Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is a family favorite! It’s flavorful comforting, and freezer friendly. We’ll walk you through each cooking step and ensure you end up with a crowd-pleaser soup that freezes well, too.
About This Recipe
Confession time. As I was getting ready to clean my stock pot after making this soup recently, I shamelessly used my hands to scrape, swipe, and lick every last bit of creamy goodness from the bottom.
Don’t judge me until you try it. I think you’ll understand. Keep this recipe close for football weekends, when company comes, or just to enjoy on a cold winter night while watching your favorite movie.
P.S. Another soup I lick the pot clean on is our gluten-free Boursin Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Sooo goood!
Cooking Tip: Mise En Place
Cooking is more enjoyable and effecient when you’re prepared! So be sure to get organized ahead of time–also known as mise en place by the French.
- Read through the recipe.
- Set out your equipment and ingredients.
- Prep any ingredients ahead that are required–like chopping veggies and cooking the rice.
Ingredients Needed
As with most of our recipes, we aim to cook with real, whole food ingredients.
Ingredient Notes:
- Butter – You can substitute olive or avocado oil for the butter when sautéing the vegetables.
- Chicken broth – Store-bought or homemade chicken broth works.
- Chicken breasts – Here’s where we get our poultry. Chicken thighs also work.
- Whole wheat flour – We prefer white whole wheat flour for extra nutrition, but you can also use all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 flour.
- Whole milk – I’ve tested this using plain almond milk. It works but is definitely thinner and not as rich tasting.
What Brand of Wild Rice Blend Should I Buy?
I highly recommend Lundberg Organic Wild Rice, as it’s grown in California and is a brand that actively cares about avoiding dangerous arsenic levels in their rice. (Read more about how rice–especially when it’s grown outside California, Pakistan, and India–is contaminated by arsenic here.)
How to Make Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Now that you know how to prepare, let’s walk through how this soup will come together. The recipe below has more specific details.
Sauté the Veggies
In a large Dutch oven or pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, just until the vegetables are tender. Add the garlic for the last 30 to 60 seconds.
Add the Broth and Chicken
Stir in the broth, poultry seasoning, more salt & pepper, and the chicken breasts.
Cook the Chicken
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until chicken is fully cooked. (Stir the chicken breasts around occasionally for even cooking.) Remove and set aside the chicken to a cutting board and let rest.
Make the Butter/Flour/Milk Mixture
While the chicken cooks, make the white sauce. In a medium pot, melt the remaining butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until bubbly. Slowly pour in the milk while continually whisking. Increase the heat to medium-high and whisk constantly until the milk mixture thickens to the consistency of thin gravy.
Add It All Together & Simmer
Add the thickened white sauce and prepared wild rice to the soup pot, stir, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer. Note: The white sauce will continue to get thicker the longer it sits, so it’s important to add it to the soup right away. If soup is too thick, stir in more broth.
Using two forks, shred the chicken. Return the chicken to the pot and heat until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
What to Serve with Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Additions and Substitutions
As with most of our recipes on Thriving Home, we try to provide flexibility for your specific dietary needs. Try any of these substitutions or additions in this soup.
- For gluten-free: Instead of wheat flour for the white sauce, use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour (like Bob’s Red Mill brand).
- For dairy-free: Use a plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk like almond milk and a plant-based “butter”. It will not be nearly as rich-tasting, but it will work in a pinch.
- Instead of chicken breasts, use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- In place of the wild rice blend, try using cooked brown rice or any kind of white rice. FYI, I’ve tested this recipe with 100% wild rice (not a blend). The texture was too chewy for me.
- For more veggies, simply double the amount of onion, celery, and carrots you chop. I do this frequently!
How to Freeze This Soup
As authors of two cookbooks and self-proclaimed “freezer cooking evangelists”, we always try to share how to prep and freeze recipes like this soup, when possible. I personally love to freeze this one in small portions for lunches.
Freeze for Later: Cook and cool the soup completely. Freeze in a freezer bag or container, squeezing out all excess air and sealing tightly.
To Prepare from Frozen: Thaw in the refrigerator. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add 1-2 more cups of chicken broth if too thick.
Tip: You can also freeze soup in individual servings in 2-cup Souper Cubes, 2-cup Pyrex containers, or 16-ounce mason jars. Be sure to leave 1 inch of head room for expansion at the top of the jars or the glass may break in the freezer.
Check out our 70+ Best Freezer Meals for more ideas.
FAQs
I highly recommend Lundberg Organic Wild Rice, as it’s grown in California and is a brand that actively cares about avoiding dangerous arsenic levels in their rice.
Yes, you can use chicken thigh instead of chicken breast when making Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.
