This Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is another one of those recipes that comes out as soon as the weather starts to cool and stays in our dinner rotation all winter long.

It’s also become one of the meals my older kids request when they come home from college—which is probably the best endorsement a family recipe can get.

It’s hearty, creamy, loaded with chicken and vegetables, and made entirely in one pot. We almost always serve it with my crunchy garlic ciabatta bread alongside it.

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50–55 minutes
Serves: 8–10

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw 100% wild rice
• 1 cup raw Jasmine or Basmati rice
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 cup green cabbage, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 (32 oz) boxes low-sodium chicken broth (you’ll use approximately 2¾ boxes)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Sauté the vegetables.
Melt the butter in a large Dutch Oven over medium heat.

Add the onion, carrots, celery, and cabbage. Sauté for 7–9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and the onion is translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.

2. Make the roux right in the pot.
Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are coated and the flour forms a paste around them.

3. Add the broth and wild rice.
While stirring continuously, slowly pour in 2 full boxes (64 oz) of chicken broth. Add the Italian seasoning and bring to a boil.

Stir in the rinsed wild rice.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

4. Add the white rice.
Remove the lid and add 2 cups (16 oz) additional chicken broth along with the white rice.

Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes, or until both kinds of rice are tender.

If the soup becomes thicker than you’d like, add a little more broth from the remaining box until it reaches your preferred consistency.

5. Finish with the chicken and cream.
Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the shredded chicken and heavy cream.

Cook for another 3–5 minutes, just until everything is heated through. Don’t allow the soup to boil once you’ve added the cream.

Season generously with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.

Serve warm.

What We Serve With It

At our house, this soup almost always gets served with My Crunchy Garlic Ciabatta Bread.

The crispy, salty bread is perfect alongside the creamy soup—and together they make exactly the kind of dinner we want when the weather starts getting cold.

This is one of those meals that has become part of the rhythm of our family. The weather cools down, the soup pot comes out, and before long someone is asking when we’re having chicken wild rice soup.

Those are the recipes worth holding onto.

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