Minnesota Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

• 1 cup Wild rice (dry)
• 3 tbsp Unsalted butter
• 5 cups Cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Yellow onion, diced
• 3 Carrots, diced
• 3 stalks Celery, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp All-purpose flour
• 6 cups Low-sodium vegetable broth
• 4 sprigs Fresh thyme
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1 ¼ tsp Kosher salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• ¼ cup Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup Raw almonds, sliced and toasted

Method

1. Simmer the wild rice in 3 cups of water for 40 minutes until the grains split open and curl. Drain and reserve. True hand-harvested wild rice cooks faster than the cultivated kind — start checking at 25 minutes.
2. Brown the mushrooms in the butter over high heat, in two batches, 6 minutes each. Set aside.
3. Cook the onion, carrot and celery in the same pot for 10 minutes, then the garlic for 1.
4. Stir in the flour, cook 2 minutes, and add the broth gradually, whisking. Add the thyme and simmer 15 minutes.
5. Add the rice and mushrooms back, then the milk, salt and pepper. Warm through without boiling.
6. Serve with parsley and toasted almonds — the almonds are a Minnesota supper-club touch and they belong.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

Toasted almonds on a creamy soup. Crunch on soft is the oldest trick there is and it never stops working.

🧒 For the kids

Creamy soup with chewy rice. Blend a cup of it smooth and stir it back if a child objects to the texture.

🥡 Leftovers

Keeps 4 days; the rice drinks the broth, so thin it when reheating.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.