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Creamy chicken and wild rice soup is the bowl people stand in line for at the bakery cafe on a cold day: a pale, silky broth, tender shreds of chicken, little pieces of carrot and celery, and those long dark grains of wild rice that pop between your teeth. Most people who try it at home make the same pot once. It tastes wonderful at six o’clock. By eight, the soup has turned into a thick porridge, and the next day the spoon stands up in it. They blame the flour, or the cream, and add more broth, and it happens again.
The cause is the rice. Wild rice and the grains blended with it keep drinking liquid for hours, long after they are tender, and a pot of soup is nothing but liquid. Restaurant kitchens know this, so they keep one rule: the rice is cooked in its own pot and only meets the soup in the bowl, or just before the pot goes to the table. Here is how to do it at home, how to make the broth creamy without it going gluey, and how to keep the leftovers as good as the first night.
Why this chicken wild rice soup works
- Rice in its own pot. Cooked apart, the rice takes its water from its own pan and leaves the broth alone, so the soup stays a soup.
- A light butter and flour base. A few spoonfuls of flour cooked in butter with the vegetables give body without the pasty thickness of too much starch.
- Chicken poached in the soup. The breasts simmer gently in the broth, stay tender and give their flavor back to the pot.
- Cream at the very end. Stirred in off the boil, the cream stays smooth and never separates.
- Stored in two containers. Soup and rice kept apart in the refrigerator reheat exactly like the first bowl.
Ingredients
Makes about 9 cups, enough for 6 generous bowls. The measurements are in US cups with grams or milliliters in brackets.
For the wild rice
- 1 cup wild rice blend (180g), rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups water (600ml), or the amount on your package
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the soup
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (60g)
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in small dice
- 3 ribs celery, cut in small dice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (40g)
- 6 cups chicken broth (1.4 liters), low sodium
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (450g), about 2 medium
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream (240ml)
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
A wild rice blend (wild rice mixed with long grain and brown rice) cooks in about 45 minutes and is what most restaurants use. Pure wild rice works too but takes closer to an hour and needs a little more water. Do not use the seasoned boxed mixes; the flavor packet makes the soup too salty.
How to make chicken wild rice soup
Cook the rice
- Put the rinsed rice, water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, until the grains are tender and many of the dark ones have split open. Drain off any water that is left, cover and set aside.
Make the soup
- While the rice cooks, melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes. It will look like a thick paste coating the vegetables.
- Pour in the broth a cup at a time, stirring well after each addition so no lumps form. Add the thyme and bay leaf.
- Lay the chicken breasts in the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, partly cover and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender.
- Lift the chicken onto a board, shred it with two forks and return it to the pot. Take out the bay leaf.
- Lower the heat so the soup is no longer bubbling. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper and warm it through for 3 minutes without letting it boil. Add the lemon juice and taste for salt.
Bring them together
- To serve everything at once, stir the cooked rice into the pot just before it goes to the table. If you expect leftovers, put a big spoonful of rice in each bowl and ladle the hot soup over it.
Tips that make the difference
- Start the rice first. It takes the longest, and the soup is ready by the time the grains split.
- Cook the flour for the full 2 minutes. Raw flour is what gives a creamy soup a pasty, gluey taste.
- Keep the simmer gentle while the chicken is in the pot. A hard boil makes the breast meat tough and stringy.
- Never let the soup boil after the cream goes in. High heat can make the cream separate.
- When reheating, add a splash of broth or milk and warm it slowly, then add the cold rice for the last minute.
Variations
- With mushrooms. Brown 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms in the butter before adding the onion, carrots and celery.
- Leftover or rotisserie chicken. Skip the poaching, simmer the soup for 15 minutes to cook the carrots and stir in 3 cups of shredded cooked chicken with the cream.
- Lighter. Use whole milk in place of the cream and add 1 more tablespoon of flour.
- With greens. Stir in two handfuls of baby spinach with the cream and let them wilt.
Storage and make-ahead
Store the soup and the rice in separate covered containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This is the whole secret to good leftovers.
Reheat the soup gently on the stove with a splash of broth, and add the rice at the end.
The soup base freezes well without the cream and rice for up to 3 months. Thaw, reheat, stir in the cream and serve over freshly cooked rice.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my soup turn thick and gluey?
The rice was cooked or stored in the soup and soaked up the broth, or the flour was not cooked long enough. Cook the rice separately and stir the flour in the butter for a full 2 minutes.
Can I cook the rice in the soup to save a pot?
You can, but only if every bowl will be eaten right away. You will need 2 more cups of broth, and any leftovers will thicken into porridge overnight.
How do I keep the cream from separating?
Add it at the end over low heat and do not let the soup boil again. Heavy cream is the most stable; half-and-half needs a gentler heat.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Yes. Boneless skinless thighs stay very tender. Simmer them for 25 minutes before shredding.
Two pots on the stove, one bowl on the table, and the leftovers are as good as the first night.
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (The Rice Cooked in Its Own Pot, Never Gluey)
A creamy chicken and wild rice soup like the bakery cafe bowl: carrots, celery and onion softened in butter, tender shredded chicken in a silky cream broth, with the wild rice cooked in its own pot so the soup never turns thick and gluey.
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice blend (180g), rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups water (600ml), or the amount on your package
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in small dice
- 3 ribs celery, cut in small dice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth (1.4 liters), low sodium
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (450g), about 2 medium
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
Instructions
- Put the rinsed rice, water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, until the grains are tender and many of the dark ones have split open. Drain off any water that is left, cover and set aside.
- While the rice cooks, melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes. It will look like a thick paste coating the vegetables.
- Pour in the broth a cup at a time, stirring well after each addition so no lumps form. Add the thyme and bay leaf.
- Lay the chicken breasts in the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, partly cover and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots are tender.
- Lift the chicken onto a board, shred it with two forks and return it to the pot. Take out the bay leaf.
- Lower the heat so the soup is no longer bubbling. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper and warm it through for 3 minutes without letting it boil. Add the lemon juice and taste for salt.
- To serve everything at once, stir the cooked rice into the pot just before it goes to the table. If you expect leftovers, put a big spoonful of rice in each bowl and ladle the hot soup over it.
