This Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in 60 Minutes features mushrooms, onion, celery, thyme and a splash of sherry. Served with a side salad, this easy mushroom soup recipe makes a delicious and warm midweek meal.
This recipe will generously serve four as a main course, or up to eight as a small side cup of soup. Since it only takes 60 minutes to prepare, this soup is a perfect midweek dinner option. And if you are one to take your lunch to work or school, you’ll have enough left over for the next day.
Jump to RecipeI’m all in on the wild rice in this easy mushroom soup recipe
It may surprise you to know that wild rice isn’t really rice at all. It’s actually an edible grain of an aquatic grass that is native to the Great Lakes Region of North America. In addition to its delicious flavor and texture, it’s also nutrient rich – making it a nice alternative to other grains. It boasts a slightly higher protein content than even brown rice and is rich in several different vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, zinc, niacin, Vitamins B6, B9 and B12 – often collectively referred to as folate.
While developing this recipe, I went back and forth on whether or not to include a starch of some kind in the soup, or to keep it purely veggie-focused. While weighing whether or not to add a rice component, I decided I wanted something that would compliment the earthiness of the mushrooms and provide a little protein as well. One cup of wild rice contains 24 grams of protein compared to one cup of brown rice, which contains 4.5 grams. Between its dense nutrient profile, toothy texture and nutty flavor, wild rice emerged the clear choice for me.
How thick and rich to make this soup was another area I deliberated on at some length. After a few iterations using milk, straight heavy cream and half and half, I ultimately landed on one cup of half and half as the measurement for this recipe. It lends the appropriate amount of creaminess to the soup without weighing it down. I prefer my cream soups moderately thick and silky but not stodgy. Using just a cup of half and half in this easy mushroom soup recipe hits that sweet spot.
Prep tips for this Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in 60 Minutes
This easy mushroom soup recipe is fairly straightforward to make. Much like my recipe for Amazing Smoked Gouda Broccoli Soup in 30 Minutes, this recipe starts off by sauteing the vegetables until they are tender before adding flour to build a roux to thicken the soup. However, the wild rice must first be cooked in one cup of the unsalted beef stock so that it is ready when it comes time to add it to the soup during the final 15 minutes of cooking.
I’m all about time management hacks, so I will typically start the rice, and use that cooking time to clean and prep the mushrooms, onions and celery and measure out the other ingredients. If there’s any time left on the clock, I’m usually trying to clean up my work area as much as possible so there’s less work to be done after dinner when my energy level is starting to wane.
As for the wild rice, you cook it much the same way you would any other rice by bringing the liquid to the boil, adding the rice and reducing the heat to a simmer so it can cook for a set amount of time. However, the thick hull of the grain requires a little extra cooking time than a true rice. On average, I find it takes 45 – 60 minutes to cook wild rice completely. However, how tender you like it is completely up to you.
For this easy mushroom soup recipe, we bring one cup of unsalted beef stock to the boil, and then add 2 ounces of uncooked wild rice to the pot. Give it a quick stir before covering the pot and reducing the heat to a simmer. The rice only needs 30 minutes at this stage. It will have another 15 minutes to finish cooking while the soup is simmering. This cooking method will ensure the rice is cooked through, but prevents overcooking that would result in a split hull.
Let’s return to the vegetables for a moment. After five minutes, the vegetables are soft and the flour is added to build a roux. The roux is cooked for 2-3 minutes. At this point, there will be a fair amount of fond that has built up on the bottom of the pan, and that’s okay. It will come up as we add the stock. You can use a whisk or a spoon to coax the fond off the bottom of the pan. Make sure you are working around the sides of the pan as well to break up any clumps of roux.
Once the soup begins to thicken to the consistency of a thin gravy, add the the rice into the soup and bring it back to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir the soup periodically to keep it from sticking.
After 15 minutes, the only thing left to do is finish the soup. Stir in the half and half, the sherry (or dry white wine – both of which are optional) and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. That’s it! This easy mushroom soup recipe will generously serve four as a main course, but if you’re learning to cook for two again like I am, it’s nice to have leftovers for the next day to enjoy again over lunch or a familiar dinner.
Another option; you can package up the extra and share it with a neighbor or someone you know who’s a little under the weather. I hope you will give this recipe for Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in 60 Minutes a try. It’s a delicious way to warm the body and soul on a cold, dreary day.
Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in 60 minutes
Course: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes45
minutesA delicious and hearty cream of mushroom soup with wild rice and a touch of sherry.
Ingredients
One 32-ounce container of unsalted beef stock
2 ounces uncooked wild rice
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (you can use salted, but you may find you need less seasoning at the end)
1/4 cup water
1/2 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced, stems removed and discarded. I used baby Portabellas, but you can mix it up, too.
1/4 cup white onion, diced fine
1/4 cup celery, diced fine
6 Tbsp. AP flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. fresh Thyme leaves (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
1 cup half and half
3 Tbsp. sherry or dry white wine (optional)
Additional salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- In a 5-quart sauce pan, bring 1 cup of the beef stock to the boil. Add the rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, prep the other ingredients. When the rice is finished cooking, transfer the cooked rice and any remaining liquid to another bowl and set aside.
- In the same pot used to cook the rice, combine the water, butter, mushrooms, celery and onions. Cook at medium-high heat for 5 minutes until tender and most of the liquid has cooked off. Add the thyme, salt and pepper and stir to incorporate.
- Add the flour to the vegetable mixture and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. A heavy fond will start to form on the bottom of the pan and that’s okay.
- Gradually add the remaining stock to the roux mixture – start with approximately 1/2 cup – and stir until it is absorbed. A thick paste will begin to form around the vegetables from the roux and the fond will begin to come up from the bottom of the pan. Add a little more stock and stir so that the liquid is evenly absorbed into the roux mixture. Continue in this manner until all the stock is incorporated and the fond has come away from the bottom of the pan. If there are clumps, use a whisk to break them up.
- Increase the heat and bring the soup back up to the boil. Immediately reduce the temperature and allow the soup to simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the soup from sticking.
- After 15 minutes, add the half and half and sherry (or white wine) and stir to incorporate. Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste and serve warm.
