This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.

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!

A large pot of chicken wild rice soup. this recipe
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Table of Contents

Why you’ll love this Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

  • Creamy From-Scratch Soup – This Chicken Wild Rice Soup is made completely from scratch, but is still easy enough for anyone, even if you don’t consider yourself much of a cook. (Everyone has to start somewhere – that’s no reason not to try!)
  • 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!
A large pot of the chicken wild rice soup with small bowls of soup next to it.

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.

Recipe Substitutions & Variations:

  • 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 a vegetarian wild rice soup.

How to Make Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

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, & parsley.

A close-up of a spoon stirring the veggie mixture.

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.

The creamy veggie mixture being made.

Step 4: Combine Everything and Finish the Soup. Stir the vegetable roux into the pot of broth and chicken. Continue cooking the soup over a simmer to thicken a bit and make sure the wild rice is completely cooked through.

The creamy chicken wild rice soup in a soup pot.

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. Did I mention that earlier? Well, just making sure you don’t forget the bread!

A close-up on the chicken wild rice soup in a large dutch oven.

Serving + Storing:

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. 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! Then, make my Tomato Basil Soup or my Chicken Gnocchi Soup!

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 at the end 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/Slow Cooker?

Yes you can! Find full directions for this method in the notes of the recipe card below.

Can I freeze this soup?

Yes! I recommend freezing individual servings in glass, microwave-safe containers for easy thawing. You may need to add a splash of broth of milk and some extra seasoning once they’re thawed and as you re-heat, but overall this does freeze quite well!

A dutch oven filled with the finished chicken wild rice soup.

Special Tools:

  • Dutch Oven – This is my absolute favorite dutch oven and I use it for SO many things – soups, no knead bread, cooking dinner, etc. (Affiliate link)
A small bowl filled with the finished soup.

More Hearty Soups to Love:

Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating! 

Click the little stars in the header of the recipe card below to leave a comment & star rating, letting me know how you liked the recipe. I take all feedback seriously, & leaving a rating helps my small business immensely!

A large dutch oven filled with the creamy chicken wild rice soup.
5 from 27 votes

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Creamy, rich soup full of herb spiced chicken, hearty wild rice, and tender veggies. The ultimate comfort food!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour
Servings: 8 servings
Pin Rate Print
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Ingredients 

  • 2 large chicken breasts
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1 2/3 cups uncooked wild rice blend, I use Rice Select's Royal Blend, which is not 100% all wild rice. I recommend this as I haven't tested the recipe with 100% pure 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 and 1/2 cup of milk in for equal parts of the heavy cream to lighten this up a bit. If you do this, you may need to thicken the soup a bit more – see note below.

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

Note: If you prefer a slightly less thick soup, swap out some of the heavy cream for milk.
Thickening the Soup: If you swap out heavy cream for milk, you may want to make the soup a bit thicker. To do this, bring it to a rolling simmer, then mix 3 tbsp of the soup liquid with 1 and 1/2 tbsp flour. Stir together until well combined, then add back to the pot and stir to disperse. Continue cooking until the soup is thickened to your liking. You can do this a couple of times if needed. The soup will also thicken in the fridge as it cools, so the leftovers will always be thicker than what the soup looks like when you first make it.  
To Make this in the Crock Pot – Add all ingredients EXCEPT the flour, butter, and heavy cream to the slow cooker. I like to rub the raw chicken breasts with a little extra of the spices called for in the recipe. Cook on low 5-8 hours. Check it at the 5-6 hour mark – the chicken will likely be done, but check that the veggies are tender enough for you and that the rice is done (taste it to see if it’s cooked). 
Once done, remove the chicken breasts and leave the crock pot on warm. Let the chicken breasts rest before you slice them so they don’t completely shred to pieces. (I prefer chunks not shredded chicken). While the chicken rests, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until totally combined – let cook (it will be bubbling quite a bit) for 1 minute. Stir in the heavy cream slowly, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Add to the crock pot and stir it in. Cut up the chicken and return it to the crock pot. Taste and add more seasoning if desired. To thicken the soup up more (if desired) stir together 2 TBSP flour with 2 TBSP of the soup liquid in a small bowl until the flour is dissolved. Add to the crockpot and stir in. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl, Calories: 539kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 21g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 139mg, Sodium: 1092mg, Potassium: 654mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 7389IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 89mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

Stephanie Simmons

I’m a Mom & Grandma-taught cook + baker, and I’m excited to share my love of all things food with you!

More About Me

You May Also Like

5 from 27 votes (10 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

48 Comments

  1. jackie says:

    5 stars
    Not too thick of a soup. I made it with rotisserie chicken so I cut back on the amount of butter to compensate for the fat in the chicken. I also substituted half and half for the heavy cream. Turned out good, delicious for a cool fall day!

    Reply
    1. Stephanie Simmons says:

      So glad you enjoyed this soup, Jackie!

      Reply
  2. Nikki says:

    I think I did something wrong. My mixture was very thick adding to the broth mixture and I’m noticing some clumpy flour/cream balls. Is there any way to salvage this?

    Reply
    1. Stephanie Simmons says:

      Hi NikkI! I’m sorry to hear this. Can you clarify p which mixture was very thick? The creamy mixture? It sounds like you may have not stirred the flour in completely, or perhaps added the cream too quickly to the mixture.

      Reply
  3. Krista Allcott says:

    5 stars
    Ok I’ve made this at least 7 times and everyone who tasted it absolutely LOVED it! Even the kiddos. I added mushrooms and it was heavenly. Thanks for the amazing recipe!! Great job!

    Reply
    1. Stephanie Simmons says:

      Thanks so much for your kind review, Krista!

      Reply
  4. Sandrine King says:

    5 stars
    I have been going through Stephanie’s recipes, first it was the baking and now the savory – her recipes are truly delicious without being uncomplicated (i LOVE the gram weight measurements!!!) this soup was a big hit with my husband and my picky 10 year olds! As a busy mom and business owner i really appreciate someone who is accurate but also gives options / substitutions! THANK YOU

    Reply
    1. Stephanie Simmons says:

      Thanks SO much for your kind words, Sandrine! I appreciate comments like yours so much. I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! I’d love to hear what other recipes you’ve tried – please be sure to leave comments on the other ones as well, if you have a few moments. Happy baking/cooking! 🙂

      Reply