My family is from Minnesota, so wild rice dishes remind me of holidays and family gatherings! For a long time Minnesota was the only place that produced wild rice. Wild rice is even the state grain of Minnesota! The name wild rice is misleading because it is actually a grass seed that is native to shallow lakes and streams in Northern North America. Wild rice is a whole grain that takes longer to cook than brown rice and has a lovely nutty flavor and firmer consistency.
Soup is a great way to prepare wild rice because it allows it to fully cook while providing amazing texture and nutrition to the soup. You can’t rush a good soup and this one is no different! It takes about an hour of simmering, but the results are so worth it!
Table of contents
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cups chicken bone broth
- 2-4 cups low sodium broth or water (I prefer vegetable broth)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 cup carrots (5-6 large), peeled, chopped
- 1 c celery (2-3 stalks), chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 3-6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
How to Make Minnesota Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Heat 2 tbsp butter in the dutch oven and add the onion and garlic. Add the carrots, celery and 1/2 cup bone broth. Simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes to soften the vegetables.
Add wild rice, mushrooms and 1 tbsp butter to the dutch oven. Toss for 2 minutes to toast the rice.
Add the seasonings (sage, salt, pepper, sprigs of rosemary and thyme), 1 1/2 c bone broth and 1 c vegetable broth. Cover and decrease the heat to a low boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the chopped chicken to the soup along with 1 c vegetable broth. Simmer on medium-low for an additional 30-60 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
During the last 15 minutes of cook time stir in the half and half and parmesan cheese. Continuous stirring prevents the cheese from clumping.
Remove from the heat and stir in the 2 tbsp lemon juice or 1-2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
- To save time, you can toss all of the ingredients except for the cheese, half and half and lemon juice into the dutch oven at the same time and simmer for 60-90 minutes. I prefer the flavor and texture when you cook it as I described here: sautéing the vegetables, then the rice and then the chicken, so if I have time I do it this way!
- This dish can also be made in the crockpot! Add all of the ingredients except for the cheese, half and half and lemon juice and simmer on low for 5 hours.
- The wild rice will open up after prolonged simmering and can absorb the liquid in your soup. So if you find that the soup is looking less soupy over time, add an extra 2 c of broth or water and additional seasoning to taste.
- Remember to pull out the twigs of the rosemary and thyme before serving your soup! You can chop up your fresh rosemary and thyme, but I prefer to save time and simply toss them in and then remove the twigs once the leaves have been cooked off of the stem.
- I love to replace the lemon juice with 1-2 tsp of apple cider vinegar! It gives the soup a unique but yummy flavor.
- You can substitute the half and half with milk, heavy cream or greek yogurt. Each of these will slightly change the thickness of the soup, so keep that in mind!
- You can substitute chicken breast for the thighs or even toss in shredded cooked chicken (such as rotisserie) and decrease the total cook time. Leaving the chicken out completely gives you an amazing creamy mushroom and wild rice recipe!
- This soup (like most soups) pairs amazingly with a crusty bread!