This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is the definition of comfort food. Full of delicious, rich, earthy flavors and easy to make, it is filling and perfect for your next dinner recipe!
The thing I cook more of than probably anything else is soup. Probably at least once a week from early fall to late spring, our family gathers together for family dinner around steaming bowls of soup and fresh from the oven bread.
It is so easy to make up a big pot of soup and have it include all of the major food groups. You can make it full of delicious flavors and the possibilities are endless. This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is no exception. It is creamy, delicious, full of earthy flavors, and it is so hearty. A big bowl of this for lunch and I am totally full all evening.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup
This is a brief overview of how to make this delicious soup recipe. For the full recipe with all of the ingredients, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Sauté the vegetables. Melt some butter in a large Dutch oven and then add in the onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
- Whisk in some flour. This will be the start of the roux that will help thicken the soup. Then slowly whisk in some chicken stock.
- Cook the chicken. Add in some seasonings and then chicken breasts. Simmer the chicken breasts for 20 minutes to cook them. Then remove them and shred them using two forks.
- Finish off the soup. Add in the cooked chicken, heavy cream, and cooked wild rice.
Mushrooms for Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
In this recipe, I’m calling for shiitake mushrooms and baby portobellos. I love the texture that both mushrooms bring to this soup as well as their deep and earthy flavor. That being said, you can really use any type of mushroom for this recipe that you enjoy most.
Buying Mushrooms
When shopping for mushrooms, you want to look for the following things:
- Choose mushrooms that are smooth and plump. This will ensure that they are fresh and full of flavor.
- Look for mushrooms with dark gills. These mushrooms will provide deeper flavor.
- The mushrooms should have a pleasant smell. They will smell earthy in a delightful way, not a pungent way.
Cleaning Mushrooms
Don’t stress over cleaning mushrooms. They are most often grown indoors and are very clean. Simply wipe them off with a damp cloth.
How to Cook Wild Rice
I really think the heartiness of this chicken wild rice soup comes from the wild rice. If cooking wild rice sounds intimidating, you can buy it pre-cooked and just throw it in this soup, but it’s really so easy to make.
Cook it up the night before you are going to make this soup for a jump start the next day.
- In a medium stock pot, combine 3 cups of water and 1 cup of wild rice.
- Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce to a simmer (the heat should be as low as possible while still seeing some decent-sized bubbles here and there) and cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
- Stir regularly.
- This will yield about 3 cups of wild rice.
Making a Roux for Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
A roux is important for any cream-based soup. A roux is when you combine fat and flour. The fat can be just about anything, and in this recipe, we are using butter. The fat and flour combine and the fat coats the flour so that it is evenly distributed throughout the cream-based sauce.
There are two things that help ensure a good roux. The first thing is that you thoroughly mix the flour and fat together so that there are no lasting tastes of the flour. Then, you need to add the liquid to the roux slowly. I like to start with a few tablespoons at a time, only add more once the roux absorbs what you first added. Though it is important to go slowly, you don’t need to overthink it. This whole process takes me less than two minutes.
Storing Leftovers
The leftovers of this soup are absolutely fantastic. They can be stored in the refrigerator for four to five days. To heat up leftovers, warm only the portion your plan to eat over low heat, stirring often. You can also microwave, covered, over half power until warmed through. The most important thing to keep in mind when reheating this soup is that it should be done over low heat so that the soup doesn’t separate.
Freezing Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Cream-based soups freeze just fine. The important thing to note is that when you want to eat leftovers, you will want to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight rather than heating from frozen. This will help keep the soup intact and not separate. Leftovers should be stored in containers that allow room for expansion and kept in the freezer for up to three months.
What to Serve with Chicken and Rice Soup
Most of the time we only have bread with our soup recipes. You might like these fast dinner rolls or this beer bread.
But a salad is always great with soup. Here are a few that would be great next to this soup recipe:
If you make this delicious soup or any of my other recipes for your family, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28.25 grams)
- 16 ounces mushrooms (453.592 grams) shiitake and baby portabellas mixed, sliced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (15 grams)
- 3 cups chicken stock (709.765 ml)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (453.592 grams)
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream (236.588 ml)
- 3 cups wild rice (492 grams) cooked
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms, onions, and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until the onions are translucent, about five to seven minutes.2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 16 ounces mushrooms, 1 medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Whisk in the flour. Then slowly whisk in the chicken stock. Add in the chicken, oregano, rosemary, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 3 cups chicken stock, 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 teaspoons oregano, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1 teaspoon thyme
- Remove the cooked chicken from the soup and shred it. Return it to the pot with the heavy cream and the cooked wild rice. Serve and enjoy!1 cup heavy cream, 3 cups wild rice
Notes
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life says
Oh, sweetie! You are not huge at all!!! You are a seriously cute pregnant mama!!! And the things you described are how I feel too…and there is no baby coming here! Let’s just do soup together!!!! I love chicken and rice soup so much!!! This one looks so hearty and absolutely amazing!
Meghan @ The Tasty Fork says
This soup looks so comforting! I love the big chunks of mushrooms. Your pregnancy brain seems to be working just great, my dear!! This is an awesome and cozy recipe.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
I want this soup in my life!
Laura says
I just made this today – very yummy, and easy to make! Will definitely be a make again!
Bita says
Hi Lisa! This is my kind of soup! I love all the textures and flavors standing up for themselves, instead of being pureed into baby food if you know what I mean. Love it. And it’s absolutely gorgeous too.
And congrats on having your 4th babe!! :)
Mom of six says
This soup sounds wonderful…for my husband and me. I’m pretty sure the boys won’t touch it! You know, mushrooms! As this was posted quite some time ago, what did you name your baby? :)
My kids complain endlessly about mushrooms, lol! We named her Piper! She’s a sweet and adorable seven month old now :) Also, my husband is one of six boys, I have the utmost respect for any mom of that many kids :)
Vickie says
Looks yummy.
Kirsten Vincent says
I’ve made this soup a few times and we LOVE it. But this time I think I overdid it and there are a lot of leftovers! Do you think this recipe might freeze well? Thank you!
This recipe wouldn’t be my first choice of soup to freeze because of the milk in it, but if you do freeze it, let me know how it goes.
Brenda says
This soup was wonderful! My husband absolutely adored it. I am sure we will make this over and over. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
These are my favorite kinds of comments to get! I’m so happy you liked them!
Shanda says
I love this recipe so much! My husband, who is extremely picky, said this is the best soup I ever made????. One question though. Can I simmer the broth for a couple of hours before I add the milk?
Oh Shanda, thank you so much for coming back to tell me that you loved this! I have never simmered a soup for hours after making my roux (that is the butter plus the flour). I did a little research and it looks like it is done in some recipes, but it will greatly change the flavor of the soup. So! If you give it a go, know that I haven’t done it with this recipe so I can’t tell you how it will turn out, and I would love if you came back and let me know how it went.