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This rich and creamy chicken and wild rice soup is a yummy meal for cool winter nights or hearty fall lunches. Made with shredded chicken, whole grain wild rice and veggies this nutritious soup will quickly become a family favorite!
Table of Contents
Honestly, this chicken wild rice soup is comfort food at its finest! I’ve made some healthy swaps, namely excluding heavy cream but it’s still super creamy and delicious. I promise you won’t taste the difference!
The flavor is spot on for fall and it’s packed full of hearty grains and nutritious veggies.
Given that I have quite a few soup recipes on the blog, I think you can trust that this chicken and wild rice soup is also 5-star worthy!
Why Make This Soup:
- Comfort in a bowl – is there anything more comforting than a bowl of soup? This chicken and wild rice soup totally hits the spot on those cooler days and nights!
- Simple Ingredients – Just some simple, wholesome ingredients in this recipe. Lots of veggies plus some good whole grains from wild rice.
- Easily meal-prepped– this soup can be prepped at the start of the week for easy lunches and dinners. You can also freeze it for a later date!
Ingredients Needed:
- Butter – I do like to use a little butter in this recipe but if you’re wanting to keep this recipe dairy-free you can always replace with olive oil instead.
- Carrots – part of the roux but also adds an earthiness
- Onions – I like to use yellow onions in this recipe but white onions will also work
- Celery – part of the roux mixture. Also adds a little crunch.
- Garlic – what’s soup without garlic?
- Fresh Thyme – prefer using fresh thyme in this recipe but you can easily replace with dried thyme. You’ll just want to use half of what’s called for.
- Sage – I use dried, ground sage but fresh sage can also be used.
- Salt + Pepper – I suggested amounts but add or decrease to taste.
- Wild Rice – I like using traditional wild rice for this recipe. You can also use a wild rice blend like the one from Lundberg’s but note that cooking time will need to be decreased as traditional wild rice will take longer to cook than a wild rice blend.
- Flour – this is how I like to thicken the soup to make it creamy. Feel free to use a gluten-free flour blend if you’re gluten-free.
- Chicken broth – You could also replace with beef broth or veggie broth. Water will work in a pinch.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – you could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs but you may need to cook for a little longer.
- Fresh Parsley – for serving.
How to Make Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
STEP 1: COOK VEGGIES
In a large soup or saucepan melt your butter over medium-high heat. Add yellow onion and cook until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add in carrots, celery and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
STEP 2: ADD SPICES
Add in fresh thyme, dried sage, salt, pepper and flour and cook for 1 minute to let flavors combine.
STEP 3: SIMMER SOUP + COOK CHICKEN
Stir in wild rice and chicken broth and then add in chicken breasts. Bring soup to a boil of medium-high heat and then lower to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove chicken breasts using tongs and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board. Continue letting soup simmer for another 30-40 minutes or until rice is fully cooked through. Once easily handled, use two forks to shred chicken on cutting board.
STEP 4: ADD CHICKEN BACK INTO SOUP + SERVE
Add shredded chicken back into soup. Divide evenly into bowls and sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Easy Swaps and Substitutes
Make in the Slow Cooker/Crockpot – you can easily make this chicken wild rice soup in the slow cooker. Just cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Remove chicken at the end and shred. Add back into soup.
Make in the Instant Pot/Pressure cooker – Make this soup in the instant pot or pressure cooker. Add all ingredients and set to pressure cook on HIGH for 12 minutes. Allow it to steam release on its own and then shred chicken before adding back in.
Use turkey in place of chicken – Not a fan of chicken? Feel free to use turkey breast in place of chicken breast.
Use leftover chicken – You can easily skip cooking the chicken by buying store-bought rotisserie chicken. You’ll just shred your chicken and add to soup in last 10-15 minutes of cooking.
Make it gluten-free – Use a gluten-free flour blend instead of regular all-purpose flour if you’re gluten-free.
Swap fresh herbs for dried – you can always use dried herbs such as dried thyme, dried rosemary or parsley if desired. You’ll just want to halve the amount of herbs that are called for as dried herbs tend to be a bit more potent.
Use a wild rice blend – You can also use a wild rice blend like the one from Lundberg’s but note that cooking time will need to be decreased as traditional wild rice will take longer to cook than a wild rice blend.
FAQs
Yes. Simply substitute a gluten-free flour blend in place of all purpose flour.
For sure! Just replace the butter with olive oil at the start of cooking.
Sometimes wild rice can be hard to come by (not here in Minnesota!) so you’ll oftentimes find it as a “wild rice blend”. This can be used in equal amounts to pure wild rice but cut simmer time down to 20-30 minutes so as not to overcook the rice and make it mushy.
Storage Instructions
Soups are the best because you can make them in big batches and freeze leftovers! Reheating instructions included.
In the Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Reheat leftover soup on stovetop or in microwave.
In the Freezer: Freeze in airtight containers (you’ll likely want multiple) for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw on countertop for several hours or overnight in the fridge. Reheat in microwave or on stovetop.
More Cozy Soup Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Soup
- Chicken Poblano Soup
- Turkey Wild Rice Soup Recipe
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
- Minestrone Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
This rich and creamy chicken and wild rice soup is a yummy meal for cool winter nights or hearty fall lunches. Made with shredded chicken, whole grain wild rice and veggies this nutritious soup will quickly become a family favorite!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled + chopped
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, removed from stem
- 1 tsp dried ground sage
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour blend)
- 1 cup wild rice
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2–3 tbsp fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a large soup or saucepan melt your butter over medium-high heat.
- Add yellow onion and cook until translucent, 3-5 minutes.
- Add in carrots, celery and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add in fresh thyme, dried sage, salt, pepper and flour and cook for 1 minute to let flavors combine.
- Stir in wild rice and chicken broth and then add in chicken breasts.
- Bring soup to a boil of medium-high heat and then lower to a simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove chicken breasts using tongs and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board.
- Continue letting soup simmer for another 30-40 minutes or until rice is fully cooked through.
- Once easily handled, use two forks to shred chicken on cutting board.
- Add shredded chicken back into soup.
- Divide evenly into bowls and sprinkle with fresh parsley.
- See storage instructions above.
