This deeply savory chicken, mushroom, and wild rice soup is hearty, comforting, and heavy on mixed mushrooms. It’s an easy recipe that’s simple to prep with leftover or rotisserie chicken. Enjoy it on a weeknight and have leftovers, or entertaining to feed a crowd.
In this article you'll learn:
- How to make a professionally developed, hearty wild rice chicken and mushroom soup, loaded with mixed mushrooms for deep, savory flavor.
- A simple stovetop method that cooks the wild rice directly in the broth and makes smart use of leftover or rotisserie chicken.
- When to use flavor-building ingredients like Worcestershire, fresh thyme, lemon zest, and a buttery mushroom topping to elevate this beyond a basic chicken soup.
- Make-ahead, freezing, and reheating tips so it works for weeknight dinners, meal prep, or feeding a crowd.
Generated with AI and experts from the Tara Teaspoon team.
When the weather gets chilly, it's time for soup! There's just something about a piping hot bowl that makes me feel warm and cozy. I like to keep my favorite soup recipes, like Creamy Tomato Soup with Chicken and Broccoli Cheddar Soup, on repeat all winter long.
A cozy soup with deep mushroom flavor
I've added this wild rice and mushroom soup to my winter soup rotation, and I'm so excited to share it with you. I used a mix of different mushrooms to give the soup its deep, earthy flavor, as well as a variety of pantry seasonings, chicken, and wild rice.
My favorite part of the soup is the buttery mushroom topping infused with fresh lemon zest. The crisped mushrooms add a luxurious bite, fun texture, and extra boost of flavor.
I know you're anxious to get started, and there's still more to love about this recipe:
- Hearty and comforting: This soup makes an excellent meal for a cold winter night. Not only is it packed with flavorful mushrooms and savory spices, the chicken and rice will fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied.
- Perfect for meal-prepping: When creating a weekly meal plan, I love to slate this recipe after a chicken dinner, because it's the perfect way to use up leftover chicken. You can also use rotisserie chicken to save time.
- Feeds a crowd: One batch of soup makes enough to feed a crowd for a large gathering, or provide delicious leftovers to enjoy for a few days.
Jump to:
Ingredients and variations
For maximum flavor, this mushroom soup is made from a variety of ingredients (many of which are likely tucked in your pantry!). Here's what you should know to select the best ingredients! See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
- Mixed mushrooms: Find whatever variety your store carries—they all have different earthy notes. You may find cremini (baby bella), shiitake, and button mushrooms in the store. If they have oyster (or trumpet), hen of the woods, lion's mane, or even chanterelle or porcini in a mix, they will be wonderful in this soup.
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Mirepoix: That's a fancy word for a finely diced mix of onions, carrots, and celery. Finely dicing the vegetables helps them to cook evenly and makes soup easier to eat.
- Garlic cloves: I like to use fresh minced garlic, but you can also use jarred. You'll need a ½ teaspoon of jarred minced garlic per clove.
- Tomato paste
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- All-purpose flour: Swap this for gluten-free all-purpose flour for a GF version.
- Wild rice: Uncooked wild rice is often dusty and needs to be rinsed and drained before adding it to the soup pot. Place it in a fine mesh strainer under cold water until the run-off is clear (about 30 seconds). If you have a hard time finding a bag of just wild rice, a wild rice blend will suffice in a pinch.
- Low-sodium chicken broth: You can also use vegetable broth.
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Fresh thyme: Half of the sprigs will be left whole to roast with the mushrooms. The other half will have their leaves picked and chopped to yield 2½ teaspoons chopped thyme.
- Large lemon
- Shredded or chopped cooked chicken: Use leftover cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken. If you don’t have already-cooked chicken, simply season boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook in the oven or air fryer, then chop or shred. You can also use turkey instead of chicken.
- Finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Heavy cream
- Cayenne pepper: Optional.
- Flat-leaf parsley: For topping.
How to make chicken, mushroom, and wild rice soup
Let's make this recipe together! Follow these step-by-step instructions to see how it's done. See recipe card for comprehensive directions.
- Step 1: Cook the mirepoix until onions are translucent and then add the 10 ounces of chopped mushrooms.
- Step 2: Cook mushroom mixture until it starts to caramelize and lightly brown.
- Step 3: Add the rinsed wild rice directly to the pot to cook in the soup.
- Step 4: Add broth to the vegetables and rice, then simmer until the rice is tender and just bursting.
- Step 5: Add the Parmesan, remaining thyme, chicken, and cream near the end of cooking.
- Step 6: While soup finishes cooking, toss the remaining mushrooms with lemon zest and seasonings to roast in the oven.
- Step 7: Coat the mushrooms evenly with olive oil and melted butter, then spread out on the baking sheet.
- Step 8: Roast the mushrooms until tender, crisping, and deep golden. Remove the thyme stems before serving.
Tara's top tips
Mis en place: The key to this soup is to prep all the ingredients before you start cooking. It’s called mis en place in French and means “to get everything in its place.” If you have the mushrooms cleaned, the vegetables chopped, the garlic minced, and the seasonings measured, the soup will come together in no time!
Cook the rice with the soup: There's no need to cook the rice before adding it to the soup; it will cook as the soup simmers on the stove. You'll know the rice is done when it's tender and just starting to split.
