Chicken Wild Rice Soup
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This Chicken Wild Rice Soup is like a warm hug, with vegetables, wild rice, and pre-cooked chicken simmered in a creamy, savory broth. It’s quick and easy to make on the stove, in a slow cooker, or in the Instant Pot.
Why you’ll love this recipe!
- Cold-weather staple – Just like my chicken quinoa soup, this creamy chicken wild rice soup is a perfect cold-weather meal. It warms you up from the inside out!
- Versatile – It’s easy to make gluten-free, dairy-free, and with the veggies and proteins of your choice. Plus, you can make it on the stove, in a crockpot, or in the Instant Pot.
- Nutrient-dense – Each bowl is packed with veggies, protein-packed chicken, and fiber-rich wild rice.
Table of Contents
Does it even count as a sick day if you don’t curl up with a bowl of chicken soup? I usually make my Instant Pot chicken noodle soup because it’s a classic, but lately, I’ve been keeping this Chicken Wild Rice Soup on repeat.
This is one of those soul-warming one-pot meals that simmers shredded chicken, wild rice, and vegetables together in a silky, herb-forward broth. The pictures alone make me want to wrap myself in a blanket and slurp up a bowl!
I love its comforting flavors and nourishing ingredients, but I also can’t get over how versatile the recipe is. I can put it together on the stove, in a crockpot, or in a pressure cooker using the ingredients I already have in the fridge. I’ve included all of the cooking methods and ingredient swaps below to help make this a staple in your house, too.
Wild Rice and Chicken Soup Ingredients
Mirepoix – AKA a mix of diced onions, carrots, and celery. I also added lots of minced garlic for the best savory flavor.
Flour – All-purpose flour thickens the broth.
Herbs – Would it be a chicken soup recipe without the herbs? I don’t think so! I used dried rosemary and a bay leaf, but dried thyme or oregano would be good here, too.
Wild rice – Fun fact: wild rice isn’t actually rice; it’s a type of semi-aquatic grass. It has an amazing chewy texture and a distinctive earthy, toasted flavor that makes this soup extra comforting.
Chicken – I usually prep shredded boneless skinless chicken breasts ahead of time, but a store-bought rotisserie chicken or leftovers from a whole chicken will also work.
Milk and heavy cream – Together, they make the soup luxurious and creamy.
This list provides further clarification on a few ingredients. See the recipe card below for the full ingredient list.
Variations
- Gluten-free option – A 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend works just as well as the all-purpose flour here.
- Dairy-free option – Non-dairy milk, cream, butter, and parmesan would still make the soup rich and velvety.
- Vegetarian option – Omit the chicken or replace it with a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas or white beans. The chicken broth can easily be substituted for vegetable broth as well.
- Use turkey instead – Shred the leftover roasted turkey from Thanksgiving and toss it in the soup.
- Finish with greens – You can stir in a handful of baby spinach leaves or chopped kale at the end if you’d like.
How to Make Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Step 1: Sauté the aromatics. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, then add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté until soft.
Step 2: Make the roux. Stir in the salt, rosemary, and pepper, then add the flour and stir continuously for 1 minute.
Step 3: Cook the wild rice. Slowly stir in the broth, then add the wild rice and bay leaf. Heat the soup to a boil, then cover the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer.
Step 4: Add the chicken and cream. Once the rice is tender, stir in the chicken, milk, and cream. Simmer for a few more minutes.
Step 5: Finish and serve. Remove the bay leaf and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle it into bowls and top with grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Instant Pot Instructions
You can go about this one of two ways: either add shredded chicken to my Instant Pot wild rice soup recipe, or follow these steps to make it from scratch:
- Use Sauté mode to melt the butter and cook the mirepoix and garlic, then turn it off.
- Add the broth, rice, and seasonings, then pressure cook on High for 25 to 30 minutes.
