Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Creamy chicken and wild rice soup with tender chicken, wild rice, and vegetables in a creamy broth. It's a hearty, satisfying lunch or dinner.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken, chicken and rice

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 45

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 335kcal

Author Elizabeth Rodriguez

Ingredients

6 tablespoons Butter
1 Medium Onion finely diced
2 Medium Carrots diced (about ¾ - 1 cup diced)
1 Celery Rib diced (about ¼ cup diced)
1-2 Garlic Cloves minced
½ cup All Purpose Flour
8 cups Chicken Broth
3-4 Thyme Sprigs tied together with kitchen twine
2 cups Cooked Wild Rice Mix we used a mix of wild, whole grain brown, red and black rice prepared to package directions.
2 cups Cooked Chicken diced or shredded (about ¾-1 pound chicken breast)
½ cup Half and Half
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Salt if needed at the end

Instructions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. When the butter has melted and starts to foam, add the onions, carrots and celery.
Cook the vegetables gently for 5 minutes until the onions become translucent and start to soften, stirring frequently.
Add the garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the flour while stirring constantly until well incorporated. Cook the mixture for 2–3 minutes, stirring almost constantly to cook out the flour taste a bit.
Slowly add in the chicken broth while stirring until it is incorporated. Use a whisk to make it easier to dissolve the flour. If you don't have one, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.
Add the thyme bundle to the soup.
Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a gentle simmer (it will take about 3–5 minutes).
Lower the heat to medium-low, half-cover the pot and continue simmering for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the soup at a simmer. If it starts boiling too vigorously, lower the heat a bit.
Use tongs to remove the thyme bundle.
Add the cooked chicken and wild rice. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low, half-cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom.
Take the pot off the heat and add the half-and-half. Stir to combine.
Add the black pepper and stir.
Return the pot to low heat and warm through. Do not let it come to a boil. Taste the chicken and wild rice soup and add salt, if needed. As a reference, we did not add extra to ours.

Notes

If you're not using leftover rice, start the wild rice mix first since it can take a while to cook. The mix we use takes about an hour.
If you don't have a wild rice mix, cook about ¼ cup of plain wild rice and combine it with enough cooked white rice to make the 2 cups needed for the soup.
Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen twine so they're easy to remove after the soup simmers.
If you poach the chicken, strain and save the cooking broth and use it as part of the chicken broth called for in the recipe.
The soup will thicken as it cools.
If you're sensitive to salt, use reduced-sodium chicken broth and adjust the salt at the end, if needed.

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