Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup is a cozy, homemade dish that beats canned versions in both flavor and nutrition. It’s filled with earthy mushrooms, savory herbs, and aromatics that create a warm, comforting bowl. The wild rice adds a nutty flavor and hearty texture while also providing plenty of nutrients. Though it takes a little longer to cook, the rich and satisfying result is always worth the time.

Love More Soup Recipes? Try My Carrot Potato Soup or this Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This hearty homemade soup beats canned versions in both flavor and nutrition. It’s filled with earthy mushrooms, savory herbs, and aromatics that create a warm, comforting bowl. The wild rice adds a nutty flavor and satisfying texture while also providing plenty of nutrients. Though it takes a little longer to cook, the rich and flavorful result is always worth the time.

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Ingredient List

Vegetable Base:

• olive oil from that huge Costco bottle
• butter (real butter, not the fake stuff)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped however
• 2 carrots, chopped up
• 2 celery sticks, chopped up
• mushrooms (whatever’s not moldy in your fridge)
• garlic cloves, smashed up small

Rice and Broth:

• wild rice (comes in those expensive little boxes)
• some kind of herb seasoning
• salt
• pepper
• vegetable broth or chicken broth or whatever

Creamy Stuff:

• heavy cream (the real stuff in the carton)
• parmesan cheese (I buy the pre-shredded because I’m lazy)

Why These Ingredients Work

Mushrooms shrink down to like nothing when you cook them but they get this meaty taste that makes the whole thing seem more substantial. Like you’re eating actual food instead of just vegetable water.

Wild rice doesn’t turn into paste like regular rice does. Stays chewy so you have something to actually chew on. Kids like texture. Well my kids do anyway.

Butter makes everything taste better and stops stuff from burning while you’re running around doing other things. Cream makes it feel like comfort food instead of diet food. Even though it’s basically just vegetables and rice it feels filling and satisfying after you eat it.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Need a big pot with a lid. I use that Dutch oven thing Jake bought me for Christmas three years ago that I thought was stupid at the time but turns out to be perfect for soup. Any big heavy pot works though.

Sharp knife because you’re chopping a lot of stuff. Cutting board. Wooden spoon for stirring. I have those measuring cups but half the time I just eyeball everything because who has time to measure perfectly.

How To Make Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Step 1: Cook the Vegetables

Put some olive oil and butter in your big pot. Turn the stove to medium. When the butter melts and gets foamy, dump in your chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Stir them around every couple minutes so they don’t burn.

Takes about eight minutes for them to get soft. You’ll know they’re ready when the onion turns see-through and everything smells good. This is when Sam usually shows up asking when dinner will be ready.

Step 2: Add Mushrooms and Garlic

Throw in all your mushrooms and the chopped up garlic. This is where it gets interesting because the mushrooms release a ton of water and suddenly your pot looks like mushroom soup instead of vegetable soup.

Keep stirring everything around for probably six or eight minutes. The water will cook off and the mushrooms will shrink down and start turning brown. Don’t stop too early because that browning is what makes everything taste good. Learned this from watching too many cooking shows while folding laundry.

Step 3: Add Rice and Seasonings

Add your wild rice right into the pot with everything else. Stir it around for a couple minutes. This supposedly makes it taste nuttier but mostly I do it because every recipe says to and I’m too scared to skip steps.

Then add whatever herb seasoning you have. I use that poultry seasoning stuff because it was on sale and I bought like six containers. Add salt and pepper. Mix everything together so the rice gets coated with all the flavors and fat from the butter.

Step 4: Add Broth and Wait

Pour in all your broth. It looks like way too much liquid but apparently the rice soaks up most of it. Turn the heat up until everything starts bubbling, then put the lid on and turn it down to low.

Now you wait. Set a timer for forty-five minutes and go do something else. I usually start a load of laundry or clean up the disaster I just made in the kitchen. Check it once or twice to make sure it’s not burning but mostly just leave it alone.

After forty-five minutes, taste the rice. It should be soft but still have some bite to it. If it’s still hard, keep cooking and check every ten minutes. Wild rice takes longer than regular rice for some reason.

Step 5: Make It Creamy

This is the most important part and I screwed it up the first three times I made this. Turn off the heat completely before adding cream. Not just down to low. Completely off. Otherwise you get chunky gross cottage cheese soup and have to order takeout.

Pour in the heavy cream slowly while stirring. Then add the parmesan cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly until it melts. Taste it and add more salt if it needs it. Sometimes I add extra pepper too because Jake likes it spicy.

You Must Know

Never ever add cream while the soup is still bubbling. I cannot stress this enough. Turn the burner off first. The leftover heat in the pot is plenty to warm the cream and melt the cheese without making everything curdle into nasty chunks.

Also the rice will keep cooking even after you turn the heat off so don’t worry if it seems slightly undercooked when you add the cream. It’ll finish cooking from the residual heat.

Thing I started doing: I keep back about a quarter of the mushrooms and cook them separately in a little pan with butter and salt. Then I put those on top when I serve it. Makes it look fancy like restaurant soup and gives you extra mushroom bites. Kids think I’m being fancy but really it just takes two extra minutes.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

That rice toasting thing actually does make a difference even though it seems pointless. The soup tastes more complex and less like plain vegetable broth when you do it. Don’t skip it even if you’re in a hurry.

