This recipe for wild rice and ham soup is incredibly simple and delicious. We have enjoyed it for more than six years and I still make it. On a chilly winter day, it warms you up and is rich.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 cups of soup |
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice
- 3 cups water
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup minced cooked ham
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
- 1 cup half-and-half
Instructions
- In a pot, bring wild rice and water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 45 minutes.
- In a separate pot, melt butter over medium heat, and sauté onion until tender. Blend in flour until smooth, and gradually stir in chicken broth. Stirring constantly, bringing mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and mix in cooked rice, ham, carrots, and almonds. Continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes, until heated through. Thoroughly blend half-and-half into soup just before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 324 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 55 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 329 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is a good base recipe but I think it would be too bland as written. I used 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour (it worked wonderfully for making the roux!) and added garlic, ground black pepper, paprika, turmeric, and sage when sauteeing the onions. I also doubled the quantity of carrots and used a cup of chicken stock for one of the cups of water in the rice. I didn’t have half and half, so I used whole milk and served it with sour cream. I tasted it after it was all mixed together and it still needed something, so I sliced half of a kielbasa into thin rounds, sauteed until browned, and then added it in. The kielbasa ratcheted the flavor up from good to fantastic. It serves up beautifully with a dollop of sour cream, chopped red bell peppers, and a bit of fresh parsley. If I had thought about it I would have toasted the almonds to sprinkle on top instead of mixing them into the soup – I’ll try that next time!
I use GF flour. Works perfectly!
I did not have wild rice or 1/2 & 1/2 so I had to improvise a little bit. I used 1 cup of Basmati rice and about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of heavy cream in place of the missing ingredients. I followed others advice and user 4 cups of chicken stock. I have to say this came out really good and I think that this would have been a 5 star recipe if I had the wild rice. The reason I gave it 4 stars v. 5 stars is that the rice got kind of soggy, but it was still really tasty. I will totally make this again.
I made it with spinach and mushrooms instead of the carrots and almonds and it was absolutely fabulous
I made this as written except for changing the ham to chicken (I just couldn’t see ham in a creamy chicken based soup) and cutting the flour in half (1/2 cup must be a typo – you would have pasty glop with that much flour in only 3 cups of broth.) I tasted it at that point and it was a good chicken and rice soup. If all you want is a good tasting, basic soup, this is a good recipe. I was skeptical of the almonds, but they really do add a little extra something to the soup. However, I decided to jazz mine up a bit and added a 1/4 cup of sherry, 1/2 t rosemary and about 4 oz leftover sliced sautéed mushrooms. The sherry and mushrooms bumped it up to what I was looking for. My stars are for the base recipe, not my additions.
When I first spotted this recipe I thought it sounded interesting and a little different, so I decided to try it. Admittedly I tweaked it a bit, like many others. I used only one cup of cooked wild rice, which seemed like plenty to me. I decreased the flour to ¼ cup and increased the broth to 4 cups. I used a generous ½ cup of chopped onion instead of the minced onion, which I presumed meant dried onion. I also used milk for the half-and-half. Unfortunately I wasn’t terribly impressed with the outcome. It was good, but not great. Hubs, however, has already asked to have it again!
I made this with leeks, potatoes, carrots, parsley,celery, green onions and garlic. I used my own homemade chicken stock, salt and pepper. I did not use the half and half
Very good! Made a few changes based on previous reviews. I added celery to the onion and butter mixture and used just 1/4C flour. I used 4 cups of stock, like others have stated, otherwise this soup would be way too thick. I used a long grain and wild rice mix from Wal-Mart and prepared according to the package. I used the almonds as a garnish.
Absolutely DELICIOUS
Delicious! Used fresh yellow chives, green onion, carrots. High ratings from family. Some family members added the half and half to theirs and some didn’t. Great either way!
Very good! For my fellow Minnesotans, it does taste like Byerly’s. You could easily add mushrooms or other veggies, or use chicken in place of ham, but I like it just the way it is.
This soup is amazing! I added 2 cups of chopped button mushrooms in with the onions when I sautéed them and it adds a great depth to this soup. I also reduced the amount of flour from what the recipe calls for. My family and friends loved it!
Added 1/2 cup celery and 1/2 cup onion. This was so delicious!
Very good soup! I tweeted it according to what we like but overall it’s a good recipe. Love it!
Excellent soup. Hubby enjoyed it too. This is a flavorful soup with a short ingredient list. I believe it is a recipe that adapts well to variations. I didn’t have the wild rice as called for and subbed a combo of black and brown rice which worked well. I also increased the onion to 1/2 of a large onion. This is any easy soup to make and the flavor is great. I’ll be making this again!
Love this soup. Used Rice-r-Roni wild rice w/season packet. Reduced flour to 1/4 cup, added more onions and added sauteed mushrooms. Used skim milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2 to reduce calories. Didn’t add almonds. It was very good and hearty soup. My husband even liked it and he doesn’t like soups.
This is spot on as is. It is supposed to be thick. And it works.
I used this as an appetizer to a special multi-course meal. I had several people in attendance who are gluten intolerant so simply left out the flour. I also left out the ham since there were meat courses to follow and used almond milk + cream instead of the slivered almonds and half & half. I put in a little thyme, rosemary and tarragon and simmered the whole thing for a couple of hours. Everyone exclaimed over the delicious soup. It needed salt, but I think that was because I left out the ham which would have added some saltiness. Turned out perfect for our special meal though.
Everyone like this – but I did make some of the changes otheres suggested (4 cups chix broth, 1/3 flour, and 1/4 cup cream sherry). I also sauted the onions with a couple of strips of bacon and garlic – really added an add’l level of flavor.
This soup was awesome, however I did make a few changes. I use coconut oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of half and half, omitted the almonds. I took the advise of others and use 1/3 of flour and added celery, and 4 c. of broth. Took to a party and did not have any leftovers.
I used brown rice instead of wild rice. I also simmered the soup while constantly stirring for another 10 minutes to get the carrots done. The rice gives this soup a very satisfying texture and the almonds provide a bit of crunch. We WILL be making this again!