This Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Mushrooms is creamy, hearty and the perfect cold weather meal! It's really easy to make and ready in just over an hour. Serve it with this Sourdough Grilled Cheese for the Ultimate cozy dinner!
There's nothing better in Winter than a warm hearty bowl of soup. Expect just that with this Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Mushrooms. It has all the classic vegetables plus mushrooms and wild rice for a lot of flavors and textures, and chicken is added for extra protein.
It's seriously a full meal in a bowl, but I like to serve it with a slab of cheesy garlic bread or grilled cheese on sourdough.
If you love hearty soup recipes, put this Outback Copycat Potato Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup in a Dutch Oven, Chicken Tikka Masala Soup and Chicken Dumpling Soup on this week's meal plan too!
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Why You'll Love This Soup:
- The Perfect Fall or Winter Meal. Nothing better on a cold day and it's packed with meat, veggies and rice. It won't leave you hungry and unless you have a big family, there will be enough for seconds.
- Minimal Dishes. The soup cooks all in one pot and the chicken bakes on a cookie sheet. Cover the cookie sheet with foil before adding the chicken for super simple clean up.
- It's Creamy. This broth is made up of chicken stock and heavy cream, which gives us a nice hearty broth with a creamy texture. The best match up with chicken and rice.
- Meal Prep and Freezer Friendly. This soup makes several cups. Make it on Sunday for meal prep and save the extras to eat during the week for lunch or dinner. It's also freezer friendly!
For more Winter Weeknight Dinners, try this Shrimp Scampi without Wine, Creamy Vegetable Pasta, and Deconstructed Burger Bowls.
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast: Seasoned with salt and pepper and oven baked for an easy method. I love the Smart Chicken brand for its high quality and always clean and trimmed chicken breasts.
Wild Rice: A variety of rice that has a thicker and overall different texture versus white or brown rice. It also takes a lot longer to cook, but it's delicious and adds a lot of depth to this Creamy Soup. I used the Lundberg Wild Rice Blend for this soup and it came out fantastic. Make sure to buy the rice in raw form, rather than in a microwave package.
Mushrooms: Baby Bellas, also called Cremini Mushrooms, are used for their deep, rich flavors. I also like the darker color for this specific soup.
Carrot, Celery and Onion: A classic mirepoix, known in French cooking for adding bold flavors into soups and stews.
Chicken Stock: The majority of the liquid in this soup. I highly recommend using chicken stock over chicken broth. The stock is cooked with the bones and always has a richer flavor.
Butter and Flour: Create a roux to make for a thicker broth.
Heavy Cream: Contributes to the creamy texture in this soup and takes the soup from a golden chicken noodle type broth to a whiter creamy thickness.
*Full recipe ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
Substitutions and Variations:
To save time, feel free to substitute the raw chicken breast with a store-bought cooked Rotisserie chicken. Remove skin from the chicken and shred or dice the meat for the soup.
I don't recommend using a different kind of rice for this recipe. Wild rice takes a long time to cook and this recipe is specifically designed for using wild rice. Another type of rice will overcook if you cook it the same time.
Not big on mushrooms? Leave them out.
If you can't find baby Bella mushrooms, substitute them with an Italian Portobello variety.
Vegetarian? Leave out the chicken.
Try these Soup Croutons for topping too!
How to Make Creamy Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Mushrooms:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay the chicken breast over top of it. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Step 2: While the chicken is baking, place a dutch oven on the stovetop over medium low heat and add in the olive oil. Toss in the carrots, celery, onion and remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes to soften the vegetables.
Step 3: Add in the mushrooms, minced garlic, bay leaf, dried thyme and garlic powder and stir to combine. Cook for about 1 minute, then add in the butter and allow it to melt.
Step 4: Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. This will create the roux to help thicken the soup.
Step 5: Slowly pour in about 1 cup of chicken stock while stirring, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Then, pour in the remaining chicken stock. Cover the pot and continue to cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes.
Step 6: Uncover, and stir the wild rice into the soup. Cover again and cook for 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
Step 7: Once the chicken breast is finished cooking, cut it into small cubes.
Step 8: After the rice has cooked for 30 minutes, add in the diced chicken and heavy cream. Stir well and reduce the heat to low and cover and cook for another 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the dutch oven to a burner that is turned off.
Step 9: Ladle into bowls. Top with salt and pepper if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips:
- When cooking the mirepoix, you want the vegetables to soften without any browning. Turn down the heat if needed.
- Don't overcook the chicken because it will continue to cook in the soup. If the chicken breasts are on the thinner side, they may cook faster than 25 minutes.
- If you haven't had wild rice before, it is supposed to have some texture and chew to the grain.
- At the end of cooking, turn off the stovetop and move the dutch oven to a colder spot on the stove to stop the rice from cooking and turning to mush.
For more delicious rice recipes, try this Mediterranean Yellow Rice, Coconut Jasmine Rice, Blackstone Fried Rice, and Vegetable Rice Soup.
Recipe FAQs:
Making soup thick and creamy first starts with a roux of equal parts butter and flour. In gumbos, this is stirred constantly and cooked until light brown, like chocolate. However, in many recipes, like this creamy chicken wild rice soup, it's just added in with the vegetables before adding the liquid. If you want soup really creamy, use less chicken stock or broth, which waters the soup down. Also, consider adding heavy cream at the end before serving.
A mirepoix is a combination of celery, carrot and onion cooked in butter or oil. This term was developed in France and is a great way to build flavors in soups and stews.
Allow the soup to come to room temperature, then transfer to sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, use a pot on the stovetop over medium heat and cook until warm, or use the microwave and heat in 30 second increments until hot.
Absolutely! For the best results, allow the soup to cool and add into vacuum seal bags. Freeze for up to 2 months. To reheat, allow the soup to thaw and reheat in a pot until hot.
More Soups You Will Love:
If you tried this Chicken Wild Rice and Mushroom Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Creamy Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Mushrooms
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 6 large bowls of soup 1x
Description
This Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Mushrooms is creamy, hearty and the perfect cold weather meal! It's really easy to make and ready in just over an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breast, about 1 lb, trimmed
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 stalks or ribs of celery, thinly sliced
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced small
- 1 cup baby Bella or cremini mushrooms, diced small
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 48 ounces Chicken Stock
- ¾ cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lay the chicken breast over top of it. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- While the chicken is baking, place a dutch oven on the stovetop over medium low heat and add in the olive oil. Toss in the carrots, celery, onion and remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes to soften the vegetables.
- Add in the mushrooms, minced garlic, bay leaf, dried thyme and garlic powder and stir to combine. Cook for about 1 minute, then add in the butter and allow it to melt.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. This will create the roux to help thicken the soup.
- Slowly pour in about 1 cup of chicken stock while stirring, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Then, pour in the remaining chicken stock. Cover the pot and continue to cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes.
- Uncover, and stir the wild rice into the soup. Cover again and cook for 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
- Once the chicken breast is finished cooking, cut it into small cubes.
- After the rice has cooked for 30 minutes, add in the diced chicken and heavy cream. Stir well and reduce the heat to low and cover and cook for another 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the dutch oven to a burner that is turned off.
- Ladle into bowls. Top with salt and pepper if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- When cooking the mirepoix, you want the vegetables to soften without any browning. Turn down the heat if this is happening.
- Don't overcook the chicken because it will continue to cook in the soup. If the chicken breasts are on the thinner side, they may cook faster than 25 minutes.
- If you haven't had wild rice before, it is supposed to have some texture and chew to the grain.
- At the end of cooking, turn off the stovetop and move the dutch oven to a colder spot on the stovetop to stop the rice from cooking and turning to mush.
- Salt and pepper to taste before serving. Some chicken stock (like All Kitchen or Kirklands brand has a good amount of flavor and salt) and other brands you may need to add salt and pepper.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 80 minutes
- Category: soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
George
This is the best soup! So creamy and delicious.
Tara Smithson
Thanks George! It's one of my top favorites right now too. Thanks so much for the review.