Make a mouthwatering wild rice casserole with this easy recipe.
- Carbohydrate 4.86142753240826 g
- Cholesterol 457.213414210935 mg
- Fat 163.054377476933 g
- Fiber 0.355057491561427 g
- Protein 52.2972326276541 g
- Saturated Fat 102.983188220326 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (968g)
- Sodium 2153.41049081086 mg
- Sugar 4.50637004084683 g
- Trans Fat 10.1633874796283 g
- Calories 1672 calories
Step-by-step
- In a slow cooker, place onions, celery, rice mix, water, condensed cream of mushroom soup, butter, American cheese and mushrooms.
- Cover, and cook on Low 6 to 10 hours or on High 2 to 4 hours.
Swapping the processed American cheese for aged sharp cheddar shifts the melt quality and turns the sauce into a sharper, oil-separated emulsion that behaves quite differently under prolonged heat. This style of rich, soup-based casserole gained widespread popularity across the American Midwest during the mid-twentieth century, largely driven by the mass production of canned condensed soups and commercial rice blends that made hearty side dishes accessible to home cooks without requiring from-scratch roux making. Cooking this dish in a slow cooker relies on gentle, steady heat to soften the fibrous exterior of long grain and wild rice while allowing the starches to thicken the surrounding liquid.
Finely chopping the onions and thinly slicing the celery ensures that these aromatic vegetables fully break down during the four to six hours of cooking, releasing enough moisture to maintain the correct liquid ratio for the dry rice mix. Industrial rice blends often contain parboiled white rice alongside true wild rice, which means the grains require adequate moisture absorption to prevent them from remaining chalky in the center while the surrounding dairy solids reduce.
Budget-minded cooks frequently utilize this recipe to transform pantry staples into a substantial main dish by folding in leftover roasted poultry or cubed ham during the final thirty minutes of heating. Because processed cheese contains emulsifying salts designed to prevent oil separation at high temperatures, the sauce maintains its uniform velvety texture even after prolonged holding times on the warm setting.
Leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator will solidify firmly due to the high fat content from the butter and cheese, but they can be easily reheated in a covered baking dish at 350 degrees Fahrenheit with a splash of water or broth to restore the original moisture balance.
