This creamy Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Soup is wildly delicious and comforting, filled with shredded chicken, tender mushrooms, and hearty wild rice, all in a creamy, herby broth. A perfect cold weather soup recipe to snuggle up with this time of year.
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Ingredients
This creamy chicken soup recipe definitely has a lengthier ingredient list but it’s nothing too far out of the ordinary at all, and you hopefully have a bunch of this already!
- Mirepoix: Mirepoix is a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery that is used often as the base of soups and stews. Typically it’s a 2:1:1 ratio (meaning there’s double the amount of onions as there is carrots or celery).
- Sometimes I buy the mini carrots and just chop those; it removes the added steps of peeling and slicing whole carrots.
- Garlic: Plenty of garlic to help flavor the dish, specifically 4 cloves. But measure this with your heart.
- Mushrooms: Baby bella mushrooms are my go-to. Adding mushrooms to this soup gives it such a rich earthy flavor that pairs really well with the wild rice. Remove the stem if it looks very earthy or just trim it.
- Flour: Adding a bit of all purpose flour helps thicken the soup a little so it’s not so liquidy and a bit creamier.
- Chicken breast: Boneless skinless chicken breasts. They get added right into the soup and cooked in there. Then you pull them out once cooked, shred them up, then add them back in.
- Wild rice: I love the different colors in wild rice and the slightly nutty flavor. This, similar to the chicken, gets cooked right in the soup. I used the wild rice blend from Lundberg.
- Chicken stock or chicken broth: The base of the liquid part of the soup. Bonus points if you have homemade chicken stock on hand!
- Fresh herbs: Using both thyme and parsley in this soup gives it delicious herbaceousness and freshness.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream of course adds the creaminess to the soup.
- Olive oil & butter: Use of both olive oil and unsalted butter at different points to sauté the veggies.
- Kosher salt and black pepper: standard seasonings
Ingredient Substitutions
If you need to make any substitutions or swaps for this Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Soup, below are some that will work!
- Chicken breast: you can substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs, chicken tenderloins, or even rotisserie chicken (or any leftover shredded chicken you may have) . Each will require a different time to cook though, so keep that in mind for calculating when to add to the simmering broth. For example, thighs will take longer to cook, but rotisserie chicken needs no additional cooking time.
- Wild rice: instead of a wild rice mix you can use really any kind of rice you like (eg wild rice, white rice), just watch the cooking time. You can cook the rice separately as well.
- Chicken stock: you can use vegetable broth instead.
- Herbs: really use whatever you love! Fresh rosemary or sage would be great additions.
- Heavy cream: make it dairy free by using unsweetened full fat coconut cream or coconut milk instead.
Step by step instructions
Check out the instructions below for how to make this super cozy creamy soup. Full recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
Overview
Sauté the vegetables and thyme, add the flour, add the stock and rice, simmer, half way through add the raw chicken, continue to simmer. Shred the chicken, add the cream and parsley.
Detailed instructions
1. Sauté the mushrooms. Grab a large pot (such as a dutch oven) and set it over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot followed by the mushrooms. Sauté these for about 10 minutes, until they release their natural liquids and are tender.
2. Add the remaining vegetables. To the pot with the mushrooms, add the butter, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper. Sauté that until it all starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the thyme. Add in the fresh thyme to the pot and let that cook for a few minutes to infuse the flavor.
4. Add the flour. Then add in the flour to the pot and cook until no more dry flour remains, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the stock and rice. Pour in all the stock and add the uncooked rice. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, then cover and cook for 30 minutes.
6. Add the chicken. While the rice cooks, remove the lid from the pot and add the raw chicken breasts in. Cover it again and continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
7. Shred the chicken. Take the cooked chicken out of the pot and shred it, then add it back in.
8. Add the heavy cream and parsley. To finish the soup, stir in the heavy cream and fresh parsley.
Tips and tricks
Tips and tricks below are to help you nail making this super hearty and comforting soup.
- Rinse the wild rice before cooking it! It’s super important to rinse your rice before you add it with the broth. This will rinse off the excess starch, which, if kept on, will not only make the rice super mushy and cause it to stick together, but will also leave the overall soup with a starchy weird texture.
- How to effectively rinse wild rice: add it to a fine mesh strainer then run cold water over top for about 1 minute until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy. It’s best to shake the strainer a bit to toss up the rice as you are running the water over it.
