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White bowl with spoon scooping up chicken and wild rice soup.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • ½ to 1 cup frozen corn
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • ½ cup diced carrots
  • ½ pound fresh mushrooms, chopped or thinly sliced (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth (I use low-sodium)
  • 2 cups cooked wild rice or a wild/brown rice blend
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 2 cups half-and-half, regular or nonfat
  • 3 to 4 cups cooked, chopped chicken

Instructions 

  • Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, corn, carrots, and sauté for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are mostly tender (they'll cook a bit more in the next steps).
  • Add the mushrooms, if using, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
  • Add the salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, and ground black pepper, and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the flour and stir well. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring or whisking constantly. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, while stirring, for 5-6 minutes, until it has thickened slightly.
  • Add the cooked rice, almonds, chicken and half-and-half. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Moderate the heat so the soup doesn't boil vigorously. It will thicken as it simmers.
  • Serve immediately or keep warm over low heat until serving.

Notes

Chicken: the original recipe called for cooking 1 pound of cubed, raw chicken in step #1 with the carrots and celery. You can definitely still do that! But I've found it's easier to use cooked chicken and add it at the end. 
After ten years of making this soup, I've also updated the recipe to include adding the spices at the beginning to develop more flavor. None of the quantities of ingredients have changed.