And Soup Week continues! It also ends with this delicious creamy rice and mushroom soup. I guess since I only post 2–3 recipes each week, theme weeks are not very epic around here, huh? Theme months would be way too much I think, but maybe I'll start doing theme fortnights in the future. (Yes, I said fortnight. I'm fancy like that.)
Creamy, Meaty Comfort Food
Having grown up in the midwest, I can tell you this: Midwesterners like their food creamy. We love cheesy casseroles, anything made with canned soup, and all kinds of concoctions made with sour cream, mayo, and/or cheese sauce (usually and, not or). Being sick last week, I was craving comfort food and to me, comfort food is creamy food. So I set out to make a vegetarian version of the classic Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup. And then, because it's the New Year and I'm trying to watch what I eat, I set out to make a lighter version. Behold, Vegetarian Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup.
Replacing the Meat
The biggest obstacle was figuring out what to replace the chicken with. I'm always hesitant to cook with seitan on my blog because I don't know if that's readily available everywhere. And tofu in a creamy soup? That seemed kind of icky. So I went with adding extra mushrooms. I know, a lot of you hate mushrooms. You can use something else in your soup then!
Replacing the Cream
I adapted my Vegetarian Creamy Wild Mushroom Rice Soup from this Cream of Turkey and Wild Rice soup from Eating Well. Instead of adding heavy cream or half-and-half, they used sour cream to thicken the broth. I love this method of making creamy soups—it adds creaminess without a lot of fat or calories. It also adds a little tanginess. My husband was on the fence about this, but I really like it. So be warned—if you're ambivalent about sour cream, you might want to stick with adding whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream instead.
Cleaner, Lighter Comfort Food
This Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup was exactly what I needed when I was feeling sick. It reminded me of home, of chilly winters, of snow soaking through my boots and numb toes—okay, maybe I don't miss everything about the Midwest. But it did remind me of the food I grew up on. Total comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb white or cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 1 medium shallot chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup white wine
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup instant or quick-cooking wild rice
- ¾ cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add mushrooms, celery, carrots, and shallot and cook, stirring often, until softened (5–7 minutes).
- Stir in flour, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add white wine and thyme; increase heat to medium-high and cook 2 minutes more.
- Add broth to Dutch oven and bring to a boil. If you're using instant rice, add it now and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is tender, 5–7 minutes, then stir in sour cream and parsley.
Can't wait to try!
I made this today -- it's so delicious! I didn't have sour cream, so I substituted lite coconut milk. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I'm glad to hear it worked out with the coconut milk! 🙂
Minnesota native here- you can buy wild rice directly from the Native American communities online. I just bought mine from the white earth tribe! A little extra money but this rice is so much better quality, and the money goes to those harvesting sustainably! This recipe looks perfect, I can't wait to try it!! Thank you so much!
I made this today with the frozen rice blend from Trader Joes and subbed Greek yogurt for sour cream. It was hearty, warm and delish!
I'm glad you enjoyed it--thanks for the comment! 🙂
This was wonderful. I had to use cream that I had left from Christmas and it just made it heavenly.
I'm glad it was a hit! 🙂
Delicious, we tried this tonight. Really quick, easy to make and lovely on a chilly night. Thank you
Yes, it's definitely the perfect soup for this time of year! I'm glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
This recipe is confusing. Are you saying that the volume of wild rice need is 1 cup of cooked rice? This is pretty different from 1 cup uncooked.
You're right, it is confusing. I just updated the ingredient list to make it more clear. Sorry about that!
Thanks for your quick response. I have some wonderful wild rice from the gas station near my grandmother's house in N. Minnesota (3lbs for $10!) that I transported all the way to British Columbia in my suitcase. My approach given your recipe revision will be to cook 1 cup of dried rice in my rice cooker and add that to the soup at the end. Very excited to see this recipe because I have been vegetarian for about 17 years, but still remember my Minnesota born mother's creamy wild rice chicken soup from childhood.
I think the last wild rice I bought was $5 for a tiny little box. I guess I will have to stock up if I ever find myself in Minnesota! Cooking 1 cup of wild rice in advance and stirring it in at the end of cooking time will work perfectly. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Have you ever tried freezing this? I am looking to freeze some meals before I have baby #2 and this looks great!
I haven't tried freezing it; I do know that dairy can sometimes be a little finicky when frozen & thawed, so you might want to freeze it minus the sour cream and add that in after reheating, just to be on the safe side.
It does freeze. The sour cream separates from its water. So upon defrost it looks God awful. But as long as you stir it regularly during reheat it all incorporates back together nicely and tastes great.
I have made this recipe so many times and I just love it! I'm going to be making it again today!
Thanks for your comment - I'm so glad you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
I would love to make this soup, sounds like a great vegetarian soup! But, can I make it without the white wine? Thanks 🙂
Will it change the flavour without the white wine? or what is a good replacement...I usually only have red wine on hand!
I haven't used red wine in this particular recipe, but I do like red wine with mushrooms and pair the two often in other recipes. If you use a dry red wine, yes, the flavor would be different, but I think it will still be good. Just avoid using a sweet red wine!
Can you substitute the white wine for something else?
Can you substitute the white wine with something else?
I am wondering if I used carnation fat free condensed milk instead of sour cream, can I freeze it?
I wasn't paying close enough attention at the store and got a wild rice blend which also had brown rice instead of just wild rice. The result was a very creamy soup with no sour cream needed! Its that easy to make it vegan and still taste great!
I want to try this recipe out to add to my weekly lunch menu, specially when i want a little warm soup in my tummy. I was wondering could I substitute the all purpose flour with another type? garbanzoflour, almond four? Thank you love your site!
I don't eat gluten-free, so I've never tried substituting GF flour for regular in a recipe like this. If you've had success with a certain type of GF flour for thickening sauces and gravies, I'd use that one here. Cornstarch may work as well.
Hi! I am part of a soup club and would love to share this recipe with them. I was wondering could I freeze this? If so should I add the sour cream and freeze after?
I would definitely add the sour cream after freezing. In my experience, dairy can sometimes curdle and separate after freezing and reheating.
Does this soup reheat well? I'm considering making it earlier in the day for supper that night but I'm a bit hesitant to reheat with the sour cream. Have you reheated it?
Thanks!
This is a great soup. I replaced 1/2 the broth with evaporated milk and skipped the sour cream. Made for a very creamy and delicious soup
This was awesome! I had to make a few substitutes based on what I had at home but I think the essentials were still there. I used onion instead of shallot, a wild rice blend, and some plain yogurt in place of the sour cream. I was a huge bowl of comfort food! Just what i needed!
Can you do this in the slow cooker on low?
Planning on making this tomorrow for lunch! Is the white wine needed? Or is there a substitute that I could use? If not, what wine is best?
Mushroom rice soup is the best! Always wild rice though.
Very quick, easy, and delicious! I only had half the amount of mushrooms as the recipe calls for, but it turned out great! I served it homemade garlic bread, which paired well! Will definitely be making this recipe again!
Yum, homemade garlic bread sounds like a great addition to this soup!
Why does this recipe have to use highly processed, nutritionally compromised instant or quick-cooking wild rice instead of unprocessed whole grain and nutritionally dense wild rice???
Other than that, this recipe looks absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!