Small Recipes... Sausage Wild Rice Soup

Coming originally from Minnesota, we love wild rice.  This recipe for soup is one of our favorites; I keep breakfast sausage pattied up in the freezer, as well as cooked brown-wild rice mixture, diced celery and diced onions ready to go in the freezer.  This soup is on the table in less than a half hour.  If you don’t have the rice in the freezer, cook it a day ahead while you’re working around your kitchen or eating a meal, and refrigerate it overnight. 

I make my own rice mix; buying both wild rice and brown rice in bulk and combining it myself is cheaper.  The mixture I use is at the bottom of this post.                   

   Sausage Wild Rice Soup

     ¼      cup  brown and wild rice -- uncooked (1 cup cooked)

  2         ounces  Bulk Breakfast Sausage

  2        Tablespoons  Onion -- minced

  2        Tablespoons  Celery -- finely chopped

     ¼     cup  Carrots -- very thinly sliced

  1 ½    cups  Chicken Broth -- (homemade or made with water and chicken base)

  1        tablespoon  Sherry

     ½    cup  Heavy Cream -- or half and half

  2        Tablespoons  Flour, All-purpose -- or cook-type clear jel

Cook brown and wild rice mix in 1 cup of water or broth for 40-50 minutes; drain well.  (I often do this during dinnertime the day ahead and refrigerate.) or use 1 cup thawed frozen brown and wild rice mix.

In a saucepan, brown sausage, crumble, set aside.

In same saucepan, combine broth, sherry, vegetables; simmer about 15 minutes.  Return sausage to pan with rice.  Combine flour and cream, add to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir 1 minute more until thickened. 

Serves 2

Yield:  "3 cups Soup"

  Brown and Wild Rice Mix

  2 1/2         Pounds  brown rice

     3/4         pound  wild rice

Makes a half gallon jar full of dry mix.  

Cook ¼ cup brown and wild rice mix in 1 cup of water or broth for 40-50 minutes; drain well.  Can be prepared in your instant pot or pressure cooker and frozen.

Cost:  $2.41 per pound.....mixed was $3.63 per pound

Yield:  "3 1/4 pounds"