A few weeks ago I had a store-bought soup with rice in it. Imagine that! I’d never had a soup that had rice as an ingredient. So I started to think of ways to put rice into soup.
I love wild rice. Yes, I know it’s not technically a rice (it’s actually a grain) yet I didn’t let that stop me from putting it in soup. After all, barley, another grain, is often a soup ingredient, too!
There is some “real” rice–brown rice–in the soup as well. But in thinking about a name, I figured “wild rice soup” sounded better than “brown rice soup.”
This soup is definitely hearty! The pecans add great texture and a nutty flavor to the creamy soup base. And of course, wild rice takes center stage!
So make up a pot of wild rice soup! Since cooking is always better when accompanied with music (that’s my thought anyway), a good meal needs a good pairing of music to go with it. What goes well with wild rice soup?
As I thought upon a “wild” jazz song, I immediately remembered “Bewitched” as sung by Frank Sinatra. Take a listen and find out what “wild” lyrics I’m talking about!
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups water
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes
- ½ cup wild rice (not quick cooking)
- ½ cup brown rice (not quick cooking)
- 7 tablespoons butter, divided
- ¼ cup onion, chopped
- ¼ cup carrots, shredded
- ¼ cup red pepper, diced
- 1 cup cooked ham, cubed
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups half-and-half cream
- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 1 cup frozen petite peas
- 1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, bring water to a boil then turn heat down to low. Add bouillon, wild rice, brown rice and 2 tablespoons butter. Cover. Simmer for 40 minutes or until tender.
- Add onion, carrots, red pepper, and ham. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a different large sauce pan, melt remaining 5 tablespoons of butter and stir in flour letting it bubble to take away the uncooked flavor of the flour.
- Add half-and-half cream. Stir with a whisk over low heat as the roux forms.
- Add chicken breast meat and peas. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add rice mixture to the creamy chicken mixture so that all ingredients are combined in one large pan.
- Gently stir.
- Add pecans. Simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors and to slightly thicken the soup.
