Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read My Disclosure
This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is rich, hearty, and full of homemade flavor! Tender chicken, nutty wild rice, and a generous helping of vegetables come together in a silky, creamy broth with fresh thyme and a splash of dry sherry for a little something special. It’s a satisfying, comforting soup that’s easy enough for a weeknight but tastes like something you’d order at your favorite restaurant! My Zucchini Ricotta Muffins or Herb Bread is the perfect side!
QUICK TAKE: Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- What It Is: This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup combines chicken, wild rice, and vegetables in a rich broth, finished with fresh thyme and a splash of sherry for extra flavor.
- Ingredient Highlights: Tender chicken, nutty wild rice blend, cream, and dry sherry to take it up a notch.
- Time to Make: If starting with cooked rice and chicken, this soup is ready in about 1 hour.
- Chef’s Top Tip: Cook the wild rice separately. This keeps it from absorbing too much broth and discoloring the soup, so it stays creamy and light-colored.
- Why Make THIS Version? My version takes classic chicken and wild rice soup up a notch with a splash of dry sherry for rich, restaurant-quality flavor that’s surprisingly easy to achieve at home.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe is a Keeper!
This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup has everything you want in a hearty, satisfying soup, with a few special touches that make it stand out.
To fight back against AI-generated food content, I offer my email subscribers a personal touch: I’m always happy to help you find tried-and-true recipes from sources I trust, or share one of my own for what you’re looking for.
One subscriber asked for a Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe. I found one for him, but it inspired me to develop my own version with a few special touches to make it even more flavorful.
This Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe:
- Has rich, restaurant-quality flavor! A splash of dry sherry at the end elevates the flavor, and fresh thyme adds depth and complexity to the creamy broth.
- Perfectly creamy! Cooking the wild rice separately keeps it from absorbing too much broth or discoloring the soup.
- Hearty and satisfying! Tender chicken, nutty wild rice, and plenty of vegetables make this soup a meal in itself.
- Easy to make ahead! Like my Chicken Orzo Vegetable Soup, the flavors develop beautifully, so leftovers taste just as good the next day,
What started as a simple reader request turned into a recipe I’m excited to share with everyone! I hope this soup becomes a favorite in your kitchen, too, and if you’ve been searching for a recipe, I’d love to hear about it!
How to Make My Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe. The exact quantities are on the recipe card below.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions:
- Wild Rice Blend: I use RiceSelect Royal Blend, a mix of white basmati, brown, red, and wild rice you can find in the rice and dried beans aisle of most grocery stores. Interestingly, wild rice isn’t actually rice but the seed of a semi-aquatic grass. You can make this vegetable rice pilaf entirely with wild rice, but using a blend provides a more interesting balance of flavors and textures.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour if you’re not gluten-free. If you require gluten-free, use sweet rice flour, also known as Mochiko. I used it often as a personal chef for all kinds of clients; it works just like all-purpose flour.
- Dry Sherry: Dry sherry is a “fortified” Spanish white wine. Fortified means adding a distilled grape spirit (usually brandy) during or after fermentation. The alcohol level is typically 15-20%. NON-ALCOHOLIC SUBSTITUTION: Replace the dry sherry with 1/3 cup chicken broth and 1 to 2 teaspoons white balsamic or apple cider vinegar. Don’t add additional vinegar at the end, as too much acidity could affect the cream’s texture.
- Chicken Broth/Stock: Either can be used. I prefer reduced-sodium broth so I can better control the salt level in my recipes. Also, because the soup simmers and reduces slightly, that process will intensify the salty flavor of regular broth or stock.
- Poultry Seasoning: Blends vary, but typically include dried sage and thyme, and sometimes marjoram and rosemary.
- Chicken: Use all white meat, dark meat, or a combination. Use rotisserie chicken for convenience.
- Fresh Thyme: I highly recommend using fresh thyme if you have it for an earthy, herbal flavor.
- Heavy Cream: Gives the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup its rich, velvety texture without making it overly thick. You can substitute half-and-half for a lighter soup, but it won’t be quite as creamy. I suggest using half the heavy cream instead of half-and-half. If you use half-and-half, add it near the end of cooking and heat gently to prevent curdling.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the wild rice blend and cook until tender. Drain well and set aside.
- Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables…
- …and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add 1/3 cup dry sherry and cook briefly, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Gradually add the chicken broth, stirring well after each addition at first to prevent lumps. Add the poultry seasoning and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the soup has thickened slightly.
- Add the cooked wild rice and chicken. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.
- Stir in the heavy cream and fresh thyme. Heat gently for 1 to 2 minutes; do not boil.
- Taste and add another tablespoon or so of dry sherry, if desired. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Chef Tips and Tricks:
- Cook the wild rice separately. Wild rice blends vary in cooking time and absorb a lot of liquid. Cooking it separately keeps it from soaking up too much broth and discoloring the creamy soup. No special technique or ratios are required; simply cook the rice as you would pasta. I use the same cook-and-drain technique in my Wild Rice Pilaf and Brussels Sprouts and Rice Casserole to keep the grains tender and separate.
