Serve Chicken Soup with Wild Rice when you’re craving a hot bowl of rich, brothy soup. Slow-cooked on the stove in a homemade broth that is so delicious, it is sure to heal whatever is ailing you.
This recipe will help you understand why grandma served chicken soup for colds or a fever. Perfect comfort food.
I love the addition of wild rice to not only give it a little extra color, but also a nutty taste and toothy bite.
Wild rice by itself can be difficult to find in our area, but I try to always have a container of Royal Blend Rice in my pantry, which I will often use in this recipe. It always has brown rice, along with variations of red rice, barley, couscous, flaxseed, lentils, and wild rice. It’s a nice option for this soup.
Please note that this recipe has two parts. Cooking the chicken and then preparing the soup. Total cooking time will be between 3 1/2 – 4 hours. But the wait is totally worth it!
A faster way to make this soup is to buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and use it. You will want 2 cups of shredded chicken to do this. Then you may skip the first part of this recipe and continue at Part 2.
Ingredients For Chicken Soup With Wild Rice
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Instructions for Making This Recipe
Part 1 – Cook the Chicken and Homemade Broth
To begin, gather the first seven ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Using a vegetable peeler and knife, peel and slice the carrots. Slice the celery, and peel and quarter the sweet onion.
For this part of the recipe, the vegetables can be big and chunky, so you don’t need to worry about precision.
If necessary, Remove inner packet from chicken and place entire chicken in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Cover the chicken with water.
If desired, you may use 5-6 bone-in chicken thighs in place of the entire chicken. When raising our daughters, I always had a whole chicken in our freezer. But now that we are empty-nesters, I usually buy chicken thighs instead. As long as you use chicken that still has the skin and bones, this will work well. I do not recommend only using chicken breasts, however, as this meat tends to dry out too quickly.
Add in prepared carrots, celery, and sweet onion. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer for 2-3 hours until chicken meat falls off the bone. Skim off foam as needed.
Part 2 – Make the Soup
To prepare the soup, remove chicken from the Dutch oven and place it on a large plate or tray to cool. Strain the broth, removing vegetables and any floating particles.
When the chicken has cooled some, pick meat off of the bones and slice into 1/2″ chunks. Measure out 2 cups of chicken and set aside.
You may refrigerate or freeze the remaining chicken for later use. Some may opt to slice the cooked vegetables and use in the soup. For me, the vegetables were too soft and mushy, so I like to use fresh for the second part of this recipe.
If desired, use the extra chicken to make Chicken Salad. See my Chicken Salad Recipes Here.
Gather the remaining ingredients so that you have them close at hand. Prepare the vegetables for the soup. Slice the celery. Peel and slice the carrots. Slice the button mushrooms. Chop the sweet onion and mince the garlic.
If necessary, add enough water to the broth to make 8 cups. Bring to a boil. Stir in wild rice and chicken bouillon cubes and allow to simmer covered for 25 minutes until rice is tender.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter. Sauté the sliced celery, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and garlic until tender, 2-3 minutes.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the broth mixture along with the diced chicken. Season with dried parsley, oregano, rubbed sage, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Serve this soup piping hot with saltine crackers or a hard crusty bread such as my Tangy Sourdough Bread. This recipe will serve 4-6 people.
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Chicken Soup with Wild Rice
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken giblets and insides removed (or chicken thighs)
- 3 large carrots peeled and halved
- 4 stalks celery halved
- 1 medium sweet onion quartered
- water to cover the chicken
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 cubes chicken bouillon
- 1 cup wild rice or Royal Blend Rice – uncooked
- 3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups celery sliced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 cup button mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup sweet onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Instructions Click to Start Cooking
- To begin, gather the first seven ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Prepare your vegetables. Peel and slice 3 large (3 large) carrots, 4 stalks (4 stalks) celery, and peel and quarter 1 medium (1 medium) sweet onion.
- Remove inner packet from 1 whole (1 whole) chicken and place entire chicken in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Cover the chicken with water, approximately 6-8 quarts.(You may substitute 5-6 bone-in chicken thighs in place of the whole chicken, if desired.)
- Add in prepared Carrots, Celery, and Sweet Onion. Season with 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) kosher saltand 1/2 teaspoon (2.46 ml) freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer for 2-3 hours until chicken meat falls off the bone. Skim off foam as needed.
- To prepare the soup, remove chicken from the Dutch oven and place it on a large plate or tray to cool. Strain the broth, removing vegetables and any floating particles.
- When the chicken has cooled some, pick meat off of the bones and slice into 1/2" chunks. Measure out 2 cups (4.73 dl) cooked chicken and set aside. (You may refrigerate or freeze the remaining chicken for later use.)
- Prepare the vegetables for the soup. Slice 1 1/2 cups (3.55 dl) celery. Peel and slice 1 1/2 cups (3.55 dl) carrots. Slice 1 cup (2.37 dl) button mushrooms. Chop 1 cup (2.37 dl) sweet onion and mince 2 tablespoons (29.57 ml) garlic.
- If necessary, add water to make 8 cups (1.89 l) chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in 1 cup (2.37 dl) wild rice and 3 cubes (3 cubes) chicken bouillon. Allow to simmer covered for 25 minutes until rice is tender.
- In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons (44.36 ml) Extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons (29.57 ml) butter. Sauté the sliced celery, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and garlic until tender.
- Add sautéed vegetables to the broth mixture along with the diced chicken. Season with 2 teaspoons (9.86 ml) dried parsley, 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon (2.46 ml) rubbed sage, 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon (2.46 ml) freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve piping hot with saltine crackers. Serves 4-6.
Nutrition
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out!
Have you tried this chicken rice soup in the crockpot? Sounds yummy!
Hi Judy. No, I'm sorry. I haven't tried it in the crock. I don't know why you couldn't do the first portion of this recipe in a crock pot, however. Just make sure to allow plenty of time for the chicken to cook, so that it gets nice and tender. 6-8 hours?