Chop all your vegetables roughly the same size so they cook at the same rate. Nothing worse than mushy carrots mixed with crunchy celery. I learned this the hard way.

Taste the soup about halfway through the cooking time and add more salt if it needs it. The rice absorbs a lot of the seasoning as it cooks so you might need to add more. Trust your taste buds over the recipe.

If your soup ends up too thick, add more broth until you like it. Too thin? Take the lid off and let it bubble longer to cook off some liquid. It’s pretty forgiving as long as you don’t mess up the cream part.

Things that will ruin it: Adding cream while it’s still boiling makes chunky nasty soup. Rushing the mushroom browning gives you pale rubbery mushrooms that taste like nothing. Not stirring occasionally means rice sticks to the bottom and burns, then everything tastes bitter and you hate your life.

Flavor Variations / Suggestions

Sometimes I throw in fresh thyme from the sad little herb garden on my windowsill. Makes it smell amazing and taste more expensive than it actually is. Rosemary works too but use less because it’s stronger.

You can add cooked chicken or turkey if you want more protein. Leftover rotisserie chicken from the grocery store works great. Just shred it up and add it with the cream so it doesn’t get overcooked.

Different mushrooms make it more interesting. Those fancy mixed mushroom packages when they’re on sale. Or add some of those big portobello mushrooms chopped up. Makes it taste like you spent more money even though you didn’t.

Make-Ahead Options

This soup is actually better the next day because all the flavors have time to hang out together. Make the whole thing up to three days ahead but don’t add the cream and cheese until you’re ready to serve it. Dairy gets weird if it sits too long.

Freezes amazing for up to three months. I make huge batches now and freeze half in those big freezer bags. Just freeze it before adding the cream. When you want to eat it, thaw it overnight then heat it up and add fresh cream and cheese. Tastes exactly the same as when you made it.

Perfect for those weeks when you’re too busy or tired to cook real food but still want something that tastes homemade and makes you feel good about your parenting.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Wild rice should have a little bite when it’s done cooking. Not crunchy like raw rice but not mushy like overcooked pasta. Kind of like how good pasta should feel when you eat it. If you overcook it, it gets gluey and gross and there’s no fixing it.

The soup gets thicker as it sits, especially overnight in the fridge. That’s totally normal. Just add more broth when you reheat it until it’s the consistency you want. Sometimes I have to add a whole extra cup the next day.

Don’t freak out if it looks too watery right after you add the broth. The rice hasn’t absorbed everything yet. Give it the full cooking time and it’ll thicken up perfectly. I used to panic and try to add flour or something but just waiting works better.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this with crusty bread for dunking. Those dinner rolls from the grocery store bakery section work great too. Sam likes to crumble saltine crackers in his which sounds disgusting but he eats vegetables that way so I allow it.

Goes really well with a simple salad if you want to pretend you’re eating a balanced meal. Usually I just serve it with bread and call it dinner because it’s filling enough and I’m tired. Has vegetables and grains and dairy so it’s basically a complete meal anyway.

When people come over I put those extra mushrooms on top and maybe some fresh herbs if I remember to buy them. Looks way fancier than the actual effort involved. People always ask for the recipe and act surprised when I tell them how easy it is.

How to Store Your Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Stays good in the fridge for about five days if you cover it properly. Gets thicker each day so you’ll need to add more broth when you reheat it. I usually just microwave individual portions but you can heat it on the stove too. Just do it slowly so the cream doesn’t separate and get weird.

For freezing, use those big freezer bags and lay them flat so they stack better in your freezer. Label them with the date because everything looks the same when it’s frozen solid. I learned to write what it is too after Jake thawed what he thought was chili and got soup instead.

Thaw overnight in the fridge then heat it up slowly. Sometimes the texture looks a little separated after thawing but it comes back together when you heat it and add fresh cream. Never freeze it with the cream already added because dairy gets grainy and gross when frozen.

Allergy Information

Has dairy from the butter, cream, and cheese. You can make it without dairy by using more olive oil instead of butter and coconut cream instead of heavy cream. Skip the cheese or use that nutritional yeast stuff if you’re into that.

No gluten since it’s just vegetables and rice and broth. Just check your broth label to make sure it doesn’t have weird additives. Some of the cheap ones have random stuff in them.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use regular rice instead of wild rice?

Yeah but it’ll be completely different. Regular rice turns mushy and absorbs way more liquid. If you use it, add it later and use less broth. Won’t taste the same though. Wild rice is what makes this soup special.

My soup is too thick, what do I do?

Add more broth little by little until you like it. Happens to me constantly especially with leftovers. The rice keeps absorbing liquid even after you think you’re done cooking.

Can I make this in a slow cooker?

Sure but you have to cook the vegetables and mushrooms in a pan first or they’ll be gross and watery. Then dump everything except the cream into the crockpot. Low for four or five hours. Add cream at the very end.

Can I prep this ahead of time?

Totally. Chop all the vegetables the night before and keep them in the fridge. You can even make the whole thing except the cream part then add cream when you serve it.

Why did my mushrooms release so much water?

That’s normal. Mushrooms are mostly water. Just keep cooking them until the water evaporates and they start browning. That’s when the flavor develops. Don’t rush this part.

💬 Did you try making this? Tell me how it went! Did your family actually eat it or did you end up with a pot of soup just for yourself?