- Cook the flour thoroughly, then add the broth gradually to prevent lumps. Stir it into the vegetables for 1 to 2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste before adding the sherry and broth.
- Use rotisserie chicken for convenience. It’s a great shortcut that adds flavor and makes this soup even easier to prepare.
- Don’t skip the sherry! Dry sherry adds wonderful depth and complexity. A splash at the end brightens the flavor.
- Keep the heat low and avoid boiling after adding the heavy cream to keep the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup smooth and velvety.
- I always like to let a soup “rest” before serving it. This gives the flavors time to meld, and the soup will thicken as it sits.
- If you’re making the soup ahead, refrigerate the cooked wild rice separately and stir it in when reheating. This helps maintain the rice’s texture and keeps the soup from becoming too thick.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe FAQs:
Yes! You can use 100% wild rice, but it will taste earthier and have a chewier texture. Wild rice also takes longer to cook than many rice blends, so cook it separately, as you would the blend, until tender before adding it to the soup.
Absolutely! This soup is great for making ahead. For the best texture, cook and refrigerate the wild rice separately, then add it when reheating the soup. Heat it low and slow because of the heavy cream.
You can, but cream-based soups sometimes separate after freezing and thawing. The best way to reheat it is on the stovetop, low and slow, stirring often, which usually smooths it out. It may have a thinner consistency.
Wild rice releases natural pigments as it cooks, which can discolor the broth. Cooking the wild rice separately and draining it well before adding it to the soup helps prevent this.
VARIATIONS:
- Add mushrooms. Sauté 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms with the onion, carrots, and celery for an earthy flavor that complements the wild rice. You can also use cremini (baby Portobello mushrooms), but they’ll affect the color.
- Add a touch of curry. Stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of mild curry powder with the vegetables and flour, then cook briefly to release its flavor. Omit the poultry seasoning and sherry for this variation.
- Add 1 to 2 cups of diced Yukon Gold or red potatoes with the broth and simmer until tender. Potatoes make the soup even heartier and add a lovely, creamy texture.
Favorites From My Kitchen:
If you love a good homemade chicken soup as much as I do, here are two more favorites to try! Whether you’re looking for a hearty, vegetable-packed soup or something with a little extra kick, these recipes will satisfy.
- For something a little different, try my Chicken Peanut Soup, which combines tender chicken with rich, nutty peanut flavor for a delicious twist on traditional chicken soup.
- Garlic, lemon, turmeric, and a touch of crushed red pepper give my wholesome Kale Chicken Soup a flavorful kick your taste buds will love.
More Creamy soup comfort!
If you tried my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the comments!
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- Salt
- Water, for cooking the rice
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice blend
- 4 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
- 1 tablespoon canola, vegetable, or avocado oil
- 1 large onion, chopped (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
- 2 large carrots, chopped (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup dry sherry, plus more to splash in at the end
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, or more to taste
- 2 cups cooked diced or shredded chicken
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the wild rice blend and cook until tender. Drain well and set aside.
- Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add 1/3 cup dry sherry and cook briefly, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Gradually add the chicken broth, stirring well after each addition at first to prevent lumps. Add the poultry seasoning and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the soup has thickened slightly.
- Add the cooked wild rice and chicken. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
- Stir in the heavy cream and fresh thyme. Heat gently for 1-2 minutes; do not boil.
- Taste and add another tablespoon or so of dry sherry, if desired. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Notes
- NON-ALCOHOLIC SUBSTITUTION: Replace the dry sherry with 1/3 cup chicken broth and 1-2 teaspoons white balsamic or apple cider vinegar. Don’t add additional vinegar at the end, as too much acidity could affect the cream’s texture.
- You can substitute half-and-half for a lighter soup, but it won’t be quite as creamy. I suggest using half the heavy cream instead of half-and-half. If you use half-and-half, add it near the end of cooking and heat gently to prevent curdling.
- Cook the wild rice separately, like pasta, in plenty of water, then drain. This prevents it from absorbing too much broth or discoloring the soup.
- Stir the flour into the vegetables for 1 to 2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste, then gradually add the sherry and broth to prevent lumps.
- Don’t skip the sherry! It adds depth and complexity, while a splash at the end brightens the flavor.
- Avoid boiling after adding the heavy cream to keep the texture smooth and velvety.
- Let the soup rest. A short rest before serving lets the flavors meld and the soup thicken slightly.
- For the best texture, cook and refrigerate the wild rice separately, then add it when reheating the soup. Heat it low and slow because of the heavy cream.
- Cream-based soups sometimes separate after freezing and thawing.
- The best way to reheat it is on the stovetop, low and slow, stirring often, which usually smooths it out. It may have a thinner consistency.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are automatically calculated using unbranded products and are estimates only. Actual results may vary based on ingredients used and portion sizes. Adjust as needed for dietary restrictions, allergies, or health concerns.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
