Minnesota Wild Rice Hot dish



One can't grow up in Minnesota without eating wild rice. Its sold everywhere! It grows wild out on the lakes. At almost any potluck, you are likely to see some type of dish made with wild rice.

I have several favorite wild rice recipes and this is one of them....Wild Rice Hot dish. I usually make it in the winter months. It has a rich nutty flavor....and is so warm and comforting.  I like to serve it with a salad and slice of french bread.

It's a perfect meal for a cold Minnesota nite!

Minnesota Wild Rice Hot Dish

1 lb. hamburger
1 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 c. wild rice, rinsed well
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 c. cold water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can of mushrooms, drained

Brown the hamburger, celery, and onion. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together and add the hamburger mixture. Pour into a greased casserole and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, or until done.

47 comments:

Sheena @ Hot Eats and Cool Reads said...

I loved wild rice casserole growing up! I can't wait to make this!! Thanks for posting!

Cranberry Morning said...

I love wild rice. It's so expensive in the stores, but we usually get it when we're in Duluth. They have it for sale at some of the gas stations there - for a better price. How delicious!

Judith said...

This was so good! My Minnesota wild rice was $11/lb(!) but this hot dish makes it easy to justify the purchase - thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

Does this call for can rice or raw? Cause I tried the raw rice and it turned out awful!!

laurie said...

Yes, the rice is raw, but rinsed well. It's important to have a good quality wild rice,too. I buy my rice from someone...fresh harvested. It looks different than most you buy in the store. It is not black....lighter, more brownish almost. You must also bake it until the rice has "popped' open, and is not hard.I think black wild rice from the store takes alot longer to cook.

Otherwise, you could boil your wild rice first and then add the rest of the ingredients, adjusting the baking time.

I'm sorry yours didn't turn out, we LOVE it!

Bonnie said...

I just made this recipe last night. Eating leftovers today. Yummy!

Anonymous said...

Do you cover your dish when you bake it?

laurie said...

Yes, I cover the dish for about an hour, then stir it and uncover for the last half.

Anonymous said...

I made this using ground venison. Absolutely delicious and authentically Minnesotan.

Anonymous said...

My go-to recipe for wild rice casserole - however, I will double the wild rice next time to offset the lb of beef. Works great with chicken too!

Anonymous said...

If you doubled the rice (an idea I really like), how much additional liquid would you add?

Ginny said...

Someone said they buy their wild rice at gas stations when going to Duluth. I can personally recommend on I35 the Hinckley Holiday Station. It is $17.99 for 3#'s of awesome quality wild rice!!!

Rhonda said...

I get my wild rice from Marlis and Duane Maki in Brainard for about $8.50/lb and they ship it right to your door! I love it because it only takes about 20 minutes to cook. Our family buys it for little holiday gifts. I plan to use some today with this recipe. Yum

Anonymous said...

I remember this as a child. My granny would make it whenever we came to visit in the winter! She lived between Kitchi and Cass Lakes. I will make it soon. Thank you so much for posting!!

Anonymous said...

Can this be frozen before baking??

laurie said...

Yes, this can be frozen before you bake it, or after!

Anonymous said...

Do you add any water to the soup? Or just the condensed soup?

laurie said...

Yes, if you read the recipe, it says to add the two cans of soup,as is, and then also two cups of water. The wild rice needs the liquid to cook as it bakes.

bruce said...

Trying it today with a few tweaks for a belated Thanksgiving dinner in Prague, CZ!

bruce said...

Made it yesterday for our belated Thanksgiving in Prague, CZ. The only regret was after feeding 11 adults and big kids no left overs! :(

foodgirldc said...

I grew up in Northern WI (born in MN) and we always have wild rice hotdish for Thanksgiving. I now live on the East Coast and to get real wild rice, I call my mom, who calls a guy in Northern MN, and I get bags of rice in ziplock bags. It is amazing. I soak my wild rice over night, change the water when I wake up, and let it soak until I need it. It fluffs up nicely. I also use chicken broth instead of water. I'm sure every family has their own recipe, regardless, nothing says holidays to me like wild rice hotdish. In fact, I've got wild rice soaking right now for a holiday pot luck I'm attending this afternoon.

Audrey K. said...

Made this tonight and it turned out awesome! I used the "canoe" brand of cooked, canned wild rice and it didn't change the taste much at all! Also added a small amount of shredded Swiss cheese at the end.

Very very good! Thank you!!

Shelly Libra - Elmore, MN said...

When I don't have wild rice, I will use the Lipton or Rice-a-Roni Long Grain Wild Rice to make this recipe. It is just as good, if not better. I do use the seasoning packet that comes with the box.

Anonymous said...

