Tender mushrooms and a delicious wild rice blend cook in a creamy, herb-infused broth. This Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup is a hearty, soul warming soup for a cold fall or winter night.
I’ve made three batches of this soup over the past two weeks and there isn’t a stitch left. It is that good. It has a heavenly, velvet-like texture with a nice bite from the wild rice blend. The savory umami flavor from mushrooms cooked down in a bit of Worcestershire sauce take it to the next level.
And the best part, this Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup is quick and easy to prepare in one pot on the stove. It’s the perfect post holiday comfort food for the days following Thanksgiving when you’re feeling a bit over the whole cooking thing.
I’m usually one to add protein to most everything but this soup doesn’t need it. Cremini mushrooms add plenty of “meatiness” and great flavor. That being said, if you’ve got leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, by all means, add some to this soup for a complete meal.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Look for a wild rice blend, like Lundberg or Rice Select Royal Blend. These blends contain and nice assortment of black, brown, red, and wild rice and work beautifully soups and rice dishes like my Wild Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans.
- Cremini mushrooms are sometimes labelled as “baby bella” or “brown button” mushrooms. They are just a slightly more mature version of white button mushrooms which makes them darker in color, a little firmer and more flavorful.
- Half and half is made up of equal parts cream and whole milk. I find it a nice compromise between the two and plenty rich enough to deliciously enhance creamy soups. If you want to lighten it up further, go with whole milk.
How to Make Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
- Cook sliced mushrooms in melted butter in a Dutch oven, stirring occasionally, until tender and brown.
- Add Worcestershire sauce and continue to cook until it is absorbed by the mushrooms. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and set aside.
- Melt the remaining butter in the same Dutch oven and add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally until the veggies have softened. Add the garlic, thyme leaves, rubbed sage, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and cook for another minute or two, stirring the mixture well to coat the veggies with the spices.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Slowly pour in the chicken broth, stirring as you add it to ensure the mixture is smooth.
- Add the uncooked rice and return the mushrooms to the pot.
- Increase the heat as needed to bring the soup to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Stir in the half and half or whole milk and remove from the heat. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Garnish with additional thyme leaves and serve.
Adding Protein
If you have leftover holiday turkey or rotisserie chicken, dice it up and stir it in to the soup at the end of the cooking time.
Storing Soups with Rice
Refrigerator Instructions
Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Rice works as a natural thickener so you will notice the soup will thicken a lot when refrigerated. This is an easy problem to solve when you reheat the soup by just adding in a little additional broth and warming gently on the stove or in the microwave.
Freezer Instructions
Soups with rice are typically not the best candidates for freezing but wild rice is firmer and sturdier than white and typically fares better. Soups that contain dairy can also be tricky but since this Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup contains far more broth then dairy, it shouldn’t be an issue. For the best quality, I recommend refrigerating leftovers but if you are determined to freeze it, transfer the completely cooled soup to freezer-safe containers and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen soups completely in the refrigerator before reheating.
More Soul-Warming Soup Recipes
- Cabbage Roll Soup
- Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup
- Roasted Cauliflower Corn Chowder
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Barley Soup
- Check out all of my Soup, Stew, and Chili Recipes.
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Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 heaping cup chopped celery, (about 3 ribs)
- 1 heaping cup carrot, chopped (2 to 3 carrots)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon fine ground sea salt, plus additional if needed
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional if needed
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice blend, like Lundberg Wild Rice Blend
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons butter to a Dutch oven and place over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, occasionally, until they are tender and browned and have absorbed most of the liquid they've let off, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add Worcestershire and cook until it is absorbed by the mushrooms, 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and transfer the mushrooms to a plate and set aside.
- Melt the remaining butter in the same Dutch oven over MEDIUM-HIGH HEAT. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until veggies have softened. Add the garlic, thyme leaves, rubbed sage, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and cook for another minute or two, stirring the mixture well to coat the veggies with the spices.
- Reduce the heat under the Dutch oven to MEDIUM and sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, stirring as you add it to ensure the mixture is smooth. Add the uncooked rice and return the mushrooms to the pot. Increase the heat as needed to bring the soup to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover, turn the heat down to LOW and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Add the half and half or whole milk. Stir until it is well incorporated and remove from the heat. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Garnish with additional thyme leaves and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Mushroom Recipes
I have made this soup several times both for family and for large crowds and it’s always a hit! Personally, I use more mushrooms than it calls for and skip the sage in favor of fresh rosemary instead. I have also made a dairy free version using oil in place of butter and coconut milk in place of regular, and that was also delicious! I keep this recipe tucked in my back pocket, it’s definitely a winner!
Best soup ever!
Perfect as written. As a personal taste thing, I leave out the paprika. We have made this over and over and love it every time
This recipe is absolutely delicious. The prep and cooking times are accurateI so plan for that, but it was sooo worth it! I made it non-dairy by using a combination of light olive oil and vegan butter for the vegetables and substituting half coconut cream and half oat milk for milk.
Give yourself a lot more time. Prep and cooking take over an hour. That’s before you simmer for 45 minutes.
Hi Colleen. The recipe card states a total time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. This includes 15 minutes to chop the the veggies and 20 minutes of active cooking time followed by a 45 minute simmer. I’m sorry the prep and initial cook time took you longer than in my tests.
Actually what I said was that they were accurate but sooo worth it.
Absolutely delicious! I made dinner for vegetarian friends, so I substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Everyone raved about how good it was! I’ve never made mushroom soup before, and it was great to find this home run! Will definitely make this again!
I just made this recipe and it’s fantastic!!! Made it exactly like the recipe read and I wouldn’t change a thing!!
This was a tremendous recipe. Worth all the steps and extra work to make it homemade! I’ve never made truly homemade chicken wild rice soup before and was worried about being disappointed – not an issue at all. Hubby hasn’t stopped raving about it and the crazy thing is it’s even better the next day! If a soup with vegetables can make him eat it and his biggest complaint is the color is slightly darker than the cheap stuff we’re used to – it’s dang good. I made twice the recipe and I’m so glad I did because we are feasting for days on the extras and enjoying every bite. Thank you!!
Any suggestions on what to substitute the flour with for a gluten free audience? Arrowroot powder, possibly?
Hi Carrie. I’d recommend omitting the flour and thickening the soup with a slurry of cornstarch and water at the end. You can start with a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch dissolved in the same amount of water and go up from there if you want a thicker soup.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour. I put about 1/2 of broth in a glass measuring cup and whisked in the flour to get out all the lumps, then whisked the mixture into the soup. Worked beautifully.
I’ve used this recipe twice now. First time I used mushroom broth, 3 different types of mushrooms, and white wine the first time. This time I went followed the recipe other then adding some white wine. I like it much better the first time. It had a richer mushroom flavor profile. Will definitely be making it again the way I did the first time in the future..
Made this for my husband, it was very good and I added it to my book to make again. Thank you very much!
I love the recipe, having, having just made it for the first time. I used 2.5 times as many mushrooms, carrots, and celery. The next time I make it (soon!) I will also increase the wild rice by 1.5 times at least. I do highly recommend it.