Oh just LOOK AT IT. I am hereby in love with this Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup.
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I made this last night and it is amazing! I wanted to eat the whole pot myself but restrained myself and we actually have two meals in the freezer for some night when I don’t feel like cooking. Thank you so much! I love your blog!
Lynda
Me? Wild Rice Soup? Obsessed? Pshhh.
Okay fine, I might be a little obsessed. There might be something like three variations of wild rice soup already on this blog. I don’t know. It’s not a problem, okay? It’s just… a love.
In This Post: Everything You Need For Wild Rice Soup
- VIDEO for How to Make This Wild Rice Soup
- Variations of this Wild Rice Soup
- What to Serve with This Soup
- Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Variations Of This Wild Rice Soup
It might be helpful to do a quick recap of my wild rice soup journey over the course of my life.
My Mom’s Wild Rice Soup. I grew up in / still live in Minnesota. Wild rice soup was the food of my childhood. My mom still makes it every year for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s dark by 5pm and the evergreen trees are covered with snow and the soup has been simmering all day and the whole house smells like bacon and wild rice soup. And really, there is just nothing better. No electric appliances. Nothing being plugged in. It’s a purist version. In case you were wondering, I think the recipe comes from our church cookbook because obviously. This is how it gets done. God bless Minnesota, and mom, and the wild rice soup that raised me.
Crockpot Chicken Wild Rice Soup: Then came my need to make wild rice soup on the reg. I wanted to take it from Christmas dinner to an easier-to-make version of the classic. Like, crockpot level easy. This recipe was born and it became one of the most popular recipes on Pinch of Yum. It is also one of my personally most-made recipes in life. And that’s saying a lot, because I’m making new recipes ALL THE TIME. This became an excellent back-pocket recipe for making a quick dinner, having friends over last-minute, or bringing a meal to a friend. And now this
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup (with mushrooms oh my gosh): This brings us to today. Yet another iteration of the wild rice soup that I so know and love. This time I ditched the chicken (although, to be fair, you can absolutely keep it around), added mushrooms, and put it in the Instant Pot (affiliate link). I know you want to hate me. But you do not hate me because this is going to blowyamind. The flavor of this soup, thanks to the mushrooms, I think, was so, so, so, so good. The prep and cook is SOS-level easy. And think about how much wild rice soup I’ve had in my lifetime. I feel very qualified to tell you that this right here is how it’s done. This is yummy, earthy, middle-of-winter wild rice soup.
How To Make This Wild Rice Soup
This is a dump and cook situation. It’s mostly hands-off (except for a short little step at the end to get that creaminess). And it’s weeknight and freezer-friendly. Let’s get to it!
You have options:
- The Best Flavor Option (this is how the recipe is written): Sauté onions and mushrooms to start. Add wild rice and cook for a bit to make a soup base. Add veggies just at the end, so they don’t get mushy. Add heavy cream, a bit more broth, and some sherry and umami seasoning to finish. OOF. So good.
- The Easiest Option: Add everything to the Instant Pot. Add heavy cream to make it creamy. The end.
- The No-Heavy-Cream Option: Same as either of the above to start, but instead of heavy cream, make a flour-butter-milk mixture as your creamy base. (This is how I’ve always made the recipe in the past, but more recently I’m finding that I like the heavy cream option better because the flavor is a bit richer and more developed.)
What To Serve With This Soup
You will obviously need some extras to go with your wild rice soup.
If it’s just an average Sunday soup day, you better be making a loaf of crusty No Knead Bread.
If it’s Christmas (who else makes wild rice soup for Christmas except my family? I literally know zero people), you better have a fancy salad to round out the meal. May I recommend the Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Salad of years past? It never gets old, does it? Or my family’s latest favorite, a Simple Green Salad.
Adding Other Proteins / Making Swaps
Protein options that you can add in or out:
- Shredded or cubed chicken – I have a recipe for that right here.
- Crumbled cooked bacon
- Cubed ham
- Throw a whole ham bone in there
About The Mushrooms
If you kind of don’t like mushrooms but you *might* like them sometimes, can I recommend that you give it a whirl? Cut up the mushrooms really thin so you get the flavor without the texture bothering you as much. I think you’re going to fall hard and fast.
And my friends who are already on team mushroom? A) Good for you, and B) GET. AFTER. IT. This recipe has been elevated to my new favorite version of wild rice soup which is a major big deal. Warm, creamy, cold-weather mushrooms and wild rice for the eternal win. ❤
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
The fastest way to make this is just to throw everything on the first list in the Instant Pot, cook for 40 minutes, and then add your creamy element and you’re done!
Not really, no. Please use actual wild rice (affiliate link)! I know it’s on the expensive side, and hard to find, and I’m normally all about the substitutions, but in this case, it is not the same. Don’t use brown rice, don’t use white rice, and don’t use a wild rice blend, which is just white or brown rice with a few flecks of wild rice. Use straight WILD RICE.
Yep! Chicken can be added – if you’re using raw chicken, I would probably add it in right at the beginning with the wild rice, then take it out and shred it and add it back in at the end. For cooked chicken, you can just add that at the end.