I've had issues with the rice cooking properly. So I switched to cracked wild rice. Its cheaper and cooks faster but still tastes amazing.

Anonymous said...

Just got 10 lbs of wild rice from a guy in Cass Lake on ebay (He does sell in one lb bags also....have ordered before and his stuff is terrific! (You can't beat fresh harvested wild rice!) Can't wait to try this recipe!

Unknown said...

Rice did not cook thoroughly - even after 1 1/2 hours. Just put a cover on the dish and am hoping that will help as it cools down.

laurie said...

Make sure you buy the good wild rice....it is more brown in color, not black. It will cook much better in any recipes and I feel tastes better,too!

Unknown said...

Can you double this? I want leftovers!!

laurie said...

I have never doubled this, but I imagine you sure could!

Melissa said...

I'm making this for "second meal" at my family's Thanksgiving tomorrow. I've made it many times and it's always delicious! The problem is, I need to triple it for the swedish eating army that is my family. I'm going to cook it in a crock pot. And suggestions on time, temp, or more liquid?

laurie said...

Sorry, I have never made it in a crock pot before, and I have never made more than one recipe at a time! I hope you have good luck with it!

DARCEY said...

Loved this dish! I used Uncle Bens Chinese Rice and two cans of mushroom soup and WOW so delicious! Definately make this again, both my teenage sons kept saying how good it was. Baked for 30 mins, rice was precooked. Thanks for posting!

Unknown said...

So interesting to hear ppl talk about how expensive and hard to find wild rice is!!! I guess this is one luxury I have had living in n. MN...it's always a gift to me during ricing season...I love wild rice hot dish and I'm glad I found this recipe!!!my mom use to make it so never had too...couple hints tho..you can cook rice on stove with cups water to 1 cup rice...I too like putting a little chicken stock in mine...also most wild rice hot dishes up here contain mushrooms but each there own...thank you again

Bug said...

hats off. The best wild rice hotdish I have had in a long time. substituted water with chicken stock and ground beef with ground lamb.

m. peifer-freeman said...

This is a great recipe--not sure if anyone's mentioned it, but it works great in a Crockpot, too. I leave all the liquids the same, but add the celery about half way through (only because I like it a bit crisper--I've added it at the beginning, too and it's just fine). My Crockpot seems to run hotter than most, so, it takes, for me, about 4 hours on low--the rice cooks beautifully. (I also throw in some raisins toward the end. :) )

terrir said...

has anyone tried this in an instant pot?

Anonymous said...

I use Morel mushroom and after rehydrating I use the broth from the mushrooms as part of the liquid.

Unknown said...

I made mine with 3 cans of precooked rice, it was amazing!!

Wendy said...

If I precook the wild rice, do I reduce the amount of water in the recipe? I have the black wild rice harvested in MN, but since it’s black I thought it would be b st if I precook.

minnechik said...

So this is in my oven as we speak. I just had to add more liquid and by the time I think it will be done, it will have cooked twice as long as the recipe states. Good flavor. I used chicken rather than ground beef. So beware, cook 3 hours and add more liquid towards the last 30 min. of cooking. I'm not one to cook using recipes because this happens a lot.

Unknown said...

That sounds amazing! I remember foraging for Morels in the woods by our house! Brings back good memories!

Unknown said...

I like Jimmy deans breakfast sausage browned up in it.I use brown wild rice as it grows in my back yard almost.

Seasons01 said...

I added minced garlic at the end of the frying time of the celery and onions. I also used a wild rice "mix". It's too aromatic for me so I am hoping the mix will go well in this hotdish. I also replaced the water with chicken broth.

It smells good and tastes good before I turned on the heat. I'm using a crockpot. 4 hours on low but will be checking in 2 hours and mix it up a little. My crock pot has a cover that doesn't fit so I may lose moisture and will then add water.

Nummy!

Janice said...

OMG THIS WAS DELICIOUS �� My husband LOVED IT!! And today I’m turning the leftover’s into a soup. Added homemade chicken broth and a splash of sherry and a little cream and BOOM �� Whole new dinner. Will most definitely make this again….maybe for Thanksgiving!! Thanks for the recipe ♥️

Unknown said...

This was the first wild rice recipe I tried EVER! We were living in Ohio at the time. Since then, I have tried several but this is my favorite recipe. I get cravings for wild rice. Seriously! These days, I use ground turkey instead of beef and add chopped carrots to the vegetables (mainly because I use Trader Joe's mirepoix as an easy shortcut). I also add some poultry seasoning, such as Bell's, and thyme. Super delicious! We have moved back to our home in southern California where it is not so cold, but I still make this casserole every fall and winter. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

How many servings does this make?

laurie said...

It makes about 6 servings I would say.