We have been having this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember! I have fond memories of Christmas Eve as a little girl. My mom’s family is small. It was usually just my grandparents, sometimes my aunt, uncle, and cousin, and my immediate family. We would go to a Christmas Eve church service and then come home to dinner, dessert, and presents!
Christmas Eve was always the main event. Christmas morning was fun, but it was Christmas Eve that really made the holidays for us! The day I looked forward to the most. And this soup was definitely part of it. We usually had this soup, sandwiches, and a large variety of cookies!
But like my mom’s famous beef stroganoff recipe, this was another one that I always requested. Whether I was going home from college over the weekend or I was requesting it for my birthday dinner, it was and continues to be one of my favorites.
My mom comes through again!
I recently asked my mom for her recipe, so I could put it on the blog! Luckily, she said yes! And I did what I do… I modified it to make it both gluten free and dairy free. Initially, I wasn’t sure it would be as good as hers, but it turned out SO great and my girls LOVED it! I plan to make it again on Christmas Eve this year.
Before I share the recipe, I want to make a couple of notes about the recipe. First of all did you know that “wild rice” isn’t actually a rice at all? It is the “seed of an aquatic grass like rice” which I thought was interesting! But wild rice has so many health benefits, and it’s always good to incorporate variety into our diets! When I made this, I wasn’t able to find plain wild rice, so I bought a mix that had brown rice, red rice, and wild rice and it worked great! So use what you can find, but try to find something that has wild rice in it!
Modifications
To make this gluten and dairy free, I used arrowroot in place of flour and dairy free butter and (oat) milk in place of regular butter and cream. So if you are not gluten or dairy free, feel free to sub those back in and make it according to my mom’s traditional recipe. As always, I’m happy to help with subs or clarify. Lastly, I used leftover frozen turkey from thanksgiving, but rotisserie chicken works great and what I would normally use!
I hope you enjoy this Chicken and Wild Rice soup recipe as much as we do!
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Equipment
- crock pot
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (I used DF butter)
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 diced onion
- 6 peeled and chopped carrots
- 2 stalks chopped celery
- 4 oz chopped mushrooms (optional)
- 1/4 cup arrowroot (or 1/3 cup flour)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups cooked wild rice (or blend of rices)
- 1 1/4 cup creamy oat milk (or milk/ half and half)
- 1-2 cups diced rotisserie chicken
- salt and pepper to taste (start with a tsp of each and then add to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare rice according to package.
- Melt the butter in a large pot.
- Add in the onion and garlic and saute until onions are translucent.
- Add in the arrowroot (or flour), whisking constantly to create a roux over medium heat for another few minutes.
- Next, add in mushrooms, carrots, celery, and a little salt and pepper. Saute for maybe 5 minutes, until just softened.
- Next add in the broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to low and then add in the cooked rice and chopped chicken.
- Transfer to a crock pot and leave on low for about 2 hours. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Garlic and onion powder also go well. Just add slowly, and taste before adding more!
- Add the milk/cream about an hour before serving!
- Note: the rice will absorb the liquid, so feel free to add more broth or milk at the end to thin out.
- Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
