Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Creamy chicken and wild rice soup along with mushrooms, carrots and celery is pure comfort in a bowl. Thick, delicious and totally satisfying!

Note: I always make this soup with a pre-steamed wild rice blend (wild rice + brown rice). The reason being that it gets cooked right along with the other ingredients at the same time. However, if you want to use raw wild rice, do soak it for a few hours and cook it separately before you add it to the other ingredients, as it has a longer cooking time than anything else. More on this below.

This soup here. This chicken and wild rice soup. It's going to blow your mind, I promise. It's one of those crazy good, lick-the-bowl-clean kind of soups. And no wonder. With lots of beautiful ingredients like boneless chicken, mushrooms, carrots, onions and celery simmering away in a creamy broth, it's bound to emerge a winner.

Speaking of chicken soup, here's another chicken soup recipe on the blog. This one's a light and clear soup with fresh cilantro, lemon, and shredded cabbage for a little crunch. It's quite wholesome and nutritious:)

Back to our chicken and wild rice soup. Let's talk about the wild rice part of it.

Wild rice is not really a variety of rice as you might know. It is a grain harvested from an aquatic grass native to North America, India and China. Minnesota, in North America, is a producer of high quality wild rice.

Wild rice has a lot going for it. It is packed with protein, dietary fibres, vitamin B and some minerals. Like true rice, it does not have gluten and is low in fat. Quite the nutrient powerhouse I'd say. However, the downside is that it is more expensive than regular rice and takes a much longer time to cook. In this recipe, I used a pre-steamed wild and brown rice blend to cut down on the cooking time. The soup was done in 5 minutes of pressure cooking in the instant pot!

What to do if you want to make this recipe with only wild rice

If you don't want to use a blend of wild and brown rice, go ahead and make the soup with just wild rice. However, there are two things you must do then.

First, soak the wild rice in water for at least 6 hours and preferably overnight.

Second, pressure cook the wild rice beforehand. Add the rice along with 2 cups water to the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 25 minutes. Now the rice is ready to be used in the recipe. Here's a good quality Minnesota wild rice (affiliate link) you can use.

Ingredients

Note: Exact quantities of ingredients are given in the recipe card below. 

• Chicken breasts
• Butter (affiliate link)
• Yellow onions
• Carrots
• Cremini mushrooms
• Celery, chopped
• Wild Rice blend (affiliate link)
• Sea salt (affiliate link)
• Chicken broth (affiliate link)
• All purpose flour (affiliate link)
• Ground black pepper
• Heavy cream
• Cheddar cheese

How to make instant pot chicken and wild rice soup

Instant pot wild rice soup does not have very many steps. This is what you need to do.

Preparation

• If using raw wild rice, soak it for at least 6 hours before cooking and cook it for 25 minutes on high pressure with 2 cups of water. Once the rice is cooked, you can add it to the rest of the ingredients.
• Chop and slice the vegetables and grate the cheese (if using a block of cheese). You can buy a packet of shredded cheddar also to avoid grating it by hand.
• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
• Whisk together flour and one cup broth until smooth and lump-free.

Cooking

• Switch on the instant pot to sauté and melt the butter. Add chicken and saute until lightly browned on both sides.
• Add the flour and broth mixture, onions, carrots, mushrooms, celery, wild rice blend, black pepper and sea salt. Stir everything for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the rest of the chicken broth, deglaze the pot (scrape the browned bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon) and cancel sauté.
• Secure the lid, make sure the steam release handle is sealed and hit pressure cook (manual in some models). Set the timer to 5 minutes.
• When the timer beeps, let the pressure release naturally (12-15 minutes) and open the pot. Press sauté again, and add the heavy cream and cheddar. Cook the soup for 4-5 minutes or until you can see it taking on a smooth, creamy texture. Cancel sauté and take out the soup in individual bowls. Sprinkle some freshly ground, coarse black pepper on top if you want to.

Why this soup works

• It is an easy and quick recipe - normally, anything to do with wild rice is not 'easy and quick' but I got around that problem by using a pre-cooked wild rice blend. Plus the steps are not too involved.
• It is super creamy and thick, the way all soups should be. Just sayin'.
• It has your daily requirements of protein, carbs and fats - with chicken, grains and three different veggies, it is a pretty complete package.

More instant pot soups

I'm obsessed with soup these days (I've posted three back to back soup recipes this month, and this is the fourth one with a mac and cheese in between), I'm obsessed with making them in my instant pot(affiliate link). Yes, I made them all in the instant pot and they turned out just perfect. I love the convenience and speed with which this appliance makes soup, so here are some more!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Saima Zaidi

Creamy chicken and wild rice soup along with mushrooms, carrots and celery is pure comfort in a bowl.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 331 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 chicken breasts boneless
• 1 yellow onion medium
• 2 carrots medium
• 1 ½ cups cremini mushrooms
• 2 celery stalks medium
• 1 cup wild rice blend
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup cheddar cheese

Instructions

 

• Preparation 
• If using raw wild rice, soak it for at least 6 hours before cooking and cook it in your instant pot for 25 minutes (2 cups of water, high pressure). Once the rice is cooked, you can add it to the rest of the ingredients.
• Chop and slice the vegetables and grate the cheese (if using a block of cheese). You can buy a packet of shredded cheddar also to avoid grating it by hand.
• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
• Whisk together flour and one cup broth until smooth and lump-free.

Cooking

• Switch on the instant pot to saute and melt the butter. Add chicken and saute until lightly browned on both sides.
• Add the flour and broth mixture prepared in step 3 of prep, onions, mushrooms, celery, wild rice blend, carrot, black pepper and sea salt. Stir everything for 1-2 minutes with a wooden spoon.
• Add the rest of the chicken broth, deglaze the pot (scrape the browned bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon) and cancel saute.
• Secure the lid, make sure the steam release handle is sealed and hit pressure cook (manual in some models). Set the timer to 5 minutes.
• When the timer beeps, let the pressure release naturally (12-15 minutes) and open the pot. Press saute again, and add the heavy cream and cheddar. Cook the soup for 4-5 minutes until it acquires a smooth, creamy texture. Cancel saute and take out the soup in individual bowls. Sprinkle some freshly ground, coarse black pepper on top.

Notes

1. The wild rice blend is pre-steamed wild and brown rice. Because it is steamed already, 5 minutes of pressure cooking time is enough.
2. If using raw wild rice, soak it for 6 hours beforehand and pressure cook it on high in your instant pot for 25 minutes. 
3. I have used the vegetables I like. You can add or subtract the veggies of your choice. Add green beans or cauliflower florets if you like those veggies.
4. For extra flavour, add a sprig or two of the herb of your choice like thyme or rosemary before pressure cooking. Remove the leaves after the soup is pressure cooked.
5. Since this soup has a lot of dairy in it, it does not freeze well. It will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days, but do try to consume it quickly enough.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 331kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 25gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1099mgPotassium: 640mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 3829IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 118mgIron: 1mg

Keyword chicken and wild rice soup, instant pot chicken soup, soup

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