One of my family’s favorite soup recipes is this warm and comforting, creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, made with carrots, celery, onion, chicken, and wild rice in a creamy and flavorful broth. This delicious soup can be made on the stovetop or in the slow cooker!
During long and cold winter months, there is nothing that tastes quite as good as homemade soup. Some of my favorites include; roasted tomato basil soup, chicken enchilada soup, and taco soup. Make sure to check out all my other soup recipes to find the one you like best!
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
I love making soup for dinner because it’s a simple solution to give my family an all-in-one-meal with protein, grains, and veggies. I usually serve soup with some warm homemade rolls and a side of fresh winter fruit, like this citrus fruit salad.
I’m a total sucker for yummy soup recipes and when I saw this Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup from Cooking Classy , years ago, I knew I had to try it!
I’ve made it many, many times since, tweaking it a bit, and we never get sick of it! I love anything with wild rice and this soup totally hits the spot on a cold day. It’s thick, creamy, loaded with veggies, and the wild rice blend gives it a great flavor that you just can’t find with white rice.
How to make Chicken and Wild Rice Soup:
- Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté until slightly tender. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the chicken broth, thyme, sage, rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the chicken breasts and bring the soup to a boil, cover and boil for about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a cutting board to rest and then chop it into small pieces.
- In a separate medium saucepan create a roux by melting 5 Tbsp butter and then adding flour; whisking constantly for 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly add the milk, whisking vigorously, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove it from the heat and stir in cream.
- Pour roux mixture into the soup pot and stir until smooth. Cook for a few more minutes. Taste broth and add additional seasonings, if needed.
- Reduce the heat to low and return chicken and add cooked rice to the soup. Serve warm.
Do you have to cook the rice before adding it to the soup?
The stove-top version of this soup does require the rice to be cooked first. If you don’t want to cook the rice first, try using the slow cooker method below!
Can you make chicken and wild rice soup in the slow cooker?
To adapt this recipe for the slow cooker, first do not cut the chicken breasts in half (leave them whole). Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper and add them to the bottom of your slow cooker. Next, add the uncooked rice, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, chicken broth (add 6 cups of broth instead of the 4 ½ called for in the recipe), thyme, sage, rosemary, and cook on low for about 5 hours. At this point, remove the chicken to a plate and shred it.
In a separate saucepan, make a roux by following steps 6-8 in the recipe card. Once your roux has thickened, pour it into the soup pot along with the shredded chicken and serve warm!
You could also check out slow cooker chicken and wild rice soup by Damn Delicious.
Make Ahead Tips:
This chicken and wild rice soup recipe can easily be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. If you want it to taste extra fresh, you could make the soup a few days ahead of time without adding the rice. Then, on the day you want to serve it, cook the rice and mix it in. This way the rice won’t taste soggy!
I have so many great Soup recipes! Here are a few favorites:
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice , wild rice
- 1 small yellow onion , chopped
- 2 medium carrots , diced
- 2 ribs celery , diced
- 6 Tablespoons butter , divided
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (appx. 3 (14.5 oz) cans)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts , halved
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream ,or half & half
Instructions
- Prepare rice according to package instructions.
- Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté until slightly tender. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the chicken broth, thyme, sage, rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add chicken and bring mixture to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid and allow mixture to boil for 10-12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally to check on it.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes before chopping into small pieces.
- In a separate medium saucepan melt remaining 5 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk constantly for 1-2 minutes.
- Slowly add the milk, whisking vigorously, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in cream.
- Pour roux mixture into the soup pot and stir until smooth. Cook for a few more minutes. Taste broth and add additional seasonings, if needed.
- Reduce the heat to low and return chicken and add cooked rice to the soup. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I originally shared this recipe February 2015. Updated February 2019.
This post contains affiliate links.
Just to clarify…If I use the the box of rice-a-roni wild rice, do I prepare it with the seasoning packet? Or just the butter and water? Thanks.
I would prepare it with the seasoning packet, but either would be fine.
I have made this 2 times in the last 2 weeks. ! batch x 6 for 50 people at a family party, and again today for my wife’s quilt club. If I don’t eat a bowl before I serve it I may have to go with out.
You are my go to recipe stop now! This soup is phenomenal for cold Ohio days. My kids, girlfriend, and family loved it!
It is amazing and I love the bread bowl with it.
I made this soup for our lunch today. My husband said it’s phenomenal I agree!!
So delicious and relatively easy. The flavor reminds me of my mother’s chicken and dumplings. Apparently, the same spices are used. I had it fresh and it was delicious. I ate it the next day as leftovers and it was still delicious!
Crockpot with chicken, veggies and spices.
Then at dinner time, I added wild Rice a Roni made with its packet of spice mix and the milk slurry. My spouse volunteered that he really like it! On our list
Really flavorful! I used leftover turkey and boxes wild rice.
A deli near my work used to sell chicken and wild rice soup but no longer sells it. I have been on a search for a recipe close to that soup and Lauren’s recipe was spot on! This was the first time my family tried chicken with wild rice and they all said it was very delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe! Yummy!
I was looking for a chicken wild rice recipe and thought “I bet she has one.” It did not disappoint! Even my 2 young kids loved it. I got a “delicious soup, mom” from the 3 year old. Thank you!