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Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup is so creamy, easy, loaded with juicy chicken, mushrooms & nutty wild rice. This instant pot chicken wild rice mushroom soup has so much flavor in every bite. It's a dump & start recipe that gets done within 30 mins & you can use leftover or rotisserie chicken too.
Do check out our huge collection of amazing Instant Pot Recipes.

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup Instant Pot
Love Panera Bread's Broccoli Cheddar Soup? Than, you'll totally love this easy instant pot chicken wild rice soup that's even better than Panera's.
This instant pot chicken wild rice soup recipe is loaded with nutty chewy wild rice, tender chicken, wholesome & healthy carrots, celery, mushrooms, onion & garlic.
Not to forget those awesome seasonings that make the soup so flavorful & hearty.
This is in fact the best instant pot wild rice soup you will ever make in your instant pot. For a vegetarian wild rice soup just skip the chicken.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.
- Chicken: Use either boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs. You can use either frozen or thawed chicken. Or use rotisserie or left over cooked chicken. Read NOTES below.
- Wild Rice: You can either use actual wild rice or use a wild rice blend. The cook time would remain the same for both the varieties. Today's recipe is made with a wild rice blend, it adds lots of creaminess & body to the soup.
- Aromatics: Onion & garlic. Do not use red onion. The yellow onion tastes best in this soup.
- Veggies: Celery, carrots, baby bella mushrooms or white mushrooms. If you do not like mushrooms just skip them.
- Dairy: Milk & Heavy whipping cream.
- Butter: Replace it with either light or extra light olive oil if you are on a restricted diet.
- All purpose flour: We used this to make a quick roux to help thicken the soup and provide it with a creamy base.
- Seasonings & fresh herbs: Fresh rosemary or dried, bay leaf, red pepper flakes (skip if heat intolerant), sweet paprika, thyme, oregano, ground black pepper, salt.
- Liquid: Water or chicken stock.
- Better than Bouillon chicken base: We stirred it in water to make an instant homemade chicken stock. If you do not have this handy just replace the water in the recipe with either homemade or store bought chicken stock.
Tips & Tricks
- More flavor: Use thawed or frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs and pressure cook along with the soup. You can shred or dice the cooked chicken and add it back to the wild rice soup. Believe me this will add tons of awesome good flavors.
- For creamy soup: Use a blend of wild rice. This will add tons of body and creaminess to the soup.
- For chewy soup: If you prefer lots of chewiness add original wild rice instead of a wild rice blend.
- For intense flavor: Use fresh rosemary instead of the dried version & do add the better than bouillon chicken base stirred in warm water. The better than bouillon definitely takes recipes to a whole new level.
- The roux: We used butter, all purpose flour & whole milk to make the roux on the stove top. This way you'll have better control of the heat & prevent the roux from burning. Add this roux at the end to thicken the soup & make it a lot creamier without adding tons of dairy!
How to make Chicken Wild Rice Soup in Instant Pot?
Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.
Step #1 Dump veggies, wild rice, stock, seasonings
- Dump veggies, aromatics, wild rice: Add the veggies, aromatics & the wild rice (do not rinse rice) in the instant pot.
- Add broth, seasonings: Pour the broth & throw in the seasonings along with the fresh rosemary twig and the bay leaf. Give everything a good stir.
Step #2 Pressure cook soup, shred chicken
- Pressure cook: Add the thawed or frozen boneless chicken breasts or thighs and pressure cook on the Soup/Broth mode on high pressure for 30 mins. Once, the cook time is up you can either perform a quick pressure release or wait for 10 mins and than perform a manual pressure release.
- Shred or dice chicken: Fish out the pressure cooked chicken on to a plate and either dice them into bite size pieces or shred them with the help of a pair of forks.
Step #3 Prepare Roux on stove top
- Prepare the stove top roux: Set a heavy bottom steel saucepan over medium high heat. Add butter, when the butter melts add the all purpose flour and stir constantly with a whisk until the flour completely incorporates into the butter and forms a silky smooth lump free batter.
- Add milk + cream: Pour the whole milk & cream in a container & stir to mix them well. Add this dairy mixture in small portions and whisk the roux every time you add the dairy. This will help prevent lumps and form a smooth and silky roux. Cook the flour milk mixture for 1-2 mins whisking continuously until the proper flowy smooth roux consistency is reached.
Step #4 Thicken soup serve
- Thicken soup: Turn on the Sauté mode & set it on low heat. Add the roux into the pot and stir continuously until the roux is completely incorporated into the chicken wild rice soup. This will take a few mins. Simmer the soup for 1-2 mins until your preferred consistency is reached.
- Add chicken: Transfer back the shredded chicken and stir well to mix well. Serve the chicken wild rice mushroom soup with crusty bread like a sour dough, baguette or a cheesy French toast.
How to make chicken wild rice soup in crockpot?
Slow cooker/crockpot chicken wild rice soup is so easy. Here's how to make it:
- Step 1 Dump all ingredients in slow cooker: Place the boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs in the slow cooker. Add rest of the ingredients except the mushrooms and the roux. Give everything a quick stir.
- Step 2 Slow cook: Place the lid of the slow cooker and slow cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Add the mushrooms during the last 30 mins of cooking time.
- Step 3 Shred chicken: Fish out the cooked chicken from the slow cooker & dice or shred with the help of a pair of forks.
- Step 4 Prepare the roux on stove top: Follow the roux recipe mentioned in today's post. Find it at the bottom of the post.
- Step 5 Thicken soup: Add back the shredded or diced chicken and the roux into the slow cooker. Give everything a good stir until the roux is completely incorporated into the soup. There should not be any lumps left. If the soup is too thick add either more stock or milk or half & half. Serve immediately and enjoy!
