The creamiest and most delicious Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup! This soup is loaded with vegetables, protein, and healthy carbs. 10 minutes prep is all you need.
After cooking Instant Pot wild rice for the first time I was shocked to say the least. Up until then, brown rice was my favorite in terms of taste and white Jasmin rice in terms of quick and easy to prepare. Now, I’m Mrs. Wild Rice!
Wild rice is delicious, that was always clear, but oh man it takes FOREVER to cook. Right?!? Well yes, but only in a regular pot on the stove. Not so much in the pressure cooker. Woot woot!
Mix that pressure cooked wild rice with chicken and a boatload of vegetables, add some broth and then make it creamy and you’ve got the most delicious Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup of all times!
This is one of those soups that warm up your bones. One of those soups that warm your soul!! If you know anybody that currently needs a little more than a hug to feel good again, make this Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup for them, they’ll be grateful forever. Promise!
Is Chicken Wild Rice Soup Healthy?
Absolutely! You’ve got a well-balanced soup recipe here loaded with vegetables, protein and healthy complex carbs.
Yes, it contains a béchamel sauce to make it creamy that some people might argue isn’t the healthiest. It’s made from scratch though folks, and remember we need healthy fats in our diet.
Also, the béchamel can easily be made gluten-free if you need it. Best gluten-free flours to make béchamel: rice flour, buckwheat flour, or millet flour.
And, it can also be easily be made dairy-free: replace the butter with olive oil and the milk with dairy-free milk such as soy or almond.
How Long Does It Take To Cook Wild Rice in the Instant Pot?
A mere 30 minutes + natural pressure release. So, no, it’s not done in the blink of an eye. However, remember you don’t have to babysit it!!
You don’t even have to be in the kitchen while the Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup cooks itself. Because it does just that, it cooks itself.
And, you don’t have to cook the wild rice separately as in some soup recipes I’ve seen out there. You cook all together in ONE pot and you’re done with it.
You can in theory even skip the browning the onions and garlic part and just dump all ingredients into the pressure cooker, close it and program it and walk away. That would make it a 15 minute prep time meal (if you’re a real slow veggie washer and chopper).
I honestly don’t recommend it though. Making a sofrita out of the chopped onions and garlic makes a huge difference in flavor. It’s worth the extra five minutes.
Now let’s not talk any more about this Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup and rather get right into the recipe, shall we?
Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup
The creamiest and most delicious Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup! This soup is loaded with vegetables, protein and healthy carbs. 10 minutes prep is all you need.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 skinless boneless chicken thighs (chicken breast can work will be VERY dry though)
- 3.5 oz brown mushrooms (100g)
- 1 cup cubed carrots
- 1 cup cubed yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup cubed celery
- 1 cup wild rice (only wild rice will work, not brown rice or wild rice mix)
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whipping cream (35% fat)
- 1/2 cup milk
- sea salt
- pepper
Instructions
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Peel and chop onion and garlic. Peel and cube carrots and wash and cube celery and bell pepper. Slice mushrooms. Cube chicken thighs.
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Press "sautée" and once the Instant Pot says "hot" add a dollop of oil, chopped onions and garlic and brown them.
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Once nice and brown add a splash of water to deglaze, then add cubed chicken, mushrooms, cubed vegetables, wild rice, 4 cups of chicken broth, sage, thyme, lemon zest and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper if your broth is not already seasoned.
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Securely close the lid and turn the valve to the sealing position.
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Hit "cancel" and then set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 30 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally (this can take anywhere from 20-25 minutes).
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When the high pressure cooking time is over and the Instant Pot's alarm goes off prepare a Béchamel sauce.
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Béchamel: Add 1/4 cup butter to a small saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. Once melted, add 1/4 cup flour and whisk until well combined. Add cream and whisk well (don't worry if it curdles), then add 1/2 cup milk and whisk until well combined and keep whisking until milk is heated up, then immediately remove from heat and continue whisking until it thickens (about 5 minutes without stopping).
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Add Béchamel to ready cooked soup in Instant Pot and stir.
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You can serve like this, or wait a little and keep stirring. The longer you stir, the thicker the broth will become. For super-duper, extra creamy broth, hit the soup button (keep the lid OFF) to bring everything to a boil and keep stirring for 10 minutes so the broth and béchamel become one creamy soup.
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Season with sea salt and pepper if necessary, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and enjoy.
Recipe Video
This recipe was inspired by Pinch of Yum’s Wild Rice Soup.
