Description
Hearty wild rice & sweet potato bacon soup brings comfort from Wisconsin’s culinary traditions. Savory ingredients blend seamlessly, offering you a warming bowl of regional satisfaction.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 cups (960 ml) vegetable broth
- 3–4 cups (450–600 g) cubed sweet potatoes
- 0.5 lbs (226 g) applewood smoked bacon
- 0.5 cups (85 g) wild rice or wild rice blend
- 0.5 cups (75 g) diced yellow onion
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 diced celery stalk
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- 0.5 tsp dried thyme
- 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
- Sea or kosher salt (to taste)
- Fresh black pepper (to taste)
- Ground cayenne or red pepper flakes (to taste)
Instructions
- Bacon Preparation: Crisp bacon in a spacious Dutch oven until golden brown, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate while retaining the rendered fat.
- Vegetable Sauté: Add olive oil to the bacon drippings and gently sauté onion, garlic, celery, bay leaf with a light seasoning of salt and black pepper until vegetables become translucent and aromatic, approximately 5-6 minutes.
- Rice and Spice Integration: Introduce wild rice to the pan, toasting for 2-3 minutes to develop a nutty flavor profile, then incorporate vegetable broth, sweet potatoes, thyme, smoked paprika, parsley, cayenne, and crumble half the prepared bacon into the mixture.
- Simmering Process: Elevate heat to initiate a gentle simmer, allowing the soup to cook for 25 minutes while stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and ensure uniform cooking of wild rice and sweet potatoes.
- Finishing Touches: Remove bay leaf, taste and adjust seasonings as needed, then ladle the steaming soup into serving bowls and garnish with remaining crispy bacon fragments, serving immediately while piping hot.
Notes
- Bacon Rendering Tip: Cook bacon slowly to maximize crispiness and extract maximum flavor for the soup base.
- Rice Toasting Technique: Gently toast wild rice before adding liquid to enhance its nutty, earthy undertones and improve overall depth of flavor.
- Texture Control: Stir soup occasionally during simmering to prevent rice from sticking and ensure even cooking of sweet potatoes.
- Seasoning Strategy: Taste and adjust seasonings near the end of cooking to balance smoky bacon, sweet potatoes, and spicy undertones perfectly.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Boiling, Sautéing, Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 720 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg