This chicken and wild rice soup stovetop recipe is the perfect easy, creamy chicken soup with rice. This is a soup that feeds a lot of people, and it’s also a dinner that makes good leftovers.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Ingredients Needed

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg. Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild Rice Fast Cook
2 T butter
4 stalks celery, diced
1/3 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 T flour
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth
12 oz. heavy whipping cream

Tools Needed

Step 1: Cook The Rice

Cook the wild rice blend first so it has time to cool before entering the hot soup mixture. Cook the rice using the directions on the box.

Letting the rice cool for a little while before adding it to the hot soup liquid will help prevent it from getting gummy in the hot liquid.

I like to lay out a piece of parchment paper and spread the rice out on a countertop surface to cool even faster while working on the other steps.

Step 2: Cook The Chicken

For this creamy chicken wild rice soup recipe, you must have 4 cups of shredded chicken. You can get this done in several ways, and the method is up to you.

You can even use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken. You could even use leftover turkey to get a different taste.

Combine the chicken and broth in a stockpot or dutch oven once your chicken is cooked and shredded.

I love stockpots like this one because they’re all metal and are oven-safe up to 450 degrees, which is excellent for making roasts and stews in the oven, but any stockpot will do.

Chicken Preparation Options:

Boil the Chicken

Fill a 6-quart stockpot halfway with water, or enough to cover the chicken by 2 inches.

Bring the water to a boil and boil the chicken until it shreds quickly and falls apart, and is no longer pink in the middle.

If you are using boneless chicken and you’ve already cleaned the fat off of the chicken, feel free to use chicken broth to boil the chicken rather than water. This will be the base for your soup and you will keep the liquid ad chicken together and add the vegetables to this mixture later.

Bake the Chicken

Crockpot Chicken

Slow cookers come in handy when you’re looking to make meat tender and easy to shred. Put the chicken into the Crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

This Crockpot shredded chicken recipe gives all of the details.

You can use chicken thighs or skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts for this chicken soup; you’ll want to remove the bones if the meat isn’t boneless.

Instant Pot Chicken

Instant Pots make heavy work more accessible, and they save time, too. You can cook your chicken in the Instant Pot and have it ready in ten minutes or less.

See this post to learn how to make shredded chicken in the Instant Pot

Step 3: Add Vegetables and Make Soup Roux

Once your chicken is cooked, you are ready to make the next important part of this soup. Add your butter, garlic, diced carrots, diced celery, and diced onions in a 3-4 quart pot.

Stir this mixture occasionally over low to medium-high heat until the veggies are tender and the butter has had a chance to melt.

After 10 minutes, add the flour to the vegetables and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan so as not to let anything burn. This mixture will get thick.

If you don’t have flour on hand, any starches will work – like cornstarch for example.

Reduce the heat to the saucepan and continue cooking and stirring the mixture for a minute.

You will make a roux for the soup by adding half a cup of chicken broth to the veggie mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk, and bringing it to a boil.

After this mixture has a consistent texture and look, add it to the chicken and broth mixture.

Step 4: Add The Remaining Ingredients

Once your soup is assembled, the only thing left to add is the heavy cream. Bring the soup to a simmer and slowly add the heavy whipping cream while stirring.

It’s best to avoid bringing the soup to a full boil after adding the heavy whipping cream because doing so can change the soup’s texture.

Step 5: Simmer The Chicken and Wild Rice Soup to Enjoy!

Simmer the soup until ready to serve, and add salt and pepper to your desired taste. Taste test the soup before adding more flavors or spices because the herbs in the rice give so much flavor!

If you have any leftovers, store the soup in the refrigerator. Reheating this soup is a breeze and even more delicious the next day!

Print Pin