I'm always craving a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup. After Thanksgiving, it's usually turkey and wild rice. It's a delicious bowl of comfort food you can make in the crock pot or slow cooker or on the stovetop.
The ingredients are straight-forward. I use basic carrot, onion, parsnips and celery here, with leftover turkey, mushrooms and wild rice, but you can improvise and add other seasonal vegetables to give it some extra fall flavors.
Two things I might add are kale, especially lacinato or dinosaur kale. Some people also add sweet potatoes, but they will break down in liquid. If you want to add those, use Japanese sweet potatoes, which are white, and firm.
Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup with Turkey and Mushrooms
A rich, comforting bowl of wild rice soup with turkey and mushrooms. Makes 3 qts to serve 6-8.
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories: 852kcal
Equipment
- 1 3 quart soup pot
Ingredients
- 14 grams dried mushrooms a generous half cup or more
- 2 ribs 4 oz celery, ½ inch dice
- 3 cups 12 oz mixed parsnips, celery root and carrots, ½ inch dice
- 1 small yellow onion peeled and diced ½ inch
- Scant ¾ cup parched wild rice
- 8 cups turkey stock from a turkey carcass or vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 2 cups cooked turkey meat from the carcass roughly chopped
- ¼ cup dry sherry optional
- 4 strips (~4 oz) bacon sliced thin
- 8 tablespoons butter unsalted
- ½ cup all purpose flour or equivalent or use gluten free flour
- ½-1 cup heavy cream To your taste. Don't be afraid of full-fat dairy!
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme optional
Instructions
- Bring the wild rice to a simmer with 1.5 cups water, then turn the heat to low and cook until tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Cover the rice and set aside.
- Soak the dried black trumpets in 3 cups of stock for 15 minutes, then agitate well to remove grit, remove the trumpets, strain the liquid and reserve.
- Very roughly chop the black trumpets—you still want to be able to chew them. In a gallon sized soup pot, render the bacon crisp until it’s given up it’s fat, then add the butter, onion and leek and cook on low heat 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining vegetables and cook a few minutes more. Add the sherry and cook off for a minute. Add the flour and stir to coat, carefully stirring to saturate the flour, then add the stock, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaves, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook on the lowest heat possible for 20 minutes.
- Add the cooked wild rice, turkey and cream, cook for a minute or two more just to heat through, then double check the seasoning, adjust as needed, and serve. The soup is better the second day.
Notes
I make this with leftover turkey broth, which means it's seasoned pretty well already. If you use a different stock that's unseasoned, you'll want to season this well with salt as you cook, until it tastes good to you.
If you really want to drive the mushrooms home, up them to 35 grams, or 1.5 cups dried crumbled mushrooms
Nutrition
Serving: 6oz | Calories: 852kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 172mg | Sodium: 661mg | Potassium: 954mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 797IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 4mg
Judy Sanders
The directions mention adding cream but I didn't see cream in the ingredient list. Is it heavy whipping cream? How much do you add? I have a very similar recipe that calls for half-and-half and more bacon :). My neighbor and his young sons like to hunt but he is not patient about dealing with the wild turkey carcass, so several times a year I get a lovely fresh wild turkey. Like you, I am very keen on the stock from the carcass. I can't stand storebought poultry with it's pressure-treated "seasoning" and mushy tasteless flesh. It's my homegrown chicken, the wild turkey, or do without! Thanks for the recipes!
Alan Bergo
Thanks for the copy edit. Somehow it got lost when I copy these from word docs. A
Sam
Hi, Alan! Where do you get your dried Black Trumpet mushrooms from? Is there a specific brand you buy?
Also, instead of oregano, try dried Summer Savory. I typically crush it to release more flavor, and add it 5 minutes before I'm done with cooking the soup. The only other specie I use, other than salt and pepper is ground cardamom. I feel like it pairs well with rice dishes.
Alan Bergo
I harvest all of mine. You can buy dried ones all over the place.