Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup Recipe

Creamy Chicken wild rice soup is one of our favorite soups, it is perfect for when you need a cozy soup for a cold winter night. This delicious soup can be made as a triple batch and somehow taste better each time you warm it. My family enjoys it plain, but when I’m feeling extra, I’ll serve it with sourdough bread to elevate the meal. 

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This creamy chicken wild rice soup is the ultimate comfort food. It is super easy to make, and it is a great option to have for dinner and then reheat the next day or two for lunches. We are a homeschool family, so coming up with lunches every day is a challenge of its own, it requires a lot of thinking ahead. Soups come in super handy for us even outside of soup season, and the easy warm up and cleanup is a bonus. 

It does take an hour or more to cook this soup because wild rice takes longer to cook. I am using leftover shredded chicken so that’s a step less I have to do. I’ll also include a section below on how you can add chicken if you don’t have any leftover. You can totally skip the chicken too. I used to make this creamy soup as a side dish to dinner, but the past few times I just thought since it’s almost a whole meal on its own, why not just throw some chicken in as protein and have it as your meal.

Ingredients for Creamy Wild Rice Soup:

• 4-6 cups cooked wild rice
• 8 strips of bacon
• 4 large carrots
• 1 onion
• 4 stalks celery
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• fresh thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley (dried herbs work just fine)
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• all-purpose flour
• whole milk
• heavy cream
• shredded cheese
• cooked shredded chicken

How to make Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

1. Start by cooking the wild rice according to the package instructions. When it is ready, pour it over a drain. 
2. Dice carrots, onion and celery. 
3. In your large dutch oven over medium heat, sauté the bacon until it is crisp around the edges. 
4. Leaving the bacon fat in with the bacon, add your chopped onions, celery and carrots. If you are using leftover bacon, do add another oil like olive oil or butter. 
5. Add fresh herbs generously.
6. Add a tsp of black pepper, tbls of salt, and a tbls of garlic powder. 
7. Let that sauté for a couple minutes, just to give the vegetables a head start.      
8. Add your broth and wild rice and let it come to a boil. Turn it back and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. 
9. Whisk the flour and the cold milk together in a separate bowl until its clump-free. When the soup is at a boil/simmer, pour in your flour mixture. 
10. Let that come to a simmer again, you should be able to see that it has thickened up a bit. 
11. Add your shredded cheese now, and your chicken.
12. Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream. 
13. Stir, serve and enjoy a bowl of divine nourishment.

How to prepare chicken for this soup if you don’t have leftover chicken:

Take 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, trim them and cube them into small pieces. After you add your broth and wild rice to your large soup pot, add the diced raw chicken in too and let that cook for about 15-20 minutes instead of 10. You could also use shredded rotisserie chicken. 

FAQ

Can you use other kinds of rice? 

Yes, I’ve made this with a wild rice mix I got at Walmart, and it was delicious. The chewy, hearty wild rice is just our favorite, and is the only rice that maintains its texture when cooked. Brown rice or white rice would work too, you would just need to follow the cooking time instructed on the box. I would not recommend using quick cooking rice.

Can this be made in the crock pot?

Yes, the only thing I would do different is cook the rice in a separate stock pot until it is almost ready, and then add it to your crock pot or slow cooker. Then add the remaining ingredients, minus the heavy cream and cheese. Set the crockpot on low for 4-6 hours. When veggies are tender add the cheese and cream, put the lid on and let the cheese melt. 

Can this soup be made dairy-free?

Sure, skip the cheese, cream and milk, and add a can of coconut milk instead. 

How to serve:

This soup has lots of veggies, protein, carbs and fats. It doesn’t really need anything added to it but a fresh loaf of sourdough bread goes wonderfully with it. It is a rich but delicious meal, but if you wanted to lighten it up, you could pair it with a Caeser salad. 

How to store this soup:

I always make a big batch of this comfort soup so I have lots of leftover. I leave it in my Dutch oven and just refrigerate with a lid and warm it on low. The rice absorbs liquid continually, so if you want to thin it out just add water or a few cups of broth. If you add water, you will need to add additional seasonings or soup base to bring back the great flavor. 

How to make this a freezer meal (to share or to keep):

I think this is one of my favorite meals to bless a mom with after she had a baby. I finish it all the way, then I let it cool off. Then I fill an airtight container with the cooled soup, and freeze it. If I use the soup to bless someone else, I deliver it with a fresh loaf of bread. 

What to serve with this:

Sometimes I serve it just plain, but there’s nothing plain about it. When I warm it for the 2nd or 3rd time I’ll either add a side salad or sourdough bread. But the soup is packed with protein, veggies, carbs and fats so you really don’t need anything else.

Other soup recipes you will enjoy:

Lightened-up bacon cheeseburger soup

Easy taco soup recipe {and what to serve with it}

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup Recipe

Packed with herbs, nutty wild rice, veggies and chicken, this soup is everything you need to warm up on a chilly day.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

• 4-6 cups cooked wild rice drained
• 4 large carrots chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 tbls sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley fresh or dried
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup shredded cheese cheddar cheese
• 2 cups chicken cooked and chopped
• 8 strips bacon chopped

Instructions

 

• Start by cooking the wild rice according to the package instructions. When it is ready, pour it over a drain.
• Dice carrots, onion and celery.
• In your large dutch oven over medium heat, sauté the bacon until it is crisp around the edges.
• Leaving the bacon fat in with the bacon, add your chopped onions, celery and carrots. If you are using leftover bacon, do add another oil like olive oil or butter.
• Add fresh herbs generously.
• Add a tsp of black pepper, tbls of salt, and a tbls of garlic powder.
• Let that sauté for a couple minutes, just to give the vegetables a head start.
• Add your broth and wild rice and let it come to a boil. Turn it back and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
• Whisk the flour and the cold milk together in a separate bowl until its clump-free. When the soup is at a boil/simmer, pour in your flour mixture.
• Let that come to a simmer again, you should be able to see that it has thickened up a bit.
• Add your shredded cheese now, and your chicken.
• Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream.
• Stir, serve and enjoy a bowl of divine nourishment.

Keyword Soup, wild rice soup