Minnesota Wild Rice Beer Cheese Soup

By á-12910

A full-meal version of that classic soup. Serve in sour dough bread bowls if desired! Great for mid-west winter.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked wild rice
• 4 tbsps butter (you can use olive oil instead--this is for sauteing the veggies)
• 1 onion, yellow or white, diced
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup broccoli florets (can used frozen)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 jars Kraft Old English Cheese spread (substitute 12 oz of Velveeta for a cheaper option)
• 1 lb diced cooked ham or chicken
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp basil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup water
• 24 oz of your favorite beer (don't go as dark as Guinness, but this is all to taste. I use Grain Belt Nordeast, some folks swear by Miller)

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 40mins
Adapted from food.com

Preparation

Step 1

Saute the onion in 2 tsbps of butter or the same amount of olive oil. When translucent, add to large pot. Add the wild rice, the chicken stock and broccoli florets. Put the burner on medium heat and lat that start to heat up.

Saute the carrots and the celery in the same pan as the onion, add to the pot. Take 1 cup water, pour it into the saute pan. This will get all the leftover butter and veggie bits moving-pour it all into the soup pot too. Add the Worcestershire, and basil. Then salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, add your meat of choice. Slowly stir in the cheese, making sure it isn't clumping, and keep stirring so it melts into a smooth consistency. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, don't let it boil.

Add the beer. Go slow, the carbonation will make the soup puff up. Once the beer is in, let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes. If it tastes like a frat party when you test it, let it simmer for a little bit longer.

Pro tip--if this soup gets you drunk, you didn't simmer the beer long enough.

Serve in bread bowls. This soup can be topped with more cheese, popcorn, bacon, green onion, whatever you'd like--or you can eat it just the way it is.