Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

There are a few recipes from some of our older cookbooks that are so fantastic that it feels kind of like a shame to not share them here on the blog as well.

This is one of them.

This Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from our Savoring the Seasons cookbook is so perfect in so many ways. Ultimate comfort food? Check. Tons of delicious leftovers? Check. Uses up all sorts of Thanksgiving-y foods? Check. Perfect food for a chilly fall night? Check. Taking dinner to a friend? Having company over? Sunday dinner? Weeknight meal? Check, check, check, check. This is a recipe you need in your arsenal.

To make it, you’ll need 5 tablespoons of butter, an onion, some garlic, carrots, baby portabella mushrooms, celery, poultry seasoning, a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, some chicken broth, wild rice, about a pound of cooked chicken cut into bite-sized pieces (a rotisserie chicken works great), kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, flour, and milk.

Whew. That’s a lot of ingredients. The good news is that you probably have a lot of these things already lying around your house, especially the closer we get to Thanksgiving (and, in fact, this is a great way to use up leftover turkey–just use it instead of the chicken.)

Because this soup takes a little extra time to cook, you can save time by doing a lot of the legwork earlier in the day–add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and poultry seasoning to a large ziploc bag, the chopped chicken in a smaller bag,

and after you chop the artichoke hearts, you can return them to the jar they came in. That way, when dinnertime rolls around, it comes together in just a few minutes and then it can simmer away and you don’t even have to think about it.

When you’re ready to start cooking, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat (set the rest of the butter aside for later). Add onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and poultry seasoning and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice and chicken, reduce heat, and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the rice is tender. When the rice is tender, remove from heat and add salt and pepper.

When the soup has about 10 minutes left, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Slowly add the milk,

about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking constantly to remove any lumps, until smooth and thickened to the consistency of a thin pudding. Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the soup and stir until combined. Simmer 4-5 minutes or until slightly thickened and serve.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

4.91 from 10 votes
 This soup is so comforting, and a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings10 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons butter divided
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup carrots, 2 medium chopped
  • 2 celery stalks chopped
  • ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 12-ounce artichoke hearts, marinated, jarred drained and chopped
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup wild rice
  • 12-16 ounces chicken, cooked, chopped one whole rotisserie chicken
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup portobella or baby bella mushrooms chopped

Instructions

  • Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and poultry seasoning and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice and chicken, reduce heat, and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the rice is tender. When the rice is tender, remove from heat and add salt and pepper.
  • When the soup has about 10 minutes left, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Slowly add the milk, about ½ cup at a time, whisking constantly to remove any lumps, until smooth and thickened to the consistency of a thin pudding. Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the soup and stir until combined. Simmer 4-5 minutes or until slightly thickened and serve.

Notes

  • Because this soup takes a little extra time to cook, you can save time by doing a lot of the legwork earlier in the day--add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and poultry seasoning to a large ziploc bag, the chopped chicken in a smaller bag, and after you chop the artichoke hearts, you can return them to the jar they came in. 

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 46mg, Sodium: 929mg, Potassium: 405mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 2416IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 86mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Main Courses, Soups
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
Calories: 223kcal
Author: Kate Jones
Cost: $10
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
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Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. 5 stars
    Ohhh my goodness. Made this last night for my family (I have two sons and one is a little picky) and they all loved it!! Cannot wait to make this again when it is super cold out and we are snowed in. I paired it with corn muffins and a salad. Absolutely delish.

  2. If I were to make this with leftover wild rice would you suggest waiting to add the rice until the carrots were soft? Any changes you would suggest?

  3. 5 stars
    I make a lot of soups, and my family thinks I am the (seinfeld) soup nazi. Lots of really good, substantial soup favorites. But this one is the best of all. But brands make a difference. The first time I made it with Harris Teeter herb rotisserie chicken and Goya marinated artichoke hearts. The second time I made it with BJ’s roasted chicken and BJ’s marinated artichoke hearts and it was not as good. I salvaged the second soup by adding Goya artichoke hearts to the soup. Just a suggestion. But bottom line is – this is a truly fantastic soup – my family’s new favorite.

