(Arguably the Best) Wild Rice Soup

I might start some controversy with this one because it contains ZERO chicken. This is the wild rice soup I grew up with, so I actually had no idea that chicken was the more common second key ingredient until sometime in my teen years, and to be totally honest, I was deeply disappointed when I first tried wild rice soup at a restaurant because it was not what I expected! This one is made with ground beef and so delicious!

If you are close enough to parts of Minnesota where wild rice is harvested, I would strongly encourage you to purchase it locally. It doesn’t compare to the kind you buy at the grocery store. For some reason, the grocery store versions just don’t split open the same way. We get ours from Tamarac Wild Life Refuge, where it is harvested in Becker County. The best wild rice for this should be mixed grey in color, not solid black. I’ll add a link at the end!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup shredded carrots

• 1/2 cup chopped celery

• 1 diced onion

• 2 cups of chicken stock- homemade is best

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup- I recommend Pacific Foods Organic Soup for this.

• 1 cup of milk

• 1 cup of cream

• 1 package of ranch seasoning

• Olive oil

Instructions:

• Cook wild rice according to instructions.

• In a separate pan, heat olive oil in a pan. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until tender.

• Add ground beef to the pan with the veggies and brown. You can sprinkle the beef with some of the ranch packet to add flavor as you cook, but reserve most for the broth. You can also season with salt and pepper if you’d rather.

• Once the beef is cooked, drain most of the fat from the pan. Add the remaining ingredients into a soup pot and stir until combined. Heat thoroughly and serve!