Wild Rice Soup with a Thai twist! All the cozy traditional flavors spiced up with curry paste, ginger, garlic, coconut and lime, this soup is the perfect new addition to the soup season. [ 173 Calories, 25.1 g Carbs, 4.1 g Fat, 3.5g Protein per 1 heaping cup serving]
Just like a lot of other traditional American recipes, I did not grow up eating wild rice soup. And oh boy, I really did miss out. The traditional creamy wild rice soup is so delicious, if you’ve never had it, go get some now! My take on this uses diced butternut squash to celebrate fall and fragrant, savory Thai flavors to really elevate this soup.
This is another one of those recipes that I make every year during the Fall and Winter. It is a very soothing and filling soup (thanks to the chewy grains of wild rice!). Adding lime to finish it off also gives it a perfect bite of acidity. This soup is NOT spicy, rather the curry paste gives it a heavy dose of flavor that makes your job in the kitchen easier.
This year, I made this soup just in time to enjoy it during a mild sickness. I work with kids so I’m often held hostage by their parades of mild fevers and runny noses. I’ve been working with students for over 5 years now, so you’d think I’d have some immunity built up… well nope. I will say that this soup really saved me while I was sick. It also reheats really well so it was amazing to eat for lunch during the days where I’m on campus for 12+ hours.
I also made this soup in my NEW Crockpot Express Crock Multi Cooker which is a combination slow cooker AND pressure cooker! I got one after seeing Annalise from Completely Delicious post a few new recipes using the Multi Cooker. In the 3 weeks that I’ve had it, it’s been used nearly every day!
I have made soups, chicken, perfectly cooked lentils (recipe coming soon!), and a whole bunch of other stuff. I love that it’s BOTH a slow cooker and pressure cooker, this really saves me space in my small apartment kitchen. Also, it’s an attractive device! This is obviously not a sponsored post, I am just really in love with this new appliance.
Some things about this recipe:
- Fish sauce is made from fermented anchovies so it is not vegetarian or vegan. It adds a lot of flavor and really makes this soup special. A little goes a long way and it lasts a long time in the fridge, it’s also used in a variety of cuisines such as Vietnamese and Chinese, in addition to Thai.
- I used a wild rice BLEND. That’s why this soup cooks faster than a recipe using only wild rice. I really love the blends because they have so much variety… also they are cheaper and nice on my student wallet
- I did not use canned coconut milk, I used a coconut milk beverage which is much lower in calories but still adds that distinct coconut taste.
- This soup can be made on the stovetop, just use a large soup pot, saute veggies, add broth, bring it to a boil, add rice (and other ingredients), reduce heat to low and cook for 45 minutes-1 hour or until rice is done. Then add roux and coconut milk beverage.
Thai Butternut Squash Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbs oil
- 2-3 cups butternut squash, large dice
- 1 medium onion, diced white or yellow
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 large celery stick, diced
- 1 cup wild rice BLEND
- 3 cups broth
- 2 tbs Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 tsp fish sauce* see notes
- 1 tbs brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp EACH ginger powder and garlic powder* see notes
- 2 cups coconut milk beverage* see notes
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Roux
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 tbs flour
- 1 cup broth
For serving
- fresh lime juice and wedges
- 1 tbs crushed roasted peanuts optional
- 1-2 sprigs cilantro optional
Instructions
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Press HEAT/SAUTE button on your pressure cooker, when fully heated add in oil and diced veggies. Saute veggies until lightly caramelized, the edges should be colored and the veggies will be very aromatic.
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Keep the HEAT/SAUTE option on, add 3 cups broth into the pot. Add the wild rice blend, curry paste, fish sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder, and brown sugar. Stir to combine (use a wooden spoon so you don't scratch the inner bowl!). Add the lid and twist it to the locked position, make sure the steam release is set to closed. Cook at high pressure for 25 minutes under the manual setting*.
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While the soup cooks, make the roux. Melt butter and flour in a small pan over low heat. Whisk them together to form a paste, slowly add in broth and continue whisking until you have a smooth creamy sauce. The roux is now done. When the soup is done, manually release the pressure (be careful, it's hot pressure!!!) by twisting the steam release knob until all pressure is released. Close steam release knob, remove lid and add both the roux and the coconut milk beverage to the soup, stir to combine. Finish to taste with salt and pepper.
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I love this soup with a squeeze of lime juice, it really perks up those Thai flavors! This soup can keep in the fridge for at least 3 days and reheats great!
Recipe Notes
Fish sauce is not vegetarian/vegan, if you want you can sub fish sauce for equal amounts of soy sauce. You will lose out on the unique flavor fish sauce adds, but soy sauce will give you some umami-ness.
You can replace the dried ginger and garlic for fresh, just use 1 TSP FRESH for each ingredient.
To keep the calories low, I used coconut milk beverage which is not the same as canned coconut milk. I use the soy delicious brand of unsweetened coconut milk beverage for this recipe.
I own and use the Crock Pot Express Crock Multi Cooker. It does not have a labelled manual setting. Instead you can use either the Beans/Chili, Dessert, or Soup settings, which operate as manual. Make sure to adjust the pressure for your recipe! You can read more on their FAQ page here.
This recipe was inspired by this recipe from Sweet Peas and Saffron.
