Wild Turkey & Wild Rice Soup Recipe

By Ryan Sparks

This recipe is double wild, containing both wild turkey and wild rice. With wild turkey thighs, a slow cooker is your friend to ensure the meat is tender and delicious ahead of time, so you don’t have to worry about overcooking the rest of your ingredients while waiting for the thighs to cook.

My wife and I like to make this recipe between late winter and early spring. It is a perfect dinner to enjoy the night before Nebraska’s archery spring turkey opener in late March. It goes well with toasted and buttered bread.

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 hours
Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 4 carrots, cut into half-inch pieces
• 1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
• 1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ tsp. fresh thyme, minced (or substitute dried thyme)
• Salt
• Pepper
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping cup wild rice
• 2 quarts turkey or chicken stock
• 4 cups cooked and chopped wild turkey thigh meat (from 2 wild turkey thighs)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Chopped parsley or chives for garnish, optional

Directions

1. Place the turkey thighs in a slow cooker on the high setting, cover with water, and cook for about 5 hours. Around the 4-hour mark, start to test them with a fork. When the meat easily flakes away from the bone, they are done.
   
   When the thighs are tender, remove them from the slow cooker to a cutting board and allow them to cool slightly. Using your fingers, pull the meat from the bone and shred it. When you have a pile of shredded turkey meat, roughly chop it with a knife. (See optional step at end of the recipe.)
   
   
2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, cayenne and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and stir occasionally until the mixture has softened but not browned, around 10 minutes.
   
   
3. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and cook, stirring constantly until evenly coated and the raw flour taste has been removed, around 3 minutes.
   
   
4. Add the wild rice to the pan and gradually stir in the stock. Bring to a low boil, add the bay leaf, then simmer over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are nearly tender, around
   20 minutes.
   
   
5. When the vegetables are almost tender, add the chopped turkey meat, stirring occasionally until the wild rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.
   
   
6. Lower the heat and stir in the cream. Stir until evenly mixed and then taste for salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, garnish with parsley or chives and serve.

A Simple Wild Turkey Stock

Once you have removed the turkey thighs from the cooking liquid, toss in 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs and 1 onion, all roughly chopped. Then add 1 bay leaf, whole black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley. Keep the lid off the slow cooker and allow to slowly reduce for 4-5 hours.