Creamy Wild Rice Soup Recipe

My long-time favorite wild rice soup recipe, it's creamy and hearty but light in calories. It's absolutely delicious, a great way to really take advantage of the lovely nuttiness of wild rice. This is the soup of Minnesota Lutheran church supper tradition. It calls to me in the fall when the days grow short but is also light enough to warm a chilly summer day in the North.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

COMPLIMENTS!

• "...an awesome recipe." ~ Amanda
• "... very good!" ~ acr
• "This is a delicious soup ..." ~ Edith

BEST RECIPES!

• Creamy Wild Rice Soup Made the List!
• Best Recipes of 2005

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Creaminess Without Cream?

Home cooks recognize the usual method to make a cream soup – with cream – although the diet- and health-conscious may use lower-fat milk, even non-fat skim milk.

Another method is to use puréed cream-textured vegetables, in this low-calorie Creamy Wild Rice Soup, potatoes and parsnips.

The root vegetables do add today’s verboten carbs but also fiber, vitamins and minerals with a minimum of saturated fat. Watch for recipes, especially soups, that use vegetables rather than dairy products to produce creaminess – without cream.

The Soup of Minnesota Lutheran Church Suppers

This is the soup of my Northern childhood, where the local churches all put on wild rice suppers, each cook bringing her (hmm ... always her? probably) own big pot, vying for the top spot.

But here's where I break with tradition.

The traditional way to make wild rice soup is to blend all the cooked vegetables and broth into a creamy purée, then add the cooked wild rice back in.

But I like a chunky soup where you can both see and taste the individual ingredients. So I use an immersion blender perfect for adding "creaminess" without blitzing the entire pot.

That said? Both ways are wonderful. Cook's choice!

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CREAMY WILD RICE SOUP

Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 35 – 65 minutes
Makes 9 cups

WILD RICE
• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup wild rice, native or cultivated (wild rice photo comparison)

SOUP
• 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• 2 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts only (about 4 leeks)
• 2 cups diced celery (about 4 ribs)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 cups no-fat chicken broth or No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock
• 2 cups red potatoes, skins on, diced small (about five small potatoes)
• 2 cups parsnips, peeled and diced (about 3 medium)
• Salt & pepper to taste

• Splash of dry sherry, optional but lovely
• Fresh parsley, for garnish, optional

WILD RICE Bring the water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the wild rice, cover and simmer until al dente and nut-flavored, about 25 minutes for native wild rice and 60 minutes for cultivated wild rice. Turn off the heat, let rest and if there's any liquid left, do not drain, most of it will be absorbed by the rice as it sits.

SOUP Meanwhile, prep the leeks and celery. Heat the butter or olive oil on medium heat in a large, heavy Dutch oven until shimmery. Stir in the leeks and celery, sauté until just beginning to turn golden, breaking up the leeks as they soften. Add the parsley and garlic, sauté another minute or two. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, parsnips, salt and pepper. Cover and return to a boil.

SIMMER Reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer and simmer 20 – 30 minutes or until the potatoes and parsnips are soft.

PURÉE With an immersion blender, purée the hot broth a bit, right in the pot, but do leave some chunks for a textured, rustic soup. (You may also use a standard blender. Just lift out as many of the softened vegetables as you like into the blender, then some hot broth. CAUTION With a standard blender, blend in small batches. If you're unfamiliar with the safety precautions when working with hot liquids in a blender, please review these tips, Hot Liquids in a Blender.)

FINISH Stir in the cooked wild rice and sherry (if using) and bring back to temperature. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot garnished with parsley.

ALANNA's TIPS For years, I used a half cup of wild rice. Now that seems skimpy so I use a full cup. But if you're short on wild rice? A half cup works fine. Trader Joe's frozen leeks are a big time saver! In spring, look for ramps to substitute for some/all of the leek. Grocery-store pre-chopped garlic is convenient and tasty, especially when the specified quantity is doubled or tripled. Your fingers won’t smell of garlic. A gain or a loss? Your call! Cook’s Illustrated, the perfect-ingredient and perfected-methods magazine that produces television’s America’s Test Kitchen, claims that Swanson’s canned Natural Goodness no-fat chicken broth rates highest in taste tests. When a commercial chicken broth, canned or from a powder or a paste, additional salt is usually unnecessary. Parsnips aren't always easy to come by. For a recent batch, I substituted less-expensive rutabagas, they work great. Any root vegetable would also work, think turnips, say. Carrots and butternut squash would add welcome color. For something almost elegant, add a splash of sherry. For an easy-to-convert vegan soup, use olive oil and vegetable stock.

RESOURCES A print or online subscription to Cook's Illustrated is a great way to stay on top of tested ingredients as well as ultra-tested recipes. Consider investing in an immersion blender, also some times called a stick blender. It's an invaluable tool available in kitchen and home stores for about $25. After long avoiding one, I now find it indispensable for puréeing foods, whipping cream, mincing herbs and making salad dressing. Compared to a bulky, gummy blender, the interchangeable attachments are small and wash up easily in the dishwasher. I love mine! My Disclosure Promise

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per cup: 193 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 32g Carb; 4g Fiber; 774mg Sodium; 4mg Cholesterol; 8g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 5 & SmartPoints 4 & Freestyle 4 To make Creamy Wild Rice Soup "freestyle friendly," substitute turnips for the potatoes and rutabaga or butternut squash for the parsnips. Easy swaps, these!

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More Wild Rice Recipes

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(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ wild rice ~
~ leeks ~
~ potatoes ~
~ parsnips ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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