Creamy Wild Rice Soup

Creamy Wild Rice Soup is a warm, comforting, vegetarian soup filled with carrots, mushrooms, a flavorful wild rice blend and a creamy béchamel sauce.

It’s also a perfect soup to use up leftover rotisserie chicken or leftover turkey and ham from Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

I’m a sucker for a hearty, cozy soup on a chilly night. Plus it’s so easy to prepare and uses pantry staples. Some of my other favorites are my Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Instant Pot Lasagna Soup, and Jalapeno Corn Chowder.

Ingredient Notes

For the ingredient measurements and entire recipe, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the blog post where the recipe card is located.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup starts with the comforts of wild rice and and mirepoix (carrots, onions and celery, but also includes:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms
• Garlic. Mmm all the garlic!
• Poultry seasoning (or you can use fresh sage, rosemary and thyme)
• Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Vegetable Broth
• Creamy béchamel sauce (it’s simple to make, I promise!)

It has minimal, whole food ingredients but is BIG on flavor.

Talk about pure comfort in a bowl but also nutritious at the same time!

How to make Creamy Wild Rice Soup

For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post to the recipe card.

1. Melt the butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven and sauté the carrots, onions and celery.
2. Add in the mushrooms, garlic and seasonings. Cook another 3-5 minutes.
3. Add in the wild rice blend, baby potatoes, and vegetable broth (or chicken broth). Simmer.
4. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes or until rice is cooked.
5. Add in the béchamel sauce, bring to a simmer again. Soup will thicken and become creamy as the cream sauce cooks into the soup. Serve warm.

How to make the béchamel sauce

Instead of adding in heavy cream, this soup uses a white sauce that is basically culinary magic. It is simple to whip up and adds the creaminess to this soup that you crave!

You’ll need equal parts butter and flour: I am using 6 Tbsp. flour and 6 Tbsp. butter and 2 cups of warm milk. That’s it!

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan just until it is warm to the touch. No need to get it boiling!
2. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan.
3. Add in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 3-4 minutes. This is the roux.
4. Gradually add in warm milk and whisk until smooth and all milk is added.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup Tips & FAQ:

• Can I add in chicken or turkey? You bet! This soup is the perfect vehicle for any leftover shredded chicken, turkey or even ham. I recommend to add in the cooked meat at the end when you add the cream sauce.
• How do I reheat leftovers? Reheat in a saucepan on the stove. The soup will thicken after it sits in the fridge so I suggest adding some more milk, or even broth or water to thin it back out.
• Can I use precooked rice? Yes! If you have some leftover wild rice or other rice variety to use up, make the recipe as written and when you stir in the béchamel sauce, stir in the rice and cook until it is warmed through.
• Not a mushroom fan? You can easily make this mushroom free – just leave them out! Or if you want to give them a try but are still on the fence about mushrooms, cut them up super small, you won’t even notice they’re in there!
• Season the soup properly: Seasoning the soup with salt pepper and herbs as the soup cooks to help to pull our more flavor from the vegetables and soup. You can always taste and adjust at the end, but it’s important to season while it cooks as well!