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This Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms is just what everyone’s Thursday needs.

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

You know that feeling when the weather turns bitter cold and snow is in the forecast? All you want to do is curl up with the biggest blanket you own, eat a bowl of soup, and watch a movie (preferably a Christmas movie because it’s about that time of year…)?

Yeah, this feeling is my current state of mind, and as soon as I get a day with slightly less on my to-do list, I will remake this soup and enjoy it while curled up in my blankets. I will, I will!

As I write this, I just returned home from a book signing I had here in Colorado. It’s always so much fun meeting you guys in real life, hearing your stories about how you discovered the blog, and what your favorite recipes are. It’s truly the best part about creating the cookbook so far.

All of the travel and book events have left me a little behind on other work, so I’ll be playing catch up for the next few days before heading to Cleveland for a quick Thanksgiving trip.

PS. If any of you guys have left a comment and have yet to receive a response, I promise I’ll be responding to them all by the end of tonight. And if you don’t get a response, keep bugging me!

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it’s a week from today, and I get the feeling that I’m not the only one frantically trying to get things done before cooking up the big Thanksgiving Day feast, or preparing to head out of town to celebrate with family. Things are just a little bit hectic and the last thing anyone is thinking about is dinner…that is until you realize you’re starving and have nothing to eat.

The worst realization, right?

Well, this recipe is here to make everything better.

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Things have been so crazy this last month with work and cookbook events that I have been heavily relying on my slow cooker and or instant pot. I’ve made this ramen, this penne alla vodka, and these short ribs multiple times. While I obviously love these recipes, I recently had a craving for just a simple, creamy, wild rice soup.

Wild rice soup is something I grew up eating. My mom has always loved rice in her soup. She used to top her bowls of chicken noodle soup with a pile of rice and then a handful of air-popped popcorn. I’d love devouring bowls of this soup with her, especially after school on chilly days.

This soup isn’t quite like the bowls mom would make, but it’s just as comforting and delicious as the bowls we use to share…with just a little more flavor than that boxed stuff.

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

You might not be happy about an extra step here, but hear me out, because it’s 120% worth it.

If there’s one thing I think slow cooker recipes lack, it’s texture. Veggies can become mushy, grains can be a little soggy, and meats don’t have a caramelization to them. With this soup, I really wanted to add an extra layer of both flavor and texture.

Enter the butter roasted mushrooms. YES. Butter roasted mushrooms.

AKA how all slow cooker recipes need to be finished.

It’s really not a hard “extra” step. it’s just a matter of adding mushrooms to a pan and putting them in the oven. There’s no real work involved. And again, it is so worth the extra efforts. The crisp, roasted mushrooms are what complete the soup and give it that extra layer of flavor and texture.

Trust me, you need this soup in your life sometime soon. Preferably during your Thanksgiving break, when being lazy and eating soup on the couch while watching Christmas movies (I am obsessed) is totally acceptable.

Ohhhhhh. And if you wanted to make this on Black Friday, stirring in some leftover shredded turkey would be a pretty great idea.

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 1215 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • 1. In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine the rice, onion, carrots, broth, wine, thyme, bay leaves, paprika, crushed red pepper, parmesan rind, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 
    2. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the 1/2 cup grated parmesan and the milk. Cook until warmed through. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
    3. About an hour before serving, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a 9x13 inch baking dish, combine the mushrooms, garlic, butter, thyme sprigs, lemon zest, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking, until the mushrooms are golden and caramelized. 
    4. Mash the garlic with a fork, and then stir the mushrooms, mashed garlic, and any butter left into the soup. 
    5. Divide the soup among bowls and top with fresh thyme and parmesan. Eat!

Notes

*If eating this leftover, the rice does soak up a good amount of liquid. It's taste great, but you might need to add broth to make soup again or just eat good flavored rice!
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Slow Cooker Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Butter Roasted Mushrooms | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Basically a giant bowl of comfort…LOVE.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This is a super delicious soup! The crispy chewy caramelized mushrooms were the best. Mine turned out pretty thick, so extra broth to thin it down would help.

  2. Sorry, your soup has…1215 calories per serving? Is there human oversight of this estimate? Because I think your math is off.

