipe! So delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe. 🙂
Interesting choice. Flour, too….
I’ll try it without the flour and see how that works.
Thanks for the recipe
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The flour adds a bit of thickening, and contributes to the ‘mouth feel’. The flavor would still be amazing without it, I’m confident, though.
This sounds really yummy Susan. I love soup, but I’ve never had wild rice soup. A new opportunity for the New Year! Thanks.
Since I’m on a quest to teach myself to eat (and like) more soup, and this one contains stuff I like, it looks like a perfect soup to try. I’ve never had wild rice, but it sounds healthier than brown rice which I eat and like. Now to go to the store after some rice. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, I hope you like it! Would love to hear what you think.
I did smile when I saw the title to this post, like there *is* an ‘average’ wild rice soup?
I could get the sense of the difference between the thick and the thin soup, and real wild rice compared to almost ‘pretend’ wild rice.
Fascinating, and another of your lovely personal tradition food stories!
Cheers,
Gordon
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Haha! You know, I clearly wrote that title from my Minnesota perspective. Here…yes, there is most definitely a typical wild rice soup. Everywhere else in the world… probably never heard of it. Funny how I didn’t notice that! 🙂
This looks like a really delicious recipe. I’m vegan, so would try it without the chicken broth. I’m sure there is a work around, but other than that, all ingredients I can enjoy.
I’ll bet it would taste just as delicious with vegetable broth. Would love to hear what you think!
We used to eat wild rice years ago – and it does look like bugs – I am laughing. I was a little surprised to find that it is cultivated nowadays but why not – and it is delicious. Homemade soup is always good food. I’m sharing this recipe.
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Thanks, Alana! Your comment made me do a little more digging about the cultivation. You can still find some wild rice that is truly wild, and you can also find some that is cultivated, but hand picked. I hope you like it as much as I do!
Drooling!
I love soup when it is cold out, too…just made my own Chicken Soup tonight!! This recipe looks delicious!
I’ve never heard of this before but I bet it’s good!
I find wild rice more attractive than regular but I never buy it! I’ve thought I should get some and make a soup. Thanks for joining us at Family Joy Blog linkup!