Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is rich and creamy. It has an amazing texture and is filled with SO much flavor from the chicken, vegetables and wild rice. This soup is quick and easy to make, plus you can use rotisserie chicken to make it even easier.
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Hi there! This is Natalya from Momsdish. I like simple recipes that use a limited amount of ingredients. No-fuss meals mean eating homemade is accessible to everyone and every schedule.
If you follow my blog, you know that I am a self-proclaimed soup lover! And, if you love creamy, steamy goodness as much as I do, you are in for a treat. Simply put, I am thrilled for you to try this soup. All you need is a batch of soft dinner rolls and dinner is made!
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup:
Chicken and wild rice soup is literally a comfy sweater in a bowl. We love warming up to a bowl of steamy soup on a cold day.
This is also a great soup to make when you are meal-prepping for the week. Make a big batch and have it on hand when your days get a bit hectic. Bonus: This soup gets better as the flavors mellow so your leftovers will just get tastier as the week goes on!
Packed with chicken, veggies, a wild rice blend (I love the Trader Joe’s bag or get a similar one here) and a dash of cream, this soup hits all the spots. What I love most about this dish is that I can whip it up all in one pot in under an hour. Hello, weeknight dinner rotation!
Hot tip: Have a rotisserie chicken hanging out in the fridge? Use it! Skip adding the raw chicken and shred up your store-bought bird. Once your rice is cooked and your broth is properly seasoned, simply add the shredded chicken into your pot until it is warmed up.
How to Make Chicken Wild Rice Soup:
- In a soup pot or Dutch Oven, saute veggies in butter until golden brown.
- Add a little flour and cook until fully incorporated.
- Add cubed chicken, rice, and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and simmer until rice is tender.
- Pour in heavy cream, continuously stirring to get a nice, smooth broth.
- Season to taste if needed and serve piping hot!
How to Store Chicken and Rice Soup:
Refrigerating is your best bet. The soup will stay fresh for up to a week when stored in an airtight container. Know that the soup will thicken as it cools. This is perfectly normal! Once you reheat it, it will loosen up again.
Can I Freeze Chicken Wild Rice Soup?
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this soup. The cream will break up and separate as the soup freezes, making the reheating not so pretty.
How to Reheat Creamy Soups:
We recommend reheating only the portion you will use. Reheat on the Stove over low heat, stirring occasionally until hot and steaming and a safe 165˚F. Do not boil a creamy soup or it can separate. If you want the soup a little thinner, add a splash of water or chicken broth.
To microwave, place in a microwave-safe container, partially cover and heat on high heat, stirring every 20-30 seconds until soup reaches your desired temperature (at least 165˚F on an instant-read thermometer).
More Delicious Soup Recipes:
- Chicken Noodle Soup: A classic bowl of soup for a winter day or a pesky cold.
- Potato Soup: This is literally a loaded baked potato in soup form. So decadent and tasty.
- Taco Soup: Love tacos, but you’re living low-carb? This is the soup for you.
- Zuppa Toscana: Recreate this restaurant classic at home
- Cabbage Soup: I wouldn’t be Ukrainian if I didn’t suggest a cabbage soup. Healthy and hearty, this soup never disappoints.
- Minestrone Soup: A copycat recipe of Olive Garden’s famous soup.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup carrots, diced into small cubes
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced into small cubes
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 3/4 cup wild rice
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
- 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat a soup pot or Dutch Oven to medium heat. Saute carrots, onions, and celery in butter until golden brown.
- Add flour and stir until the flour is fully incorporated and the raw flavor is cooked out (about 2 minutes).
- Add wild rice, chicken and season with salt and pepper. Pour 8 cups chicken broth over the ingredients and let everything simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked to your desired doneness.
- Slowly pour in heavy cream, continuously stirring to create an even texture.
- Cook the soup for about 5 more minutes on medium-low. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve the soup while it’s hot! When it cools down, it will thicken up. Reheat it to loosen up the broth.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
If you were to add mushrooms to this recipe, which ones would you add?
Hi Irina, this recipe works great with mushrooms, here’s what one of my readers wrote: “I’ve made this soup twice now. I normally make a new recipe exactly the way it is written the first time. The next time I change it up a bit to suit our tastes. So this time I added 1 cup of sliced Cremini mushrooms and another tbsp. of butter to the stock pot just after the vegetables had cooked. Cooked for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently to combine before continuing with the recipe as written. Came out delicious. It was a big hit with our family.”
Very very good! Thick like a stew! We couldn’t find plain wild rice and I knew I’d want a few more spices so I added a box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice and the flavor packet and eliminated the salt. The results were perfection.
Amazing!! I did add Better than Boulion and some garlic but followed everything else to the recipe. The family loved it, even the cat and dog fought to lick the pot!
