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Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is loaded with shredded chicken, wild rice, vegetables, herbs and spices in a creamy broth. It’s rich and flavorful and just right for when you’re craving a little comfort food.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
This is the ultimate cold weather soup recipe! A loose copycat of Panera’s Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, this thick and creamy soup is full of so many good things and has such a great flavor.
Wild rice has a unique flavor that is distinctly different from noodles or white rice that you typically find in chicken soup. It has a nuttiness that is complimented by all the herbs and spices and really makes this soup completely irresistible.
This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is –
- Creamy and comforting.
- Perfect for a chilly night, but still delicious any time of the year.
- Easy to make on the stove top or in your slow cooker.
- A one pot meal!
Ingredients
- Olive oil and butter – for sauteeing the vegetables.
- Veggies – Celery, carrots, onion and garlic.
- Herbs – Bay leaves, dried thyme, dried oregano. Feel free to use fresh herbs and just double or triple the amount. You could also include additional herbs, like sage and rosemary.
- Chicken broth – I prefer to use a low sodium chicken broth so I can control the amount of salt in the soup.
- Chicken – Cooked and shredded boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
- Heavy cream and milk – Any variation is fine, like half and half, all milk, or all cream.
- All-purpose flour – For thickening.
- Wild rice – If it comes with a seasoning packet, make sure to discard that.
How To Make Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Ready in about an hour, this creamy soup is pretty simple to make.
- Saute the veggies with some oil and butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven.
- Add the herbs and spices and saute for about a minute.
- Add chicken and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
- In a small bowl, whisk together heavy cream, milk, and flour until the flour is completely blended with the liquid.
- Add wild rice blend and milk mixture to the soup and bring to a simmer until the rice is tender. The soup will as it simmers, and may continue to thicken as it sits.
How To Serve
With this recipe, you’ve got a one pot meal complete with protein, grains, and veggies. Serve with some crusty rolls or homemade Copycat Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread. To stretch it a little further, add a salad or some fruit on the side.
How To Store
Storage: Once soup is completely cooled, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days. I don’t recommend freezing as the texture will change dramatically.
Reheating: While you can certainly microwave leftovers, I highly recommend reheating in a saucepan on the stove over low heat. If it’s too thick, add a little chicken broth or milk to thin it out a bit.
- This soup is thick and creamy – it will continue to thicken as it stands. If it’s too thick and you want to thin it out a bit, add some chicken broth, a little bit at a time.
- Want more veggies? Try adding some mushrooms!
- Cooking the rice in the soup does release starches from the rice into the soup. If you want to make this ahead of time, leave out the rice, store the soup in the fridge for a day or 2. When you’re ready to serve, cook the rice fresh (separately) and add it to the hot soup.
More Soup Recipes to Try
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2-3 celery stalks sliced (about 1 cup)
- 2-3 carrots sliced (about 1 cup)
- 1 small white onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2-3 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 8- ounce package uncooked long grain wild rice discard seasoning packet
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil. Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until onions are translucent, stirring often.
- Add garlic, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in chicken and chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Whisk cream, milk and flour together in a bowl. Whisk into soup until combined.
- Stir in wild rice and simmer for another 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Divide into bowls and serve hot. Leftover soup can be frozen, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
It’s cold and rained all day in SC. I wanted comfort food soup after a long, hard week. I made this.
To quote Mrs. Peacock from the movie CLUE “Oh my this soup’s delicious.” I will be making it again. Creamy, and full of flavor.
I did add two teaspoons of better than bouillon to add more flavor.
I had two bowls. My husband will love this when he tries it. I will be making this again.
Awesome feedback kara! Thanks for stopping by to share.
Wow, was this good! I used Half & Half, and Zatarain’s Long Grain & Wild Rice. Thanks for a great recipe!
You are so welcome Hal! Love the feedback, thanks for stopping by.
could you use already cooked wild rice in the can ? if so , how much would I use for this recipe. Being from Minnesota I cant wait to make this .
I haven’t seen wind rice in a can. But I think pre cooked rice would be fine if you just add it right before serving.
Wonderful recipe. I’m a beginner at the age of 56! It’s never to late to learn how to cook. I love the fact that you removed the flavor packet. We must use our imagination, and trust our own flavor palette. Hehe thank you
Love this! YES! Good for you!!
I use a wild rice and white/brown rice mix. I also used 2 thick Chicken breasts
steeped in water with salt until it can be shredded. I then cut in pieces. My daughter uses a wild rice precooked package. Delicious chicken and wild rice soup.
I too was amazed at how awesome this was!!! I used half the amount of flour and it was perfect! Even my hubby….who is so picky….loved it!!!! I am.adding it to our winter rotation. Thank you.
What about using a cup of half-n-half in place of the cream and milk? Think it would still work?
Sure!
Quick question. Recipe called for 8 oz package of wild rice with seasoning. What brand did you use and is it the box wild rice with season packet? If so, do you use the season packet or discard it?
I discarded the seasoning packet but you could use it if you like. I’ll have to look for the brand…I can’t remember the name! But I do know it was a bag, not a box.
Wow I also just realized this recipe is brand spanking new! I was wondering why there were no other comments on this beautiful recipe lol
Hi! I don’t see how much flour to mix in with the cream and milk. How much should I mix in? Smells amazing so far!
Shoot, thanks for letting me know it was missing. It’s 1/4 cup and you mix it with the cream and milk. Hope you enjoyed it!!
The soup smells amazing! I am not sure what I did wrong but my rice is kind of hard. My daughter loves it! Thanks
Hi Lisa, I’m glad that your daughter loves the recipe! If the rice was still a little crunchy, it probably needed to cook a little while longer. It’s possible the the heat wasn’t up high enough so it would take a little longer. I hope you’ll give it another try – it’s one of my all-time favorite soups!