Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup (From Scratch — No Canned Soup)
A deeply creamy, from-scratch chicken wild rice soup made with a simple roux-based broth, tender shredded chicken, earthy mushrooms, and hearty wild rice — no canned soup required.
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Servings: 8
Notes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 small white or yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, diced
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups plain milk (cow's or plant-based)
- 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- Fine sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 4 minutes. Add carrots, celery, and garlic and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Slowly pour in the chicken stock while stirring to prevent lumps. Add chicken breasts, mushrooms, wild rice, rosemary, and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 40–45 minutes, stirring every 5–7 minutes, until wild rice is fully tender.
- Remove chicken breasts and shred or dice into bite-sized pieces. Return to the pot.
- Stir in milk and baby spinach. Cook 1–2 minutes until spinach wilts.
- Remove bay leaves. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
- Use pre-cooked chicken: Swap raw breasts for 3–4 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken — add it with the stock and reduce simmer time slightly.
- Make it dairy free: Use olive oil instead of butter and swap cow's milk for unsweetened oat or almond milk to get a more Health Dinner Recipes.
- Make it gluten free: Replace flour with a 1:1 GF flour blend or whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the cold milk before adding.
- Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days. Freeze up to 3 months. Add a splash of stock when reheating as the rice absorbs liquid over time.
- Make ahead: The soup tastes even better the next day. Make it up to 2 days ahead and reheat gently on the stovetop.