Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is the ultimate comfort food to enjoy on cold days! It’s rich and creamy, full of tender veggies, herbed chicken, and hearty wild rice. Don’t forget the crusty bread for dunking!
This recipe was originally published in February of 2018. I just updated it with more tips but the original recipe has not changed.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Creamy From-Scratch Soup – This Chicken Wild Rice Soup is made completely from scratch, but is still easy enough for anyone, even if it’s your first time making soup.
- Tons of Flavor – This soup isn’t lacking in flavor one bit! It’s packed with veggies like carrots, celery, and onions, tender chicken, and of course a wild rice blend.
- Comfort Food – This great soup is the ultimate comfort food!
Ingredient Overview
- Chicken – I usually use chicken breast, but you can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs too.
- Wild Rice Blend – You can find a wild rice blend near the rice in most grocery stores.
- Carrots, Onion, and Celery – These chopped veggies build the base of our soup and add so much flavor.
- Herbs – Parsley, rubbed sage, and thyme also add tons of flavor to this creamy soup. You can even throw in a bay leaf if you have some on hand.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Mirepoix – To save time, most grocery store will have a tub of mirepoix in their produce area – this is a fancy name for a mixture of pre-chopped carrots, onion, and celery.
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free butter and heavy cream to make this recipe dairy-free, if needed.
- Rotisserie Chicken – Feel free to shred a rotisserie chicken or two if you want to save some cooking time.
- Vegetarian – Use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock and omit the chicken if you’d like to make this vegetarian.
How to Make this Recipe Step-by-Step:
Step 1: Cook your Chicken.
Boil your chicken, shred it, then add it to a large soup pot or dutch oven with your chicken broth and the uncooked wild rice. The wild rice will cook while you work on the veggies. You can also cook your chicken in a skillet in olive oil. Be sure it registers 165 degrees F on an instant read thermometer either way.
Step 2: Cook your Veggie Base.
Sauté your chopped carrots, celery, and onion with plenty of spices in some sizzly, melted butter. Yes, that’s right – I said this soup was the ultimate comfort food didn’t I? Be sure to season them well with salt, pepper, thyme, sage, and parsley.
Step 3: Make the Roux.
Stir in the flour into your veggie mix, then stir in the heavy cream. This is now the “roux” – it’s what allows the soup to thicken up to that nice creamy, rich texture we all love! In the below right photo, the butter looks a bit separated out from the roux, but the soup still turned out perfectly fine. I’ve also had the roux turn out smooth – and the soup is always great either way.
Step 4: Combine Everything and Finish the Soup. Remove the lid from the pot that has the cooked chicken, broth, and rice. Stir in the vegetable roux and continue cooking the soup over a simmer to thicken a bit and make sure the wild rice is completely cooked through.
This chicken soup is so good for the soul – warm, creamy, comforting and a bowl of soup pairs perfectly with a hunk of crusty bread for a complete meal. Did I mention that earlier? Well, just making sure you don’t forget the bread – the whole dunking situation here is pretty perfect.
This chicken wild rice soup recipe is simple to make, and makes a big batch! You certainly won’t be sad when you’re on day 3 of these leftovers. In fact, your co-workers will likely ask you what that glorious smell is wafting through your cubicle. Point them in this direction! 🙂
Expert Success Tips:
- Season as you go – When cooking anything, it’s important to build your flavor by seasoning in layers throughout the recipe. So, we season the veggies while they’re sautéing, and we season the chicken in the pot of broth, and then we taste the soup again at the end while it’s finishing cooking to see if it needs additional seasoning. If you wait to add all your seasonings at the very end, the flavor payoff will be much less.
FAQs:
- Can I make this in a Crock Pot? Yes! Find full crock pot directions in the notes of the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations:
- Vegetarian – Feel free to leave out the chicken to make this a vegetarian wild rice soup. Start by adding the rice to vegetable broth, and then following the rest of the recipe as directed.
Serving + Storing this Recipe:
Store this soup while it’s nice and hot, with crusty bread! Store leftovers in in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days.
Special Tools:
The links below are affiliate links.
- Dutch Oven – This is my absolute favorite dutch oven and I use it for SO many things – soups, no knead bread, cooking dinner, etc.
More Hearty Soups to Love:
- Cozy Chicken Dumpling Soup
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup
- One Pot Cheddar Cauliflower Soup
- Hearty Minestrone Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup & No Knead Bread
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment!
