Name: Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 360 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts*; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste); 6 cups chicken stock; 1 cup wild rice*; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 onion (diced); 3 carrots (peeled and diced); 3 stalks celery (diced); 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary; 2 bay leaves; 1 pound cremini mushrooms (thinly sliced); 1/4 cup unsalted butter; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup milk; 1 cup half and half*; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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This creamy chicken wild rice soup is a delicious bowl of comfort.

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The recipe originated in the early ‘80s in the Byerly’s St. Paul, MN grocery store deli. It was produced in small batches and packaged in mason jars. Lunds (another Minnesota grocery store) also made a wild rice soup, albeit a slightly different recipe with both white and wild rice and chicken. A few years after Lunds and Byerly’s merged, they consolidated the wild rice soups and the Byerly’s version became the standard.

This recipe has chicken in it instead of the ham so it is basically the recipe from Lunds (you can easily swap out the chicken for ham and make it Byerly’s)

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Two Southern Sweeties

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is an authentic Minnesota recipe originally created by Lunds & Byerly's grocery stores. It is a big bowl of creamy comfort.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 6 hrs

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Equipment

1 Slow Cooker- 6 quart or larger

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts*
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup wild rice*
3 cloves garlic minced
1 onion diced
3 carrots peeled and diced
3 stalks celery diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 pound cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half*
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
Stir in chicken stock, wild rice, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Add mushrooms during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and half and half, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir chicken and milk mixture into the slow cooker. If the soup is too thick, add more half and half or chicken broth as needed until desired consistency is reached.
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired. You can also garnish with a few toasted slivered almonds.

Notes

*Leftover rotisserie chicken can also be used.

*Substitute ham for the chicken if you chose to

*Wild rice works best, not a “wild rice blend”

*Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.

Keyword chicken wild rice soup, minnesota wild rice soup, wild rice

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