Easy Wild Rice Ham Soup Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

FAQs

How do you add rice to soup without getting soggy? ›

Tip: Adding rice or pasta to soup Cook rice or pasta separately when making a big batch of soup you plan to freeze or eat all week. Only add them when ready to serve. That way the rice won't get mushy and soak up all the broth and the pasta won't get soggy and disintegrate into a million slippery pieces.

Soup grade

Exactly what it sounds like. Soup grade wild rice is broken, cut, or in pieces so it can be added directly to soup while it cooks. As the cut grains differ in size, they'll also absorb water at a different rate. This is not for cooking on the stove top like typical wild rice, it will be mushy.

Rinse 1 cup wild rice in a mesh strainer under cold water. Add rinsed rice to pot; return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or longer if needed. If any liquid remains when rice is done, drain it off using a sieve.

Sometimes creamy and oftentimes brothy, chicken and wild rice soup originated in the Midwest, where the rice grows abundantly. Wild rice used to be considered a luxury ingredient, but it quickly found its way into hearty, flavorsome soups like this one.

Can you put uncooked rice in soup? Yes – uncooked rice is best to add into soup because it soaks up the flavour of the broth, making it extra tasty!

As it turns out, rinsing your grains is a key step if you want to make the perfect pot of rice, and that's true whether you're preparing a creamy rice pudding or whipping up a savory chicken and rice soup.

Just like with any other type of rice, it's a good idea to rinse the rice before cooking. Pour a cup of wild rice into a mesh sieve and give it a good rinse. This will rid the rice of any starch that's lingering on the outside of the grain.

Because of its unique harvesting needs (learn more about it here), wild rice is significantly more expensive than brown rice. In fact, it's one of the most expensive grains. In Washington State, as of January 2023, wild rice costs $5.16 per pound and brown rice costs 80 cents a pound.

You do not have to soak wild rice before cooking it! We wanted there to be as few steps to cooking wild rice as possible. That being said, people soak their wild rice to reduce the cooking time, so if you have the time feel free to soak the wild rice. The finished texture will remain the same.

If you want your rice to be starchier or stick together, you can skip that step. In either case, don't rinse it until the water runs fully clear, as you may lose too many nutrients or compromise the fragrance, flavor and end product texture.

How did Native Americans prepare wild rice? ›

Wild rice is a different story. It is native to the Great Lakes and was an important food for the Ojibwe, who called it “manoomin.” In fact, it isn't rice at all but the seed of an aquatic grass not related to rice. Wild rice was harvested by hand, dried in the sun, and then parched or roasted over a fire.

Cook until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain the rice in a sieve or fine-mesh colander. Serve warm or rinse with cold water to cool and use in another dish.

Make it gluten-free: Omit the all-purpose flour, and make a cornstarch slurry (with equal parts cornstarch and cold water whisked together) to thicken the soup instead. Once the rice has cooked, add in 1-2 tablespoons of the slurry to the soup at a time until the broth reaches your desired level of thickness.

Suggested pairing

Pair creamy soups with full-bodied, unoaked white wines like Chenin Blanc from South Africa.

The wild rice grains will pop open when they're done and will have a chewy “al dente” feel when you taste it. You don't want any crunch left, but also don't want it to be mushy. Once it's cooked, turn off the heat and leave the wild rice covered for an additional 15 minutes.

The best way to include rice in a clear soup is to cook the rice separately and add it to the soup before service.

Mushy or soggy rice is usually caused by two things: the rice is overcooked, and too much liquid is absorbed into the rice.