Chicken Wild Rice Soup

When you need a comforting and cozy meal, this chicken wild rice soup is sure to hit the spot. Packed with tender chicken, nutty wild rice, a classic blend of veggies, and plenty of broth, this soup is both nourishing and delicious.

After Thanksgiving last year, my Mom made a turkey wild rice soup with our leftovers and it was so incredibly delicious, I knew I had to make it a few more times throughout the winter. And given that we live in Minnesota and wild rice is our official state grain, it honestly felt long overdue.

If you can find truly wild rice, be sure to do so. I actually wanted to include more wild rice than most soups, but it ended up taking over the soup, so we stuck with a more traditional amount.

Some recipes (like the one my Mom uses!) call to cook the rice separately and then add it into the cooked soup, I opted to try cooking it IN the soup and it worked really well. It will slightly thicken in the fridge, especially if you use bone broth, but it should loosen up while heating up or add a splash of broth, milk, or water if it feels too thick.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Ingredients

• Butter – Butter adds a rich base of flavor to the soup, but you could also use your favorite cooking oil like olive, avocado, or canola oil if you prefer.
• Mirepoix – This soup uses a classic mirepoix mix of onion, carrots, and celery. If you’d like to save on a bit of prep time, many stores will carry this already chopped for you! This mix is cooked in butter and adds deep flavor to the soup.
• Mushrooms – We’re using Bella mushrooms. You’ll want to thinly slice them – if they are really large, you may need to give the thin slices a quick chop so they are a manageable size. You’ll want them to fit on the spoon. Many mushrooms are sold in 8 ounce containers, but you can also add a bit more if desired. We love mushrooms at our house, so I’ll typically add about 10 ounces.
• Thyme – Use fresh thyme for the best flavor. You could also use dried if you prefer, but you’ll want to use 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon fresh thyme.
• Flour – The flour is used for a roux to thicken the soup and give it a really creamy texture.
• Wild rice – Look for truly wild-harvested rice if you can find it. It’s relatively easy to find here in Minnesota, but I know we probably have better access than other states where it isn’t harvested as locally. Some packages will list “hand-harvested” or “non-cultivated” which means it is wild. Given that it is harvested by hand, it’s also typically a bit more expensive than other rice.
• Broth – Use chicken or turkey broth. If you’re making this with rotisserie or whole roasted chicken or leftover turkey, you can pull the meat off the bones and make your own broth. Or you can use chicken broth.
• Chicken – This recipe has chicken in the title but it works beautifully with leftover turkey, too! If it’s not Thanksgiving, I’ll usually grab a rotisserie chicken, but you could also roast your own chicken or even buy shredded chicken from the store.
• Heavy cream – This helps finish the soup and give it a super creamy flavor and texture. You could also use whole milk or half and half if you prefer.
• Sherry – This is the finishing touch to help balance out the richness of this soup! This is the trick my mom uses in her turkey wild rice soup and so I had to include it.

How to Make Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This is an overview, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

1. Prep ingredients. Dice onion, celery, and carrots. Thinly slice mushrooms and roughly chop the thin slices if they are huge mushrooms. Remove thyme from the stem and chop. Shred chicken if necessary.
2. Cook mire poix. Heat butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Add onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft.

3. Heat roux. Sprinkle flour over the veggies and stir to combine. The mixture will look like a paste. Stir constantly until it gets to a tannish color, it will just take a minute or so!
4. Toast rice. Add rice and thyme and stir into the roux. Toast lightly before adding the broth. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer.

5. Finish soup. Stir in turkey and heavy cream and cook until rice is tender. Stir in sherry and serve soup with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

FAQs

Storage

Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

How to reheat

Reheat soup in the microwave for the easy option or reheat on the stovetop.

Can you freeze?

I don’t recommend freezing this soup as the heavy cream can alter the texture of the soup during the freezing/thawing process.

How to prep ahead

This soup can easily be prepped ahead! I would recommend doing all of your dicing (onion, carrots, celery) and prepping your chicken or turkey. Then it will come together pretty quickly!

More Easy Soup Recipes

If you like this chicken and wild rice soup recipe, you might also like some of these other easy and delicious soup recipes:

• Chicken Taco Soup
• Easy Dumpling Soup
• Feel-Good Minestrone
• Cozy Lasagna Soup

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Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.

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