My favorite spices / herbs in this soup are thyme and sage. I frequently use poultry seasoning as well which is usually a mix of thyme, sage, garlic, onion, etc. Anything with those warming, Thanksgiving-like herbs – thyme, sage, maybe even rosemary – will work nicely.
Yep! Just use your favorite dairy-free butter and milk, and it should work like a charm.
Something brand new we recently added: a button to add all your ingredients to your Target cart! Just tap the button to get all these ingredients – it’ll create your list and pop you over to the Target app where you can just order it all for Drive Up. It’s literally the easy button! ♡
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Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 servings (1 1/2 cups per serving) 1x
Description
We’re making cozy Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup and it’s everything! Packed with mushrooms, carrots, celery, wild rice, cream, and seasonings. It’s so creamy, so cozy, and perfect for a night in.
Ingredients
For the Soup Base in the Instant Pot:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- half of an onion, chopped
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice (see notes)
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 medium carrots, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped (optional)
Make a Creamy Base on the Stovetop:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- OR replace all of the above with 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Optional For Finishing / Flavor:
- 1 teaspoon umami mushroom seasoning
- 1–2 tablespoons sherry (it seems forgettable but it adds a lot)
Instructions
- Instant Pot soup base: Using the sauté function, melt the butter and sauté the onions and mushrooms until softened. Add the wild rice, the broth, the salt, and the spices; cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. Release the steam, add carrots, garlic, and celery, and cook on high pressure for another 10 minutes. Release steam using the valve on top.
- Make it creamy: You have two choices for making it creamy – A) Add 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to the soup (plus more broth as needed) and you’re done! This is slightly thinner / more brothy, but so rich and flavorful thanks to the cream! B) To avoid using heavy cream (some people don’t like to use it), you can thicken the soup with a flour-butter-milk mixture, in which case you will start by melting the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Let the mixture cook for a minute or two to remove the floury taste. Whisk the milk, a little bit at a time, until you have a smooth, thickened sauce. Throw a little salt in there for good measure.
- Together: Mix the creamy sauce with the soup in the instant pot. Voila! Mushroom Wild Rice Soup. This will be very thick (especially if you did the flour-butter-milk method), so use broth to thin it out to your desired consistency!
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
A note about wild rice: Please use actual wild rice (affiliate link)! I know it’s on the expensive side, and hard to find, and I’m normally all about the substitutions, but in this case, it is not the same. Don’t use brown rice, don’t use white rice, and don’t use a “wild rice blend”, which is usually just white or brown rice with a few flecks of wild rice in there. Use straight WILD RICE.
Crockpot version: Check out this recipe.
Stovetop version: Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and mushrooms with oil. Add wild rice, broth, and salt. Simmer until wild rice is cooked (1-2 hours). Make the roux and mix it in (or add heavy cream). Thin the soup to desired consistency with broth.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: instant pot wild rice soup, wild rice soup, vegetarian wild rice soup, wild rice, mushroom wild rice soup
Make It A Freezer Meal!
Freeze Together:
- 3 cups mirepoix, fresh or frozen
- 8 ounces mushrooms, fresh or frozen
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice (the REAL stuff, not a blend)
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (or spices like sage, thyme, and rosemary)
- 1 lb. chicken breasts (optional)
After Cooking:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
To Cook:
INSTANT POT: From frozen, 30 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes natural release.
SLOW COOKER: From frozen, 4 hours on high.
FINAL STEP: Melt butter, whisk in flour, whisk in milk until creamy and thick. Add to the soup. Add extra water to thin to desired consistency.
View more healthy freezer meals here!
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes To Love
- Instant Pot Minestrone Soup (like a saucy, warm hug in a bowl)
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Tortilla Soup (the BEST vegetarian tortilla soup)
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings (comfort food at its absolute finest)
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Walnut Chili (my favorite twist on vegetarian chili)
- Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato and Kale (Instant Pot directions in the recipe card!)
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One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best Instant Pot recipes page. Check it out!
Just an observation…the photo of the soup shows black eye peas, but they are not included in the list of ingredients in the recipe. Do you usually use the peas in this soup and simply omitted them from the list or is this a photo of a totally different soup?
I was so excited to get my wild rice in the mail and get a crack at this recipe. Compliments all around from the family! Which is good because I already prepped a future batch in the freezer. I added chicken, doubled the seasoning, used homemade chicken broth, and only cooked it for 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. Perfection!
This looks delicious! Now,I understand you consider it sacrilegious if I don’t use wild rice,but my stomach can’t handle it,unfortunately. So,for that reason,could I substitute a wild rice blend knowing it won’t be quite the same,or should I just skip it altogether?
This was really good! I used the flour/butter/milk version, and since the recipe comment says this makes the soup very thick, I just cut the flour amount in half (used 1/4th cup) and used 6 tbsp butter instead to save some calories. It was a good consistency and we didn’t need to thin it out. Next time, I’d probably use 4 tbsp butter.
Also added a lot of extra salt in the end, and bay leaves per another commenter’s rec.
I never leave reviews, but someone needs to balance the favorable reviews out because this was AWFUL. Poorly written recipe, way too much flour, undercooked veggies, and it was so BLAND. What a waste.