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Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 2/3 cups uncooked wild rice
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 3 large stalks celery, diced
- 4 large carrots, diced
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp parsley
- 3/4 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp sage
- salt & black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups heavy cream I often sub 1/2 to 1 cup of milk in for equal parts of the heavy cream to lighten this up a bit.
Instructions
- Prepare the Chicken: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently lower in your chicken & cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until 165° F in the center. (The time will depend on the size of your chicken breasts – cut them into big chunks for faster cooking.) Once done, let rest for a few minutes then shred or cut into bite sized pieces. Add to a large pot with the broth. Bring to a boil, then stir in the rice. Add salt + pepper to taste, then cover the pot and remove from heat.
- Prepare the Veggies: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and spices and cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes – to cook out the raw flour taste. Slowly stir in the cream, and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth (it may not be super smooth – see photo above – it's fine if the butter separates some!). Cook 3-4 more minutes, to thicken and to soften the vegetables a bit more.
- Finish the Soup: Stir this mixture into the big pot with the broth, rice, and chicken. Let simmer over low heat until everything is warmed through and until the rice is done, about 10-15 more minutes. I usually leave the lid on here, but cracked open by leaving the spoon in the pot. Give it a stir occasionally during this last bit of cook time.Taste, and add more seasoning as desired. (I usually end up adding a few more splashes of everything.)
- Serve + Store: Serve with crusty bread – yum! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Notes
Jessica says
This is such a great soup! Perfect for those chilly Midwest winter nights 🙂
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much, Jessica! I know those cold Midwest winter nights well. 🙂
Anne says
This soup is amazing! It contains plenty of cream and butter so how could it be anything but? My family went back for seconds after polishing off large bowls in the first round. Next time I make it I’m going to up the rice blend to 2.25 cups and maybe add some mushrooms just for fun but it really is the perfect creamy chicken and rice soup. Served with crusty light rye loaf.
Stephanie Simmons says
Glad you enjoyed this soup, Anne!
Sheri says
I just made the soup and I swapped out a couple of things. We don’t eat dairy, so I used some organic extra virgin olive oil instead of butter – not as much tho. I used corn starch instead of flour and unsweetened almond milk instead of the heavy cream. Healthier and lighter. Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks for mentioning those swaps, Sheri! It’s always helpful for me and other readers to see that 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this soup!
Shannon J. says
This soup is delicious! My husband, Mike, has made it several times, and last year we bought a big bag of wild rice from Wisconsin so we’d have plenty to make it again and again!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks, Shannon! So glad you’ve enjoyed this soup. We’re making it for Christmas Eve! 🙂
Sarah says
Can I substitute cup for cup gluten free flour?
Stephanie Simmons says
Hi Sarah! I have not tested that myself BUT I’m confident that it should work. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Leah says
So uncooked rice?
Stephanie Simmons says
Yes, measure the rice when it’s uncooked, and then follow the recipe to cook it in the soup pot with the broth. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Jen says
My wild rice was nowhere near done within that time frame. What did I do wrong?
Stephanie Simmons says
Hi Jen! Sorry to hear that – I actually just discovered this week that there’s wild rice that takes 45 minutes to cook, according to the package, and then there’s the kind that I always use that takes 15 minutes to cook. I wonder if you maybe used the longer cooking type? If so, I’m so sorry that wasn’t specified in the recipe – I didn’t realize there were two types (sold by the same brand – so you have to take a good look to notice the difference!) until this week. I’m going to add a note to the recipe now.
Gilly says
I really loved the soup, I did make one change. I don’t eat dairy. I used plant based butter and plant based half and half. I have been looking for a good chicken and wild rice soup recipe for awhile! So, glad to finally find one.
Stephanie Simmons says
Glad you enjoyed this soup, Gilly! 🙂
Taryn VP says
My husband said that this was the best chicken wild rice soup he’s ever had and I have to agree with him! So delicious and creamy and easy to substitute ingredients if you don’t consume dairy. I would highly recommend giving this recipe a try!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much for your kind comment, Taryn! Glad you loved this soup as much as we do. 🙂
Yasmeen says
This looks great! Definitely trying it out
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much!
Wells Baum says
Getting the ingredients and trying it this weekend. Looks delicious!
Stephanie Simmons says
Sounds like the perfect way to start your weekend! 🙂
Mimi says
Such a beautiful soup. I don’t think I’ve ever used wild rice in a soup. I mean, it’s not a huge culinary stretch! It’s just that I tend to think barley, or tortellini… but now I need to rethink things!
Stephanie Simmons says
Haha – it’s definitely worth a try! So yummy 🙂 Oooo I’ve never tried barley! I need to try that now!