- Two easy ways to shred chicken: one, use two forks and do a pull-apart method. Two, use a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- To get a nice brown on the mushrooms, don’t move them for the first few minutes of sautéing.
- You can cook the rice separately and add it to the soup at the end, then all you really need is the 15 minutes of simmering to cook the chicken.
- Use whatever type of mushrooms you like best. I used baby bella mushrooms, which are the same as cremini mushrooms. You could also use portobello, button, shiitake, oyster, or porcini.
- Serve with some crusty bread or cornbread, and a sprinkling of fresh grated parmesan cheese.
- If you like a little hit of acidity in your dishes, try squeezing some lemon juice in at the very end or a dash of vinegar.
Storage and reheating
- Storage: allow it to cool to room temperature then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: reheat either in the microwave for a few minutes or on the stovetop.
- Freezing: allow the soup to come to room temp then put in a freezer-safe container. Can be kept frozen for about 2 months. However, if your plan is to freeze this, don’t add the heavy cream. Add the heavy cream once you reheat it. To reheat from frozen, put it in a pot on low heat and let it slowly melt. Once fully warmed through, add the heavy cream.
FAQs
Wild rice is a whole grain and each cooked cup has 3 grams fiber, 7 grams of protein, and only .6 grams of fat. It’s also considered heart healthy. More on wild rice here.
Yes! Regular russet potatoes or even sweet potatoes would be great in this recipe. Cube them up, then add them in while the soup is simmering with about 15 minutes left (so around when you add the chicken).
Yes, as long as the soup is at a simmer and you’re cooking the chicken all the way through (to at least 165°F). As the chicken cooks, any bacteria will be cooked off.
Wild rice takes about 45 minutes to cook; it’s one of the varieties that takes a bit longer. Which is why you’ll notice in the recipe we cook it for 30 minutes, then add the chicken, then cook for another 15 minutes. This is because the chicken only takes about 15 minutes, so we add it part of the way through the rice cooking.
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Recipe
Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups baby bella / cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cups onion diced - 1 large onion
- 1 cup carrots diced - 3 carrots
- 1 cup celery chopped - 3 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup wild rice rinsed
- 8 cups chicken stock (2 quarts)
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grab a large pot (such as a dutch oven) and set it over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot followed by the mushrooms. Sauté these for about 10 minutes, until they release their natural liquids and are tender.
- To the pot with the mushrooms, add the butter, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper. Sauté that until it all starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the fresh thyme to the pot and let that cook for a few minutes to infuse the flavor.
- Then add in the flour to the pot and cook until no more dry flour remains, about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in all the stock and add the uncooked rice. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer, then cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- While the rice cooks, remove the lid from the pot and add the raw chicken breasts in. Cover it again and continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes (until it reaches at least 165°F).
- Take the cooked chicken out of the pot and shred it, then add it back in.
- To finish the soup, stir in the heavy cream and fresh parsley.
NOTES
- Rinse the wild rice before cooking it! It’s super important to rinse your rice before you add it with the broth. This will rinse off the excess starch, which, if kept on, will not only make the rice super mushy and cause it to stick together, but will also leave the overall soup with a starchy weird texture.
- How to effectively rinse wild rice: add it to a fine mesh strainer then run cold water over top for about 1 minute until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy. It’s best to shake the strainer a bit to toss up the rice as you are running the water over it.
- Two easy ways to shred chicken: one, use two forks and do a pull-apart method. Two, use a hand mixer or stand mixer.
- To get a nice brown on the mushrooms, don’t move them for the first few minutes of sautéing.
- You can cook the rice separately and add it to the soup at the end, then all you really need is the 15 minutes of simmering to cook the chicken.
- Use whatever type of mushrooms you like best. I used baby bella mushrooms, which are the same as cremini mushrooms. You could also use portobello, button, shiitake, oyster, or porcini.
- Serve with some crusty bread or cornbread, and a sprinkling of fresh grated parmesan cheese.
- If you like a little hit of acidity in your dishes, try squeezing some lemon juice in at the very end or a dash of vinegar.
lisa
This looks delicious! I can't wait to try it!
I love a hearty soup in the winter . Thanks!!
Haley
Thanks so much!