Our creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is a surefire way to get warm and cozy on a cold winter night. It’s creamy base paired with filling wild rice, tender chicken, and the freshest herbs, leaves us feeling satisfied and warmed through and through. Serve this family favorite with our crunchy fennel salad and a side of crusty bread for a complete meal.
The Best Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Homemade chicken and wild rice soup is one of those classic recipes that everyone has to try making at least once. And while it might look intimidating with its plentiful vegetables and fresh herbs, we’ve made it easy by using one pot that has you left with savory, creamy soup in less than an hour making it perfect for your weeknight menu.
Looking for More Chicken Soups?
If you love them as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Golden Turmeric Chicken Soup!
What You Will Need
- butter – A key ingredient to help sauté your veggies to perfection.
- garlic – A simple ingredient that adds the best combination of spicy, pungent, and nutty flavors.
- yellow onion, celery, and carrots – fresh veggies that are essential to any homemade soup recipe.
- all-purpose flour – Used to add thickness to the soup.
- chicken broth – A grocery store variety will work just fine, or you can dabble in learning how to make chicken broth by following our step-by-step tutorial.
- chicken breasts – option to use leftover rotisserie chicken in place of chicken breasts, which would add provide a variety of light and dark meat.
- wild rice – considered a complete protein with all nine amino acids, wild rice is simple way to add more nutritional value to any meal.
- Nutpods – Be sure to select the unsweetened and unflavored variety. Or if dairy isn’t an issue for you, feel free to replace with half-and-half.
- bay leaf – An easy way to add another subtle layer of flavors to any hearty dish.
- kosher salt and ground black pepper – Just a bit goes a long way.
- fresh thyme – This fresh herb is a simple way to add nuanced earthy, minty, and citrusy flavors.
- lemon zest – Just a bit to brighten the whole soup.
- baby bella mushrooms – Feel free to select whole or sliced, but just know that whole will last longer in your fridge if you plan on making this dish later in the week.
How Many Calories Are In Chicken And Wild Rice Soup
This recipe serves about 10 people, which brings it’s calorie count to about 350 calories per serving. Our recipe may have slightly less calories than others as we use Nutpods which has 10 calories per tablespoon compared to 40 calories per tablespoon in half-and-half. For complete nutritional information, scroll down to the recipe card.
How To Make Chicken And Wild Rice Soup
Bring a large Dutch Oven or a large pot to medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of butter. Melt the butter and swirl it around to ensure that it coats the pan and then add your minced garlic and chopped onion. Move them around the pan for 1-2 minutes or until they soften. Next, add celery and carrots and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining three tablespoons of butter and let it melt. Then add your flour and stir it so that it coats the vegetables. Keeping the heat at medium-high, slowly add the chicken broth a quarter cup at a time. Use a whisk to stir and combine all of your ingredients. Continue adding a little chicken broth and whisking until all the chicken broth has been added.
Next, add the raw chicken breast and cover. Let simmer 10-15 minutes or until chicken breast is fully cooked. It’s always smart to use an internal meat thermometer to ensure the chicken has reached 165 °F.
Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and place on a plate and shred it using two forks. Return the shredded chicken back to the pot along with the wild rice, Nutpods, bay leaf, thyme and lemon zest. Stir and then cover.
Lastly, it’s time to sauté your mushrooms! Bring a large saucepan to medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of butter and let melt. Add your sliced mushrooms and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Be sure to season them with kosher salt and ground black pepper for ultimate flavor. Feel free to add additional butter to the pan if it dries up. Add mushrooms to the Dutch Oven and stir to combine. Now it’s time to taste your soup and add season with salt and pepper to your preference.
Best Ways To Serve Chicken Wild Rice Soup
There is simply nothing better than a warm, cozy bowl of soup on those chilly days! We love to serve it up with some crusty bread covered in butter, breadsticks for dipping, or a slice of grilled bread.
Storage & Freezer
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. We do not recommend freezing this soup as most cream based soups using dairy-free or dairy products tend to separate during the thawing process, leaving you with grainy textured soup. Check out our guide to soup swaps to get a list of our favorite freezer friendly soups.
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our creamy, comforting Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is perfect for cold winter nights! The whole family will love it!
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter, divided (sub plant-based)
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 celery stalks, sliced
- 3–4 medium carrots, peeled & sliced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (sub 1-to-1 gluten free flour)
- 4–5 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 3 cups (22-23oz) wild rice, cooked
- 1/2 cup Nutpods (unsweeteened/unflavored) OR half-and-half
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- splash of white wine
Sautéed Mushrooms:
- 2 tablespoons butter (sub plant-based)
- 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more if needed)
Instructions
- Sauté: Add 2 tablespoons butter to a large Dutch Oven (I used a 5.5qt) and bring to medium-high heat. Let butter melt and swirl to coat the pan. Add garlic and onion. Move around the pan until they soften, approx. 1-2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Broth: Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and let melt. Add flour and stir to coat the vegetables. Keeping the heat at medium-high slowly add the chicken broth approx. 1/4 cup at a time and use a whisk to stir and combine. Continue adding a little chicken broth and whisking until all the chicken broth has been added.
- Chicken: Add the chicken breast and cover. Let simmer 10-15 minutes or until chicken breast is fully cooked. Remove chicken from the pot and place on a plate. Shred with two forks and return to the pot along with the wild rice, Nutpods, bay leaf, salt, pepper, thyme, lemon zest and white wine. Stir and then cover.
- Sauté Mushrooms: Bring a skillet to medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of butter and let melt. Add mushrooms and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper (feel free to add additional butter to the pan if it dries up). Add mushrooms to the Dutch Oven and stir to combine.
- Taste: Taste soup and add any additional salt or pepper, as needed. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Notes
- Dairy-Free: use plant-based butter and opt for the Nutpods creamer to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Nutpods vs. Half-and-Half: either work here, but if you want a bit of a lighter version of this soup (with the same amazing taste) try the unsweetened/unflavored Nutpods – it works perfectly here!
- Storage: store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: A bowl full
- Calories: 354
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 554 mg
- Fat: 10.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 47.5 g
- Protein: 19.9 g
- Cholesterol: 56.5 mg
Sarah says
Started a “Soup Sunday” meal plan for the fall, and this was the first one I made last weekend to welcome the boys home from hunting! All of your recipes are super easy and super tasty! Thank you!
Easily five stars….hands down
Erin says
Thank you so much, Sarah!