I’ve tested this using plain almond milk. It works but is definitely thinner and not as rich tasting.
More Freezer-Friendly Soups
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Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
This Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is creamy, comforting, and delicious. We’ll walk you through each cooking step and ensure it turns out as a crowd-pleaser soup that freezes well, too.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, divided (I love Kerrygold brand.)
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 cup diced celery, leaves and all
- 1 cup peeled and diced carrots
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon pre-minced garlic)
- 1 quart (32 ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 – 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (sub: boneless chicken thighs)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (sub: all-purpose flour or gluten-free baking flour)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups cooked wild rice blend (I recommend Lundberg Organic Wild Rice Blend–see notes in article above.)
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Instructions
Make It Now:
(Note: Be sure to cook your wild rice blend and chop all your veggies ahead of time.)
- Saute Veggies: In a large Dutch oven or pot, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, just until the vegetables are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic for the last 30 to 60 seconds.
- Start the Soup: Stir in the broth, poultry seasoning, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the chicken breasts.
- Braise the Chicken: Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked. (Stir the chicken breasts around occasionally for even cooking.) Remove and set aside the chicken to a cutting board to rest.
- Make the White Sauce: While the chicken cooks, make the white sauce that will thicken the soup. In a medium pot, melt the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until bubbly. Slowly pour in the milk while continually whisking. Increase the heat to medium-high and whisk constantly until the milk mixture thickens to the consistency of thin gravy. Usually takes 3-5 minutes.
- Add It All Together: Add the white sauce* and prepared wild rice to the soup pot, stir, reduce the heat to medium low. Using two forks, shred the chicken. Return the chicken to the pot and heat until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
*Note: The white sauce will continue to get thicker the longer it sits, so it’s important to add it right away. Thin out the soup with more broth, if needed.
Freeze for Later: Cook and cool the soup completely. Freeze in a freezer bag or container, squeezing out all excess air and sealing tightly. Tip: You can also freeze soup in individual servings in 2-cup Souper Cubes, 2-cup Pyrex containers, or 16-ounce mason jars. Be sure to leave 1 inch of head room for expansion at the top of the jars or the glass may break in the freezer. I usually do this for my lunch and the kids’ lunchboxes.
To Prepare from Frozen: Thaw in the refrigerator. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add 1-2 more cups of chicken broth if too thick.
Notes/Tips
- Gluten-Free Version: Instead of wheat flour for the white sauce, use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour (like Bob’s Red Mill brand). I’ve tested this option and it works fine.
- Can I Make This Dairy-Free? This probably won’t work well but you can try. I’ve tested it with plain almond milk instead of whole milk (but I did keep the butter for flavor and richness). The result was a thinner and less rich-tasting soup but still had good flavor. You could try using a plant-based “butter” in place of the butter, but I haven’t tested that option.
- The white sauce will continue to get thicker the longer it sits, so it’s important to add it to the soup right away. If soup is too thick, stir in more broth.
This soup is delicious! We frequent a local tea room that occasionally serves a wild rice soup and my husband says this one tops it!
Yay! High praise. Thanks so much for leaving a review Brenda. We’re glad you’ve found a home run recipe for your family!
This soup is delicious! Definitely going to be made again during the winter months. It’s the perfect balance of being healthy but feeling like a “comfort food” soup 😊
Yes! Those are the reasons we love it as well… comforting and healthy. Thanks so much for leaving a review Noree.
A comforting, tasty and creamy chicken with rice. It took some effort to make, but I look forward to the leftovers!
Hi Jackie, thank you for the review. This recipe does take a little more work, but I always feel good about it because we fight over the leftovers!
I saw your comment about substituting almond milk for regular milk. Have you tried canned coconut milk as a substitute? I wonder if that would be a complimentary flavor combination.
We have not tried that Andrea. If you do, let us know how it turns out!
Our family LOVES this soup. It’s just SO good. Is it the poultry seasoning? The milk? I don’t know but it’s so filling and tasty. I wish I could wave a magic wand to make the wild rice faster, but it is worth it.
Ha! I’m with you on a quick cooking wild rice magic wand! So glad you love the soup. Thank you for taking time to leave a review.
Hey Sarah. I was going to tell you that I’ve been making this with instant brown rice cooked directly in the soup for a weeknight version. It’s not quite as tasty as the original recipe, but it still works when you don’t have the time!
Absolutely delicious. I’ve never made it before and this recipe was so easy my sisters and mom really enjoyed it.
Hi Shell! Glad you found this recipe easy and delicious… we strive to have most of our recipes described by both these words. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
This soup be was delicious! I will definitely be making it again!
It’s one of my favorites! So glad you enjoyed it too Becky. Thanks for leaving a review.