Susan says
I made it and it was amazing! Still learning to use the IP and I loved the results. I added all of the ingredients and it was fantastic! Thank you!!!!!
Lorena says
I’m so happy to read that you liked it Susan :)
Joan says
Question, not comment! Can you double the recipe and still have it fit in the Instant Pot?
Lorena says
It depends on the size of your IP. In an 8 quart you might be able to double it. In a 6 quart I doubt it.
V says
Made this tonight and happy with the results. Lovely blog post!
A few comments for the readers: I am counting calories right now and this can totally work. I ate two big ladles worth and it’s coming up to about 280-290 calories depending on what calculators I’m using. At that rate, this is a whopping 11 servings! (Husband ate 4 big ladles worth.. so for most people probably 6 ish servings for full recipe).
For the blogger: I love optionated bloggers! Like, use dark meat so the chicken isn’t dry. Why such specificty on rice type? Just cook time?
Lorena says
I’m so happy you liked the recipe and the blog post itself. You made my day!! The reason the recipe calls for wild rice and wild rice only is that it is (as of my current knowledge) the only type of rice that won’t continue swelling and absorbing water. If you use brown rice, for example, it might taste great right out of the pot at the minute the soup is ready but about 20 minutes later already it will keep absorbing liquid and make the soup super pasty. Wild rice, on the other hand, stops absorbing liquid once it burst. I don’t think there is another type of rice that has the same chemical qualities, but of course, I could be wrong. I’m sure there is plenty of rice types in the world I haven’t tried yet :)
Nicole says
I made this last night and it was really good! Left out the bell peppers because I’m not a fan. The only reason this is 4 stars and not 5 is because the recipe was written a bit confusingly in two places. The first place was the sauté part – it never says if you need to turn off the sauté option at any point, but I felt really uncomfortable with the idea of sautéing uncooked rice and that just didn’t seem right so I tossed everything in except the rice, browned the chicken, and then turned it off to add the rice. The other confusing direction is stirring in the instant pot while it’s set to soup – soup is a high pressure setting so I wasn’t sure how that worked. I ended up keeping the setting but putting it to low pressure which I think is what you meant to have us do? I mean, it worked!
The soup itself was so good though. I added some worchestershire sauce at the end because it’s a magic ingredient for creamy soups and I had like three servings. I would be happy to receive that soup in a restaurant.
Lorena says
Hi Nicole, I’m sorry the instructions were confusing to you. There is a video in the recipe card that shows all the instructions as well, just in case. I’m not sure why you thought the chicken and rice or anything has to be sautéed. I will try and change the instructions to make that clearer for others, so thanks for letting me know it wasn’t clear. You press sautée “add oil, chopped onions and garlic and brown them”. Once they are brown you add all other ingredients (chicken, rice, chicken broth, spices etc.), not to sautée, it doesn’t matter if the sautée button is still on or not, this is a 30-second process. You add everything, you press cancel and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook.
The soup button or any button for that matter won’t let your pot come to pressure if there is no lid on it. Pressing a button basically just turns on the heating plate on the bottom of the Instant Pot like a burner on the stove. The soup button on high is great because it brings the soup to a boil fast and thickens the soup fast but on low it obviously works, too. Just takes a little longer. Makes no difference in texture. The important part here is to just keep stirring so nothing burns to the bottom. I’m glad you were able to make it work and enjoy the soup. :)
R Meehan says
This was a really great recipe! I did use chicken breast instead of thighs with great results – not dry. I cut the chicken up into cubes and started the cooking process when it was still fairly frozen so perhaps that allowed it to stay tender and moist.
Lorena says
Fantastic!! Yes, I’ve tried it even with a block of frozen chicken thighs the other day and it worked like a charm. Happy to hear it works with breasts, too :)
Danielle says
This soup was SO delicious!! I followed it to a few, with the exception of omitting celery because I’m not a fan :) The flavors were amazing. Thank you so much!! Will definitely be making again.
Lorena says
Yay!!! I’m so happy you liked it! :D I love this soup so much!
Robert Farlee says
The flavor was good, but the texture was pretty mushy. I wonder if a reduced pressure-cooking time would help. I’ll probably try that next time.