- When the timer stops, manually release the pressure, then stir in your milk, cream, and chicken.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Sauté the mirepoix, garlic, flour, and seasonings on the stove, then dump everything (except the dairy and chicken) into a slow cooker.
- Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or until the rice is tender.
- About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the milk, cream, and chicken.
Erin’s Tips and Tricks
- Continuously stir the flour after adding it to the pot, or else it might burn.
- The cooked wild rice should be tender but still slightly chewy. It will take approximately 40 minutes to cook and will start to curl and “butterfly” open when it’s done.
- For an even thicker texture, you can blend some of the soup with an immersion blender or whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with the cream before stirring it in.
- I highly recommend garnishing every bowl of soup with fresh herbs (chopped chives or dill), lemon zest, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of parmesan, or crispy bacon crumbles!
My Pro Tip
Recipe Tip
Don’t stir in all of the broth at once, or you might end up with lumps of flour in the soup. Instead, pour and stir in 1/2 cup of broth at a time. This is the secret to a perfectly emulsified and smooth base.
Chicken Wild Rice Soup FAQs
It helps! Rinsing the wild rice under cold running water removes excess surface starch, which keeps the soup silky rather than overly thick.
A lot of wild rice soup recipes require the rice to be cooked separately, but it isn’t necessary for my version. I like cooking everything in the broth to keep it easy. However, if you happen to have leftover cooked wild rice on hand, you can reduce the simmering time to 20 minutes or stir it in with the chicken at the end.
Not quite. A “blend” usually mixes wild rice with white or brown rice, which cooks much faster. If you’re using a blend, I recommend cooking it separately (follow the package directions) and stirring it into the soup at the end to keep the grains tender.
Storage
Refrigerator: Once cooled, this creamy chicken wild rice soup can be covered and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezer: If you plan on freezing the soup, make it without the milk and cream so they don’t separate after thawing. Just stir in the dairy when you reheat the leftovers.
Reheating: Quickly zap the soup in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds or so) or warm it up in a pot on the stove over medium-low heat. If it thickened at all in the fridge, stir in a splash of chicken broth.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup wild rice, rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded (about 3 cups) (pulled chicken)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- grated parmesan for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, then add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes.
- Next, add the salt, rosemary and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the flour and stir continuously for 1 minute until the flour is slightly golden with a nutty aroma.
- Pour in the broth, rice and bay leaf. Bring the soup to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you haven’t already, now is a good time to cook the chicken (pulled chicken).
- Add in the chicken, milk and cream and continue simmering for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, add salt and pepper to taste, along with a sprinkle of grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Lovvvvvved this! My new favorite comfort soup!!
I found my way to your “kitchen” from another website (How Sweet Eats), that “crushed” over your recipe. I am SO glad to be here! Last night I had my way with your Chicken and Wild Rice soup, and it was fantastic. Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach, and I questioned if this really would be enough for 6 servings. It was the perfect amount for a satisfying/comforting meal for 6. We’ll have this tomorrow night as well, and I’ll see what happens with the remaining 2 servings that are now in the freezer. Wild Rice will absolutely become a thing for me, as there is a unique flavor in every bite from this. I did not have dried Rosemary and subbed with Thyme. No complaints :). Thank you Erin for sharing your keen cooking eye. The small amount of cream is enough to create a sumptuous experience, and yet not heavy at all. P.S…..read your bio. My grandma Belle emigrated to “Scranton” Pennsylvania when she was 2 years old, from Russia.
Wow thanks so much for the kind words Jeff! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Welcome and happy cooking!
This soup is DELICIOUS. I like a lot of veggies, so I used 4 carrots and 4 celery. Used all half and half instead of milk/heavy cream. It was a bit thick, so I added 2 more cups of broth. I cooked 2 chicken breasts in the air fryer, which was perfect. Definitely my new ‘go to’ for chicken and wild rice soup.
Thanks so much Anne! Great additions added. I love lots of veggies as well!