Forgo the mushroom topping: I highly recommend the mushroom topping, but you don't have to use it. If you forgo the mushroom topping, use the extra 10 ounces of mixed mushrooms as you do the other mushrooms (chopping finely) and cook them into the soup with the other mushrooms.
Prep the mushrooms: Most mushrooms these days come to you quite clean. If your mushrooms have signs of dirt, you can rinse them and drain them on a clean towel or paper towels, or use a dry paper towel or dry pastry brush to wipe the dirt from the mushrooms. Trim any tough stem ends or dirty stem ends from mushrooms before chopping and cooking.
How to serve mushroom soup
This soup is delicious on its own. If you want to dress it up a little, top it with more fresh herbs and grated Parmesan cheese. Or, make it extra creamy with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.
I love to serve it with fresh bread to soak up the extra broth. These are my top picks for this recipe:
Equipment
This non-stick baking sheet set is perfect for cooking mushrooms in the oven. You can also line a regular baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil, a silicone baking mat, or regular foil.
Get a heavy duty 8-quart soup pot for this recipe.
Use a sharp vegetable peeler to remove the lemon rind from a fresh lemon for the roasted mushrooms.
Storage and make-ahead
Refrigerate: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Make the soup according to the directions, remove from the heat and let it come to room temperature, then transfer to a freezer-safe container. It can be frozen for about 2 months. Thaw in the fridge then reheat on the stovetop. Roast a fresh batch of crispy mushroom topping if desired.
Make-ahead and reheat: You can make the soup a day or two in advance. Simply reheat the chicken and rice soup over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave. For best results, don't let the soup come to a full boil or the cream could curdle. Make the mushroom topping just before serving.
FAQ
Wild rice is not actually rice at all. It's a type of seed from grass originally from the Great Lakes region. It has a nutty flavor that's highly nutritious. It's the classic choice for this style of soup.
You definitely can. I'd recommend replacing the wild rice with a "wild rice blend" or hearty brown rice, but white rice would also be okay. Take note of how long it takes to cook your chosen variety of rice, and add it to the pot so that it finishes cooking at the same time the soup finishes cooking.
If you want to use leftover cooked rice in the soup, add it to the soup in the last few minutes of cooking so that it gets heated through, but not mushy.
This recipe hasn't been tested for the slow cooker or Instant Pot. My suggestion would be to cook it on the stove to the point where it is ready to simmer and transfer it to the slow cooker. Cook on high for a few hours until the rice is cooked through and tender.
If you want the soup even thicker than it is, prepare a slurry of cold water and flour or cold water and cornstarch and add it to the simmering soup. It will take 5 to 15 minutes of simmering for the starches to gel and make the soup thicker.
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📖 Full Recipe
Chicken, Mushroom, and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 20 ounces mixed mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, cremini, hen of the woods, etc; trimmed and cleaned, Divided)
- 5 tablespoons butter (Divided)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil (Divided)
- 1 medium onion (finely diced, 1 ½ cups)
- 2 carrots (finely diced, 1 cup)
- 2 ribs celery (finely diced, 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced, Divided)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (6 ounces) wild rice (rinsed and drained)
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 to 15 sprigs fresh thyme (divide sprigs in half: leave one half whole and pick the leaves from the other half and chop to yield 2½ teaspoons chopped thyme, Divided)
- 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded or chopped cooked chicken
- ⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley (for topping)
Instructions
Get the soup started:
- Heat oven to 400ºF. Divide the mushrooms in half. Finely chop one half (10 ounces) for the soup. Cut or tear the remaining half into slices or 1-inch pieces. Spread on a non-stick, or foil-lined baking sheet and set aside.
- In a large soup pot (6 to 8 quarts), over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and 2 cloves minced garlic, and stir to coat with oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is just translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the reserved finely chopped mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are very soft and start to brown on the bottom of the pan, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and flour. Stir to combine well.
- Add the wild rice, chicken broth, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2½ teaspoons chopped thyme leaves. Stir. Bring to a simmer, reducing heat as needed. Cover the pot and simmer until some of the rice is just bursting and tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
Make the mushroom topping*:
- Use a vegetable peeler to cut thin strips of lemon peel from the lemon. Chop the peel into thin pieces, add to the torn and sliced mushrooms on the baking sheet.
- Add the remaining 5 or 6 sprigs of thyme and 1 clove minced garlic to the mushrooms.
- Sprinkle mushrooms with ½ teaspoon salt and the ground black pepper.
- Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over mushrooms and drizzle on 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss mushrooms, thyme, lemon zest and garlic to coat with the butter and oil and spread evenly on the baking sheet.
- Bake mushrooms in the oven until bits are golden brown and crispy, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Use these mushrooms as a topping for the soup. (Remove the thyme sprigs before serving.)
Back to the soup:
- When the rice is done, add chicken, Parmesan, and heavy cream. Heat through and season with cayenne (optional), and extra thyme if desired.
- Serve soup topped with oven-cooked mushrooms and parsley on top. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Mia says
Oh my goodness!! This soup is divine! You will love the glorious flavors and textures. What a find! This recipe will soon become your favorite.
Tara Teaspoon Admin says
Hi Mia. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the recipe. That makes my day!