Final Up to date on October 22, 2025 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
There’s nothing fairly like a bowl of creamy wild rice soup with hen on a chilly day! It’s comforting and nourishing and made with easy, real-food substances that help your thyroid and immune well being.
This soup is gluten-free and makes use of arrowroot as an alternative of flour to maintain it creamy. Plus, soaking the wild rice in a single day makes it simpler to digest and helps your physique take in extra minerals.
Hen and Wild Rice Soup Substances
Right here’s what you’ll have to make this cozy, nutrient-packed soup:
- 1 cup wild rice, soaked in a single day with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons butter (or ghee)
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon every dried thyme, rosemary, and sage
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cups bone broth or meat inventory
- 4 boneless, skinless hen breasts (or thighs)
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
- ½ cup heavy cream
Tips on how to Make Wild Rice Soup with Hen:
This recipe takes slightly time as a result of it’s essential to soak the rice, however is so value it!
- Soak the rice: About 8 hours earlier than cooking, place wild rice and vinegar in a bowl and canopy with water. This step makes an enormous distinction (see why under!).
- Prepare dinner the rice: Drain the rice, then cook dinner it in boiling water based on the package deal instructions. Drain and put aside.
- Prepare dinner the greens: Soften the butter in a big pot over low warmth. Add celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Cowl and allow them to sweat for about half-hour.
- Add herbs and broth: Stir within the thyme, rosemary, sage, salt, and pepper till aromatic. Add the broth and hen, then deliver to a boil. Scale back warmth and simmer for about 10 minutes, till the hen is cooked by way of.
- Shred the hen: Take away the hen, shred or chop, and return it to the pot.
- Thicken the soup: Combine the arrowroot flour with ¼ cup of water, then whisk in a ladle of sizzling broth to mood it. Slowly stir the combination into the soup.
- Add the ending touches: Stir within the cream, cooked rice, lemon zest, and juice. Season to style and serve heat.
Why It’s Essential to Soak the Rice Earlier than Cooking:
Soaking wild rice in a single day helps scale back phytic acid, a naturally occurring compound in grains and seeds. Phytic acid can block the absorption of key minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium and it’s additionally laborious on digestion.
Taking this easy step makes your soup extra nourishing and simpler to digest and is completely value the additional time!
Make This Wild Rice Soup with Hen Gluten-Free:
This recipe is of course gluten-free because it makes use of arrowroot flour to thicken as an alternative of wheat flour. Arrowroot provides the soup a wealthy, creamy texture with out including any gluten or heavy thickeners.
When you want a dairy-free possibility, use ghee or duck fats as an alternative of butter and full coconut milk (not a coconut beverage) instead of heavy cream.
Regularly Requested Questions
Will the Rice Get Mushy in Soup?
Wild rice holds its texture fantastically, particularly when it’s cooked individually earlier than including it to the soup. Keep away from overcooking, and stir it in on the finish for the perfect consistency.
How Can I Thicken This Soup?
Arrowroot flour is the proper gluten-free thickener. Simply whisk it with water earlier than including it to the recent broth to forestall clumping.
Can I Use Rotisserie Hen to Save Time?
Sure! You may completely use natural rotisserie hen as an alternative of cooking contemporary hen breasts. Simply shred the meat and stir it in in the course of the last steps to heat by way of.
Can I Use Leftover Hen or Turkey?
Positively! This recipe works properly with leftover hen or turkey, particularly after the vacations. Merely add the cooked meat in towards the tip, so it stays tender and flavorful.
The Healthiest Broth for This Soup
You should utilize bone broth or meat inventory for this recipe. I like utilizing my do-it-yourself meat inventory as a result of it’s decrease in glutamates and gentler on the intestine which is very useful for anybody with autoimmunity or histamine points.
Each choices are wealthy in minerals, collagen, and amino acids that help thyroid well being and immune stability.
Extra Scrumptious Soup Recipes You’ll Get pleasure from:
When you love this wild rice soup with hen, listed here are a couple of different reader favorites:
This creamy wild rice soup with hen is a type of recipes you’ll need to make all season lengthy. It’s nutrient-rich, comforting and ideal for busy weeknights or gradual weekends at residence.
When you attempt making it with soaked wild rice and actual substances, you’ll see how a lot better do-it-yourself might be!
Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Hen
- Prep Time: 9 hours
- Prepare dinner Time: 55
- Whole Time: 9 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
- Class: Soup
- Food plan: Gluten Free
For the Soup:
- 3 tbs unsalted natural butter (or duck fats for dairy-free)
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rosemary and sage
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper
- 6 cups bone broth or meat inventory
- 4 boneless, skinless hen breasts (you need to use boneless, skinless thighs for those who want)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbs. contemporary lemon juice
- 2 tbs. arrowroot flour
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut milk
Directions
About 8 hours earlier than you need to make the soup, put the wild rice and vinegar in a medium bowl and canopy with water. Let sit for 8 hours and drain.
Deliver a pot of water to boil and place rice in it. Prepare dinner, based on the package deal instructions till tender. Drain. This may be finished a day or two forward of time and the rice saved within the fridge.
Place the butter in a big pot and warmth over low to soften. Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic and stir to mix. Put the lid on the pot and let the greens sweat for about half-hour over low warmth.
Take away the lid and stir within the herbs and sea salt and cook dinner for about 1 minute, till aromatic. Pour within the broth and add the hen breasts. Enhance the warmth to excessive and convey to a boil. Flip all the way down to medium and proceed simmering for about 10 minutes till hen is cooked by way of.
Take away the hen and lower or shred into bite-size items. Add the hen again to the pot.
Add the lemon zest and juice.
Put the two tbs arrowroot in a small measuring cup with 1/4 cup of water and stir properly. Add a ladle-full of the recent broth and whisk (this tempers the arrowroot so it doesn’t clump if you advert it to the soup). Slowly pour the arrowroot combination into the pot and stir to mix. Stir within the cream and cooked rice. Season to style with sea salt and pepper. Serve sizzling.