I made this soup again tonight. The recipe is perfect to me- rich, velvety and just oh sooooooo delicious!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Alice!
As a Minnesotan, I thought this recipe was lacking a bit in flavor. Also too brothy for my taste. Like someone else mentioned, 6 cups of broth and more cream would be better.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Megan. It’s always nice to hear differently perspectives and I appreciate your suggestion to increase the broth and cream.
I made this last time, pretty much stuck to the recipe. But, I added spices, and I kept tasting it. To each his own, but, it would be pretty bland without some added garlic, thyme, basil, etc. It needs a boost of flavor. Other than that, it’s a great recipe.
Hi Suzy Thank you for giving this recipe a try! We love hearing about your kitchen and recipe adventures. We totally understand the flavor boost comment – Everyone’s taste buds are unique. Adding garlic, thyme and basil to your liking is brilliant! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe overall.
The only thing I did differently was put 6 cups chicken broth and 2 1/2 cups cream. Sooooo rich and delicious! Served up with some toasted, buttered bread…the entire family raved how good it was!
Thank you for sharing, Theresa!
A really great, easy soup. I used Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken as my base along with a wild, brown, white rice mix and I’d make it the same way again. I did double the rice, because that’s just us. 🙂
Perfect! Thank you for your wonderful comments and feedback, Lori.
This is an amazing soup, thanks for the recipe.
I added some garlic powder, a couple of dashes of red pepper flake, and a bay leaf. Unbelievably good.
Pairs really well with rosemary sourdough bread.
Sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
I swear I taste lemon in Panera’s Chicken and Wild Rice soup. Can this be added to take it to the next level?
Hi Bobbie! I think that would be fine. Let us know how it turns out.
Can this recipe be turned into a crockpot recipe? When would the rice be added?
Hi Vicki! I have not tested that to advise, but I imagine that may work. Let us know if you experiment.
This came out so creamy and so good. I had a little bit of garlic and dried red pepper flakes just to give it a kick but there’s nothing else you need to add to soup. This is a phenomenal soup. Great on cloudy, rainy days just hits the spot.
Thank you for the nice review, we’re so glad that you loved this soup!
Hi Natasha!
I made this soup and it turned out great! My friends really enjoyed it too!
Love your blog and all your recipes I’ve tried!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Diana!
Do you think any gluten free flour could be substituted – I wanted to try making it with oat flour. How do you think that would turn out?
Hi Sofie! I haven’t tried it with any GF substitutes to advise. Please let us know if you experiment with it.
I have made this soup from a different recipe, my questions is easy… should I keep the pot covered or uncovered during the time while cooking with the rice?
I love your recipes, and can’t wait to taste the results on this one. The pot is on the stove uncovered now.
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Hi Liz! We keep the pot uncovered.
I always leave the pot uncovered and it turns out perfect everytime
This has become a favorite in our house. Sometimes I leave the cream out to save calories.
Hi Tracy! I’m so glad you like this recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Hello! I want to try this soup but can’t figure out if we use raw or cooked chicken when we begin! Please help!! And forgive me for my stupidity!
Hi Amy, we used raw chicken. I have a photo of the raw chicken in the recipe post. I hope this helps.
Greetings from Canada. This soup was so delicious, creamy and just perfect. I smoked the chicken, chopped it up and added it as I added the cream. Thank you for this recipe Nathasha, exactly what we needed after three days of -20F! We love your recipes here. When I cook one, I always say: Tonignt it’s a Natasha dinner!
Love it and it’s my pleasure! I hope you’ll enjoy all the recipes that you will try.
First time commenting. I’m sure I’ve made at least half of the recipes on your site, Natasha, and everything fantastic! I’ve been scrolling past this one thinking ‘meh’, but I’m trying to incorporate more soups (love ‘Mom’s Meatball Soup’ btw), so decided to give this a whirl … Wow! It was fantastic and so simple to make. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to give it a try!
Thank you so much, Danya! I appreciate the feedback. I’m so glad you love my recipes.
Hi Natasha, I see in your recipe nots that you don’t recommend freezing this soup, but other readers have commented that your clam chowder and Zuppa Toscana soup freeze well. Why would this soup be any different?
Hi Brooke! Many of my readers have commented on freezing the Zuppa Toscana and the Clam Chowder successfully but generally, I don’t recommend it because the cream can break up and separate as the soup freezes, making the reheating not so pretty.
Natasha, what do you think if adding a Kale like in Zuppa- Toscana to this soup? Do you think it will compete with wild rice? I like the texture of Kale in Zuppa and it adds something healthy to the soup. This soup is our favorite of all, so delicious and great texture. We use this exact rice as we love the taste and texture of it. Than you.
Hi Nikolai! I think that would be fine. Sounds like it would be a good addition.