Lorena says
Robert, I have an Instant Pot Beans post which gives me the biggest headache because EVERYBODY has different results. I’ve finally gotten to a few conclusions thanks for 100s of comments. Bean age plays a big role in cooking time and water quality, too. So it’s becoming suuuper difficult to nail a bean recipe *sigh* Hardly anybody knows the age of their beans or what minerals are in their water. Most people are successful with the timing though, which is why I’m leaving the recipes up. I’m glad you are going to give this recipe another try. I’m sure you’ll love it once you nailed the timing for your beans and water :)
Topaz says
Loved it, thank you for the recipe! I did 15 minutes with a quick release, then added the carrots and celery and 1/2 cup arborio rice, then 15 more minutes at high pressure with a 15 minute natural release. I also added Trader Joe’s mixed frozen wild/fancy frozen mushrooms. My husband and kids, who are not into mushrooms, liked it too. Great lunch for a winter day. I think it would probably serve 6 adults; it made a lot!
Lorena says
Yay! I’m happy you liked it Topaz :D
Pamela Firster says
As someone who is lactose intolerant, could I use soy, almond or coconut milk to make the bechmel? How would they change the flavor?
Lorena says
Hi Pamela, yes! It works great with almond milk. If you react to butter, too you can use olive oil instead. I’ve tested that, too. It will taste different but still absolutely delicious!
Nancy says
Can this recipe be made with black rice (forbidden rice)?
If so, any idea on how to adjust the cooking time?
Lorena says
Hi Nancy, I’ve cooked black pearl rice in the Instant Pot before (like not in soup, just regular) and it takes the exact same amount as wild rice so I would assume it’s totally possible and should work with the same timing.
Gerry says
I just made this with black rice but before that researched cooking times for black rice – not the same as wild rice. Cooking times ranged between 18-22 minutes on high pressure. So I did 21 minutes and the rice was great. I doubled the recipe and it was just at the max on my 6 quart IP duo. Worked without a problem. However I am still not certain why Instant Pot is called instant. I put the bullion hot in the pot and it took about 30 min to get to pressure. Then cooked for 21 minutes and then natural release… at 32 minutes I decided to release the pressure. Then I put the sauce in it and cooked for 15 minutes on saute (middle). (Note – the recipe says press “soup” – this is incorrect, as soup works only with the lid). The soup was nice. I would do less water next time – double the ingredients, and 1.5 times the water. What I will also do is put lemon grass and ginger and make the bechamel with coconut milk. What was also good – the black rice made this soup purple and everything in it as well, so it disguised the veggies and the mushrooms (all things my son doesn’t touch) and when I told him it was a chicken soup with rice he just ate on…
Brooke says
Can you leave the cream and maybe substitute with more chicken broth to make it less fattening? 30g of fat per serving is quite a lot but the soup sounds good.
Lorena says
Hi Brooke, absolutely. It won’t be a creamy soup but still absolutely delicious. Leave out the entire Bechamel sauce. I eat up to 70g of fat a day in my 1,800-calorie day so it doesn’t concern me that the meal has 30g per serving but it obviously depends a lot on what you had for breakfast and lunch. It’s definitely on the higher side of fat content.
Brooke says
Awesome! Thanks for the tip. I am making it tonight and will let you know how it turns out. I am trying to slim down after the holidays and every little bit helps! Excited to try this recipe!
Kalyn says
Well, tried to make. Didn’t realize I was to let pressure release naturally until I had already released pressure and rice was not done. Watched the video, which typically isn’t necessary and found it’s a natural pressure release. Recipe says 1/2 cup milk in one place and 1 cup in another. I’ve added a little cook time and then will allow pressure to release naturally. Hopefully the dish will be ok. Probably will not make again due to poorly written recipe.
Lorena says
I’m really sad you feel this recipe deserves a 1* rating because I had a typo of missing “/2” in the instructions to make sure you add 1/2 a cup not 1 cup of milk to the béchamel. The instructions state very clearly that it needs natural pressure release. It even states how long this may take: “6) Cook on manual high pressure for 30 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally (this can take anywhere from 20-25 minutes).” I hope you were able to save your soup and enjoy it.
Mary says
Will this recipe fit in my 3 quart pot?
Lorena says
puh, not sure, it would be quite full. You can always half the recipe actually. Half all ingredients, leave instructions and timing the same.
Brandi says
Can you use chicken thigh with the bone?
Lorena says
Yes! Absolutely! Even more delicious :) No need to adjust the cooking time.
