Ingredients (Serves ~4)

• 3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
• Salt
• 1 medium yellow onion (~3/4 cup grated)
• 1 large carrot (~3/4 cup grated)
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) salted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 1/4 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken (or ham)
• 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Freshly grated black pepper
• Minced chives, for serving

Cook the Wild Rice

You need to cook the wild rice before you start the soup. You can do this up to 3 days in advance.

Boil a large pot of salted water, like you would for pasta. Add the 3/4 cup of uncooked wild rice and let it boil for ~40-45 minutes.

The rice is done when the grains start to burst open and curl up. Drain it and set it aside. You should have about 2 1/4 cups of cooked rice.

Grate the Vegetables

Peel the onion and carrot. Use the large holes of a box grater to grate both of them.

If you don’t have a box grater, you can finely chop them, but grating them helps them melt into the soup base.

Make the Roux Base

Add the 4 tablespoons of butter and the grated onion to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Cook the onion for ~5 minutes until it’s tender and just starting to get some color.

Add the 1/2 cup of flour and whisk it constantly into the butter and onions. Let this cook for about one minute to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Build the Soup

While still whisking, slowly stream in the 5 1/4 cups of broth.

Continue whisking as you pour to prevent any clumps of flour from forming.

Once all the broth is in, turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil.

Simmer and Finish

When the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the cooked wild rice, the cooked chicken, and the slivered almonds.

Let everything simmer for ~5-10 minutes. This is just to warm everything through and give the soup a chance to thicken up.

Pull the pot off the heat.

Stir in the heavy cream. You add the cream off-heat to prevent it from curdling.

Season and Serve

Season the soup with salt and a lot of freshly cracked black pepper.

Serve it immediately, topped with minced chives.

Print Pin

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

This is my take on the classic Minnesota wild rice soup. It’s a simple, humble soup with a creamy, roux-thickened base, but the star is the wild rice itself, which gives the soup a nutty, chewy texture. I add grated carrot and onion for the base and finish it with slivered almonds for crunch.

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

Ingredients (Serves ~4)

• ▢ 3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
• ▢ Salt
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion ~3/4 cup grated
• ▢ 1 large carrot ~3/4 cup grated
• ▢ 1/4 cup salted butter 4 tablespoons
• ▢ 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 5 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken or ham
• ▢ 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
• ▢ 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ▢ Freshly grated black pepper
• ▢ Minced chives for serving

Instructions

• Boil salted water and cook wild rice for 40-45 minutes until grains burst and curl.
• Grate onion and carrot using large holes of box grater.
• Melt butter in large pot, sauté onion for 5 minutes.
• Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute.
• Slowly stream in broth while whisking, bring to boil.
• Reduce heat, add cooked rice, chicken, and almonds. Simmer 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat, stir in heavy cream.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Garnish with chives and serve.

Notes

Add cream off heat to prevent curdling.