Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup Recipe
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is a hearty and satisfying meal-level soup, with tender chicken, earthy wild rice, and a medley of aromatic vegetables that simmer in a creamy broth infused with herbs. It's comfort food at its finest!
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1 pound raw chicken breasts , cut into small, bite-sized pieces*
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning**
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
- 1 small onion , diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 medium leek , chopped, light green and white parts only
- 2 ribs celery , diced (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 medium carrot , diced or thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 cup half and half
- Juice from one lemon
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
Cook the rice:
- Prepare the rice according to package directions in a small to medium pot (generally speaking, a ratio of 1:3 rice to water; cook covered at an active simmer for about 40 minutes, until the rice resembles a hot dog bun). You can prepare the rice ahead of time and refrigerate, or cook it simultaneous to the soup. Wild rice usually takes about 40 minutes or so, and absorbs a lot of liquid, so it’s usually better to prepare the rice separately.
Prepare the soup:
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil or butter in a 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven or soup pot over medium until the surface of the fat shimmers. Toss the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of the poultry seasoning and add to the pot. Saute the chicken pieces, stirring frequently, until they're cooked through. Remove to a bowl. Don't wipe out the pot.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil or butter to the pot, and dump in the onions, leeks, celery, and carrots. Let the vegetables cook for 10 minutes, until they soften. Covering with a lid helps things along.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and add the garlic, mustard, and another teaspoon of poultry seasoning. Stir well. The mixture will be quite pasty. Let the rawness of the flour cook off for a minute or two.
- Add about a 1/2 cup of the broth and a 1/4 cup of the half and half to the pot, and stir to full incorporate into the vegetable mixture (which will still be thick but should smooth out little). Then add the remaining broth to the pot, along with another teaspoon of the poultry seasoning, mixing well. Increase the heat to medium-high to bring the soup to an active boil, and then reduce slightly to maintain a good, bubbly simmer. Cook the soup for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. You'll notice that the soup thickens as it cooks.
- Add the half and half, plus one tablespoon lemon juice. Let the soup come back up to bubbling, then turn off the heat. Add the cooked chicken and wild rice to the pot. Carefully taste the soup (it's hot!), and add salt and black pepper as needed. If the flavor needs a little brightening, add another tablespoon of lemon juice.
- If you have time, let the soup rest over just warm heat for a half hour or so, to let it thicken further.
Notes
* If you prefer a shredded texture to the chicken, you can skip the second step (start with the aromatics instead) and boil (a.k.a., poach) the whole chicken breasts in the broth in step five until cooked all the way through (about 20 minutes). Remove the chicken and let cool, continuing with the recipe as written. Shred the chicken breasts using two forks, and then add the chicken at the end, along with the rice.
** Take note that poultry seasoning is an herb blend, not a poultry spice rub. Poultry seasoning usually contains dried rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, basil, or variations thereof. If you don’t have the blend on hand, you can use a quarter teaspoon each of dried rosemary, sage, thyme, and marjoram to create one teaspoon. If using fresh herbs, bump up the amount to 1 teaspoon each, chopped (dried have more intense flavors than fresh).