  4. 5 stars
    I deep fried a Turkey for Christmas and had leftovers so used turkey in this soup instead. I had never cooked with artichoke hearts before so was surprised at the unique flavor. Really good.

    And since it was before New Year’s resolutions, I used heavy cream instead of milk to give the thickness a kick. We had to use almond flour for the roux due to gluten issues, so I thought the cream would help. It was fabulous.

    It might not make it out of single digits for the temperature today so I’m glad I have some yummy leftover soup.

  5. 4 stars
    My family absolutely loved this recipe! Even my husband (who isn’t a soup lover like myself) thought it was yummy! Thanks for the delicious recipe to add to my collection!

    1. It should be there now–we were doing some routine maintenance early this morning and the print feature stopped working while we were working. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    I made this tonight and it was so good!! I have a couple kids with food allergies and celiac disease, so sometimes adjusting recipes to their needs can be tricky. But this worked perfectly! I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

      1. update, I used a gluten free baking mix and made a roux. (It was mainly rice flour) It didn’t bind with the butter, but once I poured in the milk, the roux thickened up and I used only half of the roux. It turned out great.

  7. 5 stars
    You had me at artichoke hearts ❤️

    This was amazing! All four of my picky children GOBBLED this up! My eight year old declared it the best dinner ever. My husband said it was incredible.

    I love all your recipes. You and Sara have turned me into a cooking rockstar! My son told me I should put all my recipes into a cookbook and I thought, ha!, already been done ☺️

    1. I wouldn’t use coconut milk because it has such a distinct flavor—maybe something a little more mild?

  8. 5 stars
    I’ve been making this from your book for awhile. It’s become a regular for dinner during the winter. I love the little tang from the marinated artichoke hearts. Perfect!

  9. Hi Kate! Can this soup be made a day ahead? Thinking about making this tomorrow night for a luncheon on Tuesday. Also, I saw your reply about the mushrooms, but do not see them listed in the ingredients. Thank you!

  10. Funny, I came to your site looking for your 1 hour roll recipe to go with a chicken and wild rice soup I was already making–and now I’ll have to consider artichokes for my next batch of soup. Thanks.

  11. In the description and the instructions it says there are mushrooms in it but the list of ingredients has no mushrooms. What kind of mushrooms and how much goes actually should go in this recipe?

  12. 5 stars
    This soup is restaurant-quality, absolutely delicious! I would never have guessed, when eating it, that part of that amazing flavor came from marinated artichokes! I use canned chicken breast, which works great for me.

  13. Making this now! Just wanted to let you know your recipe doesn’t specify a mushroom amount. Ill figure it out but just letting you know!

        1. They’re there, they’re just at the bottom of the ingredients list because it won’t let me put it in where they actually go 🙁

  14. When I look for wild rice in the store, it usually comes as a blend with pasta in it. Is the that the kind I need for this recipe or is it 100% wild rice?

  15. 5 stars
    I LOVE this recipe! We actually just ate it for dinner (I use the recipe from the cookbook) – before I realized you had posted it on the blog. Thanks for sharing!

    1. I’m sure it’s possible, I’m just not exactly sure the timing or settings, haha. So whole lot of help I am, right??

    2. I think they best use of the instant pot with this recipe (I make wild rice soup pretty frequently) is to cook the wild rice in advance of making the soup using the guide that came with the instant pot. Wild rice takes forever to cook, so it ends up being a huge time saver.

  16. I’ve seen this recipe in the cookbook, but never got around to making it. I’m definitely going to! It really looks delicious!
    I also wanted to say I’m so excited to be able to print again (Ive had issues withe the print function in the past). I also just noticed the option to adjust the servings, that’s a nice touch! So handy! You gals are the best!