Gail Lane says
This was the first meal I attempted in my Christmas InstaPot and it was wonderful. My husband has named it “that really good soup”. I followed the recipe to the tee, used organic, thin sliced chicken breast and it was very tender. I added red pepper, because we in Texas love spicy foods. And I added parmesan on top of the soup. Excellent recipe and I will make this again and again (hope to freeze some too). Making your pot roast tomorrow, will keep you posted.
Lorena says
I’m so so happy you liked it Gail!!!
Pam L says
I made this using pheasant. I had a little more pheasant so added a 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra rice and yes I used Minnesota REAL wild rice plus an additional cup or two of broth. Cooked following instructions. There wasn’t anything very instant about it cause it took forever to come up to pressure. You could see a tiny bit of steam wafting out of pot but it was definitely sealed. The strange thing though was the wild rice absorbed every bit of liquid in the pot. Fortunately I had Bette Than Boullion base so i just mixed up some of that. The soup turned out just great but it took longer than an hour. Im guessing it was just the rice. Does it dry out and need more hydration if old? (Which mine probably is)
Lorena says
Hi Pam, I never claimed it was fast. More than that, I mention in the blog post that it is not a fast recipe. The more volume in the pot, the longer it takes to come to pressure. It’s normal that it takes long. In terms of the rice absorbing ALL the liquid, no that’s not normal. You say you added 1/2 cup more rice. Did you add a total of 6 cups broth then? Because that’s what you should have added with that amount of wild rice. Did you also add the bechamel sauce? That’s what makes the soup creamy and soupy in the end.
Erin says
I think the often-frustrating point is that so many recipes don’t account for the pressure up time. I’ve done enough that I’m starting to recognize it in planning, but if you’re an Instant Pot novice, you don’t realize that Instant Pot is very much a misnomer (even if I do love using it), because you have to account for pressuring up as well as down. (I notice that Instant Pot doesn’t have any plans to clarify their definition of “Instant”.)
I’m glad that the pressure release time is accounted for in the estimate, but the pressure-up time needs to be added as well.
Lorena says
Hi Erin, yes the name “Instant” is definitely deceiving. It’s the “hands-off” approach that I value the most with this appliance. Pressure up is different for everybody and even different each time I make the same thing in the same volume which is why I can’t really account for that time. One thing that helps speed up the process is press down on the lid once a little steam is coming out the valve. The safety pin jumps right up and pot is under pressure. Saves a good 3-5 minutes :)
Jan says
I love the lemon in this and the Soup is so creamy and delicious!
Lorena says
right? I loooove lemon zest in just about any soup :D
Meliss Smith says
I don’t have an Instant Pot and never really wanted one until I saw this recipe. I do have a slow cooker and of course stove top. How would you recommend I make this without an Instant Pot?
Lorena says
Meliss, I recommend you make it on the stove-top. Follow all instructions just like for the instant pot and instead of sealing and pressure cooking simply bring to a boil then reduce to low simmer, put on the lid and cook for 45-ish minutes. You have to check on the wild rice. When that’s cooked your soup is ready :)
adelle says
can i freeze the left overs?
Lorena says
Hi Adelle, I haven’t tested this but I’ve frozen similar soups to this and it worked perfectly fine. I would absolutely do it.
Bree says
Incredible recipe! Remind me of my years living in Minnesota! Chicken and wild rice soup is really big there. Love all the incredients. I’ve purchased a really good chicken broth with high protein, all natural, so this soup is packed with nutrients! Definitely enjoyed making it! Thank you so much for sharing!
Lorena says
I so happy you liked it Bree :D Thank you for coming back and commenting and rating the recipe. I really appreciate it!
Quincy says
Made this for dinner tonight. It was SO delicious! Even my pickiest of eaters tried it, with scrunched nose, and then loved it enough to eat the whole bowl. It is so yummy! Thank you! Plus, I love that it was so easy in the instant pot. Love my instant pot!
Lorena says
OMG, you have no idea how happy your comment makes me!!! Children are by far the hardest to please so I take your son’s empty bowl as the biggest compliment ever!!!! I love my instant pot, too!!!
Mary says
Any way to make this dairy and gluten free. Maybe add more broth.
Lorena says
Hey Mary,
yes, I answer that in the blog post :) Here is the paragraph: “Also, the béchamel can easily be made gluten-free if you need it. Best gluten-free flours to make béchamel: rice flour, buckwheat flour, or millet flour.
And, it can also be easily be made dairy-free: replace the butter with olive oil and the milk with a dairy-free milk such as soy or almond.”