Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Jump to RecipePrint Recipe

Chicken Wild Rice Soup is creamy and full of hearty and flavorful ingredients such as cremini mushrooms, white cannellini beans, and bacon.  Almost like a stew with chunks of fresh vegetables and tender chicken, this soup is a warm and filling meal.  

The addition of creamy plain yogurt gives the soup a slight tang to temper some of the richness.  Sprinkle crunchy bacon bits on top for a hit of savory and smoky flavor.

Delicious and Comforting Soup

This delicious soup has a few ingredients that enhance its flavor making it rich and satisfying.  Typically, a classic chicken wild rice soup recipe includes a variety of vegetables such as carrots and onions.  This chicken soup recipe includes leeks which provide a mild sweet onion flavor with some earthy undertones.  Providing more umami, cremini mushrooms enrich the earthiness of the soup and the nuttiness of the wild rice.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup Ingredients

• cremini mushrooms - Earthier than white mushrooms.
• leeks - Use only the white tops and discard the fibrous green bottoms.
• carrots
• garlic
• bacon - Adds smokey flavor and texture.
• boneless skinless chicken  - Using thighs as well as chicken breasts provides a richer flavor.
• wild rice blend - The wild rice mix also contained brown basmati rice.
• chicken stock - Boxed chicken stock is fine.
• bay leaves
• plain yogurt - Provides a little tang as a counterpoint to the other rich ingredients.
• cannellini beans - Canned beans work beautifully.
• fresh dill - Make sure to sure fresh herbs.  It makes all the difference in the flavor of the soup.
• fresh parsley
• Worcestershire sauce - Just a tablespoon adds increased depth of flavor.
• Dijon mustard - A little bit of mustard provides a touch of acid which adds complexity to the flavor.
• salt and pepper - Due to the addition of bacon, be careful about the amount of salt added to the soup.

How to make Chicken Wild Rice Soup

One of the most important steps in this chicken soup recipe is the development of fond.

What is fond?

Fond refers to the browned bits of food that stick to the bottom of a pan during cooking, particularly when searing or roasting meat. These bits of food contain a concentrated amount of flavor and are often used as the base for sauces, gravies, and soups.

This sequence of steps in the cooking of ingredients in this soup recipe creates layers of fond.  Frying the bacon, searing the chicken, and sauteing the mushrooms adds different flavors of fond.  This helps to create a depth of flavor which enriches the chicken stock.

Chop the vegetables

• Cut three leeks into ¼-inch slices. Only use the white tops of the leeks and discard the fibrous dark green parts.
• Peel and chop carrots into ¼-inch slices.
• Clean and slice the mushrooms into quarters.
• Mince 3 cloves of garlic.

Start cooking the soup base

• Cut 6 slices of bacon into ½-inch pieces.
• Place stockpot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Add the bacon to the pot and continually stir. It is better to slowly render the fat out of the bacon so it doesn't burn.
• While the bacon is frying, cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
• Once the bacon is fully cooked, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave the bacon fat in the pot.
• Add the chicken to the large pot, giving it a good stir to coat the pieces with the bacon fat. Season with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper.
• Cook for up to 15 minutes until the chicken is nicely browned. There should be a nice coating of fond on the bottom of the pot. This is good!

• Add the mushrooms to the pot and stir to combine with the cooked chicken. As the mushrooms cook they will release liquid. This will help to deglaze the bottom of the pot releasing the fond. Cook for 10 minutes.

• Add the carrots, leaks, and garlic to the pot. Stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes.

Wild Rice

Wild rice is native to North America.  It provides a chewy texture and a nutty flavor which partners very well with the savory ingredients in this soup recipe such as the mushroom, bacon, and chicken thighs.

• Add 1 cup of the wild rice blend to the pot. Stir to combine with the other ingredients.
• Add 4 cups of room temperature chicken stock and 2 bay leaves to the pot. Cook for 30 minutes or until the wild rice is tender.

Finish the soup

• Once the wild rice is cooked, add 2 more cups of the stock, stirring to incorporate.
• Stir in 1½ teaspoons of Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper.
• Add ½ cup of plain yogurt, the cannellini beans, 1 tablespoon of chopped dill, and 1½ tablespoons of chopped parsley to the soup. Stir to combine into a creamy mixture.
• Serve when hot.

Tips

• The addition of yogurt creates a most delicious creamy broth.  Add the yogurt at the end of cooking to avoid the possibility of curdling.
• If you have leftover soup, store it in an airtight container.  You may need to add more stock the next day since the rice blend soaks it up overnight.
• Check the saltiness of the soup before you adjust the seasoning at the end of cooking.  The bacon can affect the need for more salt.

Satisfying Homemade Soup

This is a great soup for a blustery and cold day.  A  bowl of this flavorful, rustic soup, and hearty soup is sure to warm you up from the inside out.   Add some crusty bread to dunk into the creamy, rich broth for a complete meal.

This stew-like soup is very satisfying and filling with an assortment of vegetables like creamy white beans, tender leeks, crunchy carrots, and earthy mushrooms.  Don't forget to add the bacon bits before serving!

Other Chicken Soup Recipes 

https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/grilled-chicken-corn-chowder/

https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/creamy-chicken-and-orzo-soup/