  3. I am afraid of using my crockpot because it’s the standard size, what size are you using? Would it be ok to put this in a Dutch oven and stick it in the oven?

    1. Hi David,
      A standard size crockpot is perfect for this recipe:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx

          1. Phew! Caught that one just in time and am making it in my Dutch oven. Good thing is it takes less time to cook (about 1/4). One last question. About the Parmesan rind. How much of that should I be using? My store gave me a small plastic container with about 4 pieces which I think are all part of a single rind. How much do I use?

  4. 5 stars
    This was phenomenal! We live in the Mushroom Capital of the World (Kennett Square, PA), so buying fresh mushrooms is no problem. I used a combination of cremini, shiitake, maitake, and oyster. Other than adding an extra cup of broth, I followed the recipe as written. The lemon zest and fresh thyme is amazing combined with the mushrooms, garlic, and butter! My husband loved it and we’ll definitely be making this again. *for those who don’t know a lot about mushrooms: take them out of the packaging (especially if it’s plastic) and store them in a brown paper bag in your refrigerator until ready to use. Don’t soak them in water; I typically only brush off the peat and use no water because they’ll absorb it.

  5. 3 stars
    I really thought I followed the recipe correctly, but the soup came out tasting like slightly sour chicken broth. I used whole milk, which might have been the problem? Maybe cream would have been better. The mushrooms were great though lol. I ended up mixing them in with some wild rice and it was fantastic!

  6. 5 stars
    Delicious! Even though it is March, I am making it again today. We can’t seem to get rid of winter here in Colorado, and it’s still chilly. Btw, EVERY recipe I try of yours is delicious. I have your books (they sit on my counter book stand because they are functional and pretty) and am an avid TikTok follower. YUM!

    1. Hey Sue,
      Happy Monday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for trying it out! Thanks so much for your kind message and making so many recipes! xx

  7. 5 stars
    Love all your recipes and this soup is absolutely perfect for a very cold and very snowy Wyoming winter. In fact, I have two more servings in the refrigerator for my husband and I to enjoy tomorrow. Can’t wait!

    Basically, I buy staples in double which can be difficult here at times due to delivery and stocking issues. Perishables I cannot double because, like mushrooms, they need to be used pretty quick if I can even find them. I have not frozen this soup yet because it has milk (or cream) in it. I’m thinking that is not a good option. Would I be correct in my assumption? Thanks!

    1. Hey Diane,
      Happy Monday!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! I don’t think this would be your best option for freezing, especially with the roasted mushrooms:) xT

    1. Hey Melissa,
      You bet, just simmer for 2-3 hours, that will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT

  8. 5 stars
    Made this tonight when I was on the hunt for a mushroom leek soup recipe. So I used leek instead of onion. So so good. I also did a bit less carrot than suggested. Made it in the instant pot. My husband went back for thirds!

    1. Hey Natasha,
      Happy Wednesday! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing your feedback! xx

  9. I have made this recipe many times and it is truly one of the most delicious soup recipes we have tried! Love it!!

    1. Hey Karen,
      Happy Friday!👻 Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and sharing your review! I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xT

    1. Hi Lisa,
      I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT

  10. 4 stars
    I will 100% use this mushroom roasting method again. My kitchen smelled so good that I had trouble falling asleep later with that aroma still wafting into my bedroom.

    My alterations:
    -Maybe the carrots at my grocery store are just larger than most, but I thought 6 seemed excessive. I halved it and there are still plenty in there.
    -There’s no need to chop fresh thyme. The small leaves will come off the sprigs as they wilt in the broth. To make it easy to pull out the denuded sprigs, I use large sprigs or tie small ones together.

    A note on the pictured recipe: those appear to be shiitakes. Their stems are really too fibrous to eat (and I doubt that even slow cooking alters that) so they should be removed. However, they can still add a lot of flavor in soups; I generally see notes to remove them before tearing the caps, but to let them either simmer in the soup first so that it’s easy to strain them out before continuing with the recipe, or to put them in a cheesecloth or XL tea infuser at the same time as the other ingredients so that they’re easy to remove then strain.

    1. Hey Amanda,
      Awesome!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. xTieghan