What goes with chicken wild rice soup?
You can serve the following:
- Crusty bread like sourdough, baguette (French bread).
- Dinner rolls.
- Bread sticks:
- Any kind of fresh salad.
- A veggie side like steamed broccoli, carrots etc.
Can chicken wild rice soup be frozen?
Yes chicken wild rice can be frozen for upto 2 months. Use heavy duty freezer safe bags or containers to store the soup. Follow the reheating directions shared below.
How long does chicken wild rice soup last?
Chicken wild rice soup will last for upto 4 days in the fridge. Store it in air tight containers. The soup will thicken quite a bit, you need to follow the reheating directions shared below.
Reheating Directions
From Fridge: Reheat the fridge cold soup in microwave oven until warm or hot. You can dilute the soup by adding water or stock or 2% milk and than reheat in the microwave oven.
From Freezer: Thaw the chicken wild rice soup overnight in the fridge first and than follow the reheating directions shared above.
Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup
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Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken (*Use boneless skinless frozen or thawed chicken breasts or thighs. I used frozen chicken breasts.)
- 1 cup wild rice (*use either a blend just like in this recipe or use original wild rice. It's your choice.)
- ½ tbsp garlic (*minced)
- 1 cup onion (*use roughly chopped yellow onion.)
- 1 cup celery (*roughly chopped.)
- 1 cup carrots (*diced into cubes.)
- 8 ounce Mushrooms (*baby bella or white mushrooms. 227 g.)
- Salt (to taste) (**add according to your personal taste preference.)
Seasonings
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (*skip if making the soup for kids.)
- ¼ tsp Paprika (*use sweet paprika. DO NOT use smoked paprika.)
- ¼ tsp thyme
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 twig rosemary (*fresh rosemary or use ¼ tsp dried rosemary.)
Liquid
- 6 cups Water (*use warm water)
- 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon (*chicken base, stir this in 6 cups warm water to form an instant homemade chicken stock.)
For the roux
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream (*you can sub it with half & half or milk.)
- 2 cups whole Milk (*you can sub the whole milk with skimmed or low fat milk. The soup will be a bit less creamy.)
Equipment Used
Instructions
Dump Ingredients
- Add the onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms, wild rice blend, garlic, chicken stock, seasonings, salt, fresh rosemary twig, bay leaf into the steel insert of the instant pot. Give everything a quick stir. Now, add the frozen or thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs. DO NOT stir.
Pressure Cook
- Secure the lid of the instant pot, seal the valve & hit the "SOUP/BROTH" button, set it on HIGH PRESSURE mode for 30 mins. You can also use the PRESSURE COOKER mode instead of the soup/broth mode. The cook time won't change.
- Once the cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep, wait for 10 mins Natural Pressure Release and than release the rest of the pressure manually by moving the vent from the sealing to the venting position. When the floating pin on top the the lid drops carefully open the lid of the pot. Cancel the Pressure Cook mode.
Shred Chicken
- Fish out the cooked chicken on to a clean plate and shred with the help of a pair of forks. You can also dice the chicken if that's what you prefer. Set the chicken aside.
Prepare stove top roux
- Set a heavy bottomed saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. Add butter, as the butter begins to melt add the all purpose flour & whisk continuously until the flour is fully incorporated into the butter to form a lump free smooth mixture. Use a hand whisk.
- Now, pour the whole milk & the heavy whipping cream in a container & stir to mix them well. Warm this milk + cream mixture slightly in the microwave oven. Now, add this dairy mixture in 2-3 slots into the flour butter mixture & whisk continuously. Break down all lumps and continue stirring until a smooth, lump free texture is achieved. The roux is ready, it should be thick enough but still flowy consistency.
Thicken Soup
- Now, hit back the Sauté mode & set it on low heat. Transfer the roux into the pressure cooked soup, stir briskly and continuously until the roux fully incorporates into the soup. Simmer on low for 1-2 mins to thicken the soup to your preferred consistency. If you feel that the soup is very thick you can add more milk or stock. Cancel the Sauté mode.
Serve chicken wild rice mushroom soup
- Transfer back the shredded chicken into the thicken soup. Stir well to mix well. Do a taste test and than serve the creamy chicken wild rice mushroom soup immediately for best flavor. You can garnish with chopped parsley (optional).
Notes
- Can I use frozen chicken? Yes you can use frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts. You can even use bone in chicken thighs, in that case after pressure cooking the chicken discard the skin, shred the chicken & discard the bones.
- Rice: For creamy soup use a wild rice blend. The other types of rice in the blend will add lots of busy & creaminess to the soup. For chewy soup use original wild rice.
- Milk options: Use either whole milk, fat free or 1-2 % milk. It's your choice. The whole milk will make the soup more creamy.
- Can I skip the cream? Yes, you can either totally skip the cream or sub it with equal amounts of milk.
- Rosemary Sub: Sub the fresh rosemary twig with ¼ tsp dried rosemary.
- The stove top roux will thicken with time. While you pressure cook the soup make the roux on the stove top.
- Soup consistency: Todays recipe will yield a rich, thick chicken wild rice soup. If you do not prefer thicker soups than do add more milk or stock at the end. You can totally play around with the consistency & keep it as per your liking.
- Skip the red pepper flakes if you are making the soup for kids.
Erica says
Question for you Meghna, the wild rice blend I bought comes in a box with a seasoning packet. Do I add the seasoning packet ? Thank you and looking forward to making more of your recipes !
Foodies Terminal says
Hey Erica, please do not use the seasoning packet 🙂 Hope you love our recipes from this blog 🙂 Thank you! - Meghna xoxo.