Let me start by saying there are very few recipes on this site that aren’t good, I love most of them. This one however is not one of them. This soup is expensive to make ($13 for one cup of rice!) but the recipe acknowledges that., so I was still on board. I cooked using the instant pot and heavy cream method and when it was done, I had a bowl of swampy liquid that was, I hate to say it, terrible. If this is the best wild rice soup, I’d hate to taste the worst. This recipe for the cost and taste and texture is a hard pass for us ever again. There are so many other good soup recipes out there, this just isn’t one of them, even with such a hyped up intro.
I know and love mushrooms, but my husband can’t have any at the moment.
Do you have a substitute or I should just skip it?
It provides a lot of the flavor and backbone of the recipe – you could make our Chicken Wild Rice Soup instead!
Amazing!! I doubled the recipe to feed a large family. I only had 8 oz of mushrooms so I added some porcini mushroom powder (2 tablespoons) for more flavor. I blended cashews and water to make “heavy cream” and then added some fresh parsley and a little nutritional yeast at the end.
Hi! I’m going to make the stovetop version of this recipe. My friend made this and we loved it, but we don’t have an Instant Pot. Do we let the mixture simmer *uncovered* for 1-2 hours? Thank you!
Hi! We like to leave the cover on for about an hour on the stovetop, then remove.
This is one of those soups that hits the spot. It’s a cozy hearty soup, perfect for Fall or any day when you need something that’s nourishing to your bones. Yummy flavour blend that’s really nicely balanced.
I keep meaning to comment, and forgetting, but hi, hello! I’m finally sharing my thoughts!
This is such a family-favorite recipe of ours that the DAY it starts getting cooler, I make it. I have the recipe memorized, even.
Feeling unwell? This soup. Cool out? This soup. Wanna feed a crowd for Lord of the Rings Movie Night? THIS. SOUP.
I do it dairy-free as a base and add 1/2 & 1/2 as a finisher to my bowl, but my husband just slurps it down practically straight out of the cauldron.
Instead of Roux, could I use canned coconut cream in this recipe?
Hi! The coconut flavor wouldn’t meld well with the other flavors here, so you could instead try using a cornstarch slurry.
Our absolute favorite.
Our boys, now 7 and 10, request this regularly so we find ourselves making this year round. Every time we make little tweaks. This time we added a dash of black garlic and are using all dehydrated mushroom mix. If there’s not time to saute we find it’s just as good when we throw it all in and hit go. We stopped counting but we’ve made this recipe dozens of times.
We buy 5 lbs of rice at a time from Red Lake Nation Foods, as that tribe has a business cultivating rice Minnesota. It goes quickly.
Oh, love hearing that!
This soup is delicious… However, every time I make it, when I add the vegetables and pressure cook the second time, my instant pot freaks out and says “food burning” and a lot of the rice is burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot. I followed the directions to a t, so this is disappointing. I had to let the vegetables finishing cooking in a pot on my stove both times.
Love your recipe..u can also substitute cream soups aswell..and if u don’t want it soupy u can use it as a hot dish with less broth. Yummy too!!
The freeze together section does not fully match (has different or does not include) the recipe. I choose this to make as a freezer meal. Maybe the freeze together section needs an update to match : )
Made this today since we’ve having a storm in Central CA. I’ve never made wild rice soup before and it turned out amazing!!!
I did a stove top version and cooked the wild rice on the side (as not to over cook the veggies) then added to soup base. Wow! So flavorful! I used the Trader Joe’s mushroom umami seasoning and their Everything but the Leftover seasoning since it’s heavy on sage and thyme. Absolutely a winner and will make again. I didn’t do a rue but instead just added heavy cream since I wanted it more “brothy”.
Thanks for the recipe POY!
This wild rice soup looks absolutely delicious! I love how easy it is to make in the Instant Pot. Can’t wait to try it out this weekend! Thanks for sharing such a comforting recipe!
We had the freezer version for supper tonight. A+. Minnesota in a bowl. Way to represent, Lindsay!
Curious why the stove top version says to sautee veggies in oil as opposed ro butter?
Thanks for pointing that out! No specific reason. You could use butter too!
I couldn’t find the wild rice soup recipe that I used last year, so in my search I came across yours. I made a batch for my family, and shared with a dear friend who recently underwent major surgery. This is it! New favorite recipe, won’t look for any others
If I double the recipe do I need to extend the cooking time? I also have some mushroom haters I’m serving this to – can I sauté the mushrooms separate and add for those that want it?
Yes, you could add the mushrooms separately! You shouldn’t need to extend the cooking time in the Instant Pot.
Just made this soup and it is delicious! Made it stovetop per the
instructions. Could not find wild rice anywhere so decided to use the blend but only cooked for 45 min. Also used half and half since I already had. Was sooo good and will be making again.
I know you have a slow cooker version but that one has chicken….could I make this one in the slow cooker ??
Any chance of this exact recipe using a crock pot instead? I saw the chicken version but I am a vegetarian so I’d rather have this exact recipe. I don’t have an Instant Pot.
Absolutely! This recipe can also be made in the crock pot!