This Minnesota Wild Rice Soup is creamy and delicious with a rich broth and hearty wild rice. Perfect for a chilly winter evening!
Since we’ve spent the past week in Minnesota, it seems like the perfect time to share this recipe! It’s the best way to warm up on a chilly evening. But even if you’re not in a totally freezing climate, this soup will hit the spot! It’s an easy one to make and leftovers reheat well so it’s great for lunch the next day!
The trick to this soup is the wild rice. Don’t try to substitute it for regular rice. Wild rice has a heartier, chewier texture and it doesn’t get soggy or soft when it’s cooked in soup. Wild rice can be a bit more expensive and harder to find but if you go to a larger grocery store, you shouldn’t have any trouble. I’ve found it at Wegmans, Publix, Whole Foods, and Kroger. It can be a bit pricey so if it just won’t work in your budget, you can use a wild rice blend which tends to be cheaper. But if you can swing the wild rice, you’ll be happy you did.
The other ingredient you might not have in your pantry is evaporated milk. I have to be honest, I don’t remember the last time I bought evaporated milk until I started making this recipe. But it’s a great way to create a creamy broth without using actual cream to get the right texture without a lot of additional fat and calories. If you want to make a vegan version of this soup, I highly recommend using Ripple’s half and half. It’s a great plant-based creamer! You can substitute Earth Balance or olive oil for the butter.
I’m sharing both a stovetop method and an Instant Pot/Pressure cooker method
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This Minnesota Wild Rice Soup is creamy and delicious with a rich broth and hearty wild rice. Perfect for a chilly winter evening!
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 stalks of celery, diced (about ⅓ cup)
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about ½ cup)
- 2 large carrots, diced (about ⅓ cup)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 small bundle of thyme (optional)
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
Stovetop Method
- Cook the rice according to the package directions.
- In a large pot, heat the butter over medium heat for 30 seconds or until melted.
- Add the celery, onion, and carrots and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Add the broth and thyme and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove the thyme stems from the pot.
- Add the cooked wild rice, evaporated milk and salt. (Note: if your rice isn’t ready yet, simply turn off the heat of your soup pot and then resume cooking once the rice is ready to be added.)
- Cook over low-medium heat until heated through. If you let this sit before serving, the rice will continue to absorb the broth. Simply add ½ cup of water and stir until you reach the desired consistency.
- Add additional salt to taste, if needed.
Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker Method
Note: You need to add an additional 2 cups of water, as noted below.
- Add the butter, wild rice, celery, onion, carrots, broth, plus 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker.
- Cook on manual for 45 minutes, then release the pressure and remove the lid as soon as it is fully depressurized.
- Stir in the evaporated milk, thyme, and salt. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Remove the thyme before serving.
Notes
Note: If cooking in a pressure cooker, be sure to depressurize after 45 minutes and stop the cooking process. Some models will continue to keep the soup warm until manually turned off. This will cause the wild rice to become soggy.
Keywords: Minnesota Wild Rice Soup
This is one of my favorite recipes to make in my pressure cooker because the rice can cook right along with the vegetables. It’s easy to throw everything into the pot, set it and forget it. Just make sure that once it’s done cooking, you release the pressure and turn the machine off. Some machines will try to keep the soup warm until manually shut off, and this can cause the wild rice to become overcooked and soggy.
I like to make my rice in a rice cooker but you can also make it on a stovetop. If you want to save a little time, you can make the rice in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days until you’re ready to make the rest of the soup.
As I mentioned, this soup is also great reheated. I wouldn’t recommend freezing this soup though since creamy soups tend to separate when frozen. When reheating leftovers, you may need to add a splash of water to the soup as it tends to thicken when cooled.
For more easy soup recipes, try some of my other favorite recipes!
What’s your favorite type of soup?
Allyson Ayton
Going to try the instant pot version of this. Does the rice need to be soaked beforehand?
Liz
It does not! You can just add it right in
Brandon
Being from Minnesota I was so excited to make this soup and it was super disappointing. Tastes like a milky vegetable broth. I would highly recommend looking for another recipe
★
Liz
Hi Brandon! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out for you! What brand of vegetable broth did you use? Just curious so I know how to improve it!
Nicole
So yummy and cozy! I added 8oz of mushroom and used oregano instead of thyme. Used a dairy free creamer and veggie broth, too and it turned out beautifully.
★★★★★
Patti
I don’t get it. Why would you cook the rice for 15 mins on the stovetop, and then combine the soup (total cook time maybe 25 mins?), vs 45 mins in the pressure cooker??? Am I missing something? It should cook MUCH faster in a pressure cooker!!
Kelly
The first step of the stovetop method is to cook the rice according to package directions. That takes about an hour. Then add 15-20 minutes to that to simmer the cooked rice with the rest of the ingredients.. So the pressure cooker shaves about 30-40 minutes off.