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’m a cook and your soup is one of the best recipes for any soup I’ve made in my 47 years on cooking. The only thing I suggest is a teaspoon of so of a good sherry on top❣️
This soup is delicious!!! I used Baby Bella mushrooms because the grocery store did not have Cremona
This soup is delicious!!! The only substitution I made was Baby Bella mushrooms because I couldn’t get cremini mushrooms.
otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. I will definitely make this again.
Fantastic flavor; we loved this soup. The only question I have is why the recipe says to chop the carrots and celery when the photo shows that they’re sliced. And, it takes a lot more than 15 minutes to do the prepping.
It’s fine to slice or chop the carrots however you’d like, it just may take a bit longer for them to soften if they are larger. The prep time includes cleaning and slicing mushrooms and chopping the onion, carrots, and celery. It can take people varying times to accomplish these tasks but I don’t think it should be too much longer than 15 minutes. I’m glad to hear you liked the soup!
SO. DELICIOUS! I have been hankering for a soup with wild rice, and this one stood out to me. Very easy to prepare and I loved the way my house would smell through out the process of making this soup. Wonderful for cold weather and to bring the warmth back to your bones (and stomach!). I love it just with vegetables, but to tempt my dearest love to eat it, I will be adding beef stew cubes to it next time. A very filling and wonderful soup!
can you make this in a slow cooker?
Think the stovetop method is best for this recipe. You could transfer the soup to a slow cooker for the long simmer on the last step, if you’d like.
Perfect soup – will make this again – will add browned beef stew meat next time to make it even heartier – thank you for sharing a delicious soup recipe .
Love this soup! You’re knocking them out of the park! Thanks
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks, Linda. 🙂
Could I use regular rice?
I’ve only tested this recipe with the wild rice blend so I can’t say for sure. Let me know how it works out for you if you decide to try it.
I made this as instructed, except for using white soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce (because I didn’t have any). It is so good! I will definitely be making it again.
This soup is so delicious. My daughter doesn’t typically like mushrooms and had three bowls. It was so easy to make as well as budget friendly. We are vegetarian, so I used mushroom broth.
I made this the other day for dinner for my husband and I. The assembly was easy. I like soups/stews that you can leave on low and let them cook away while you are doing other things. This smelled delicious while it was cooking. My husband and I loved this for dinner. He liked it so much that he asked me if I had saved the recipe (of course I did). This was perfect on a cold and wet winter night with some crusty bread, butter and cheese. We found it surprisingly hearty and filling. I did not have chicken stock, but prepared chicken bullion and used dry thyme instead of fresh. I highly recommend this recipe! 5 stars!
What a delicious comforting soup. Loved it.
Love the look of your food