Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Chicken is one of the best soups I make. It uses real wild rice, earthy seasonings, mushrooms, and chicken, to make a hearty, classic soup. This pressure cooker wild rice soup with chicken is a staple from the beautiful state of Minnesota, and I adapted my mom's recipe for the Instant Pot! It's delicious!
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Chicken
My love of soups is strong, and sharing fabulous Instant Pot soup recipes with you is so much fun! Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Chicken (or make it without meat) is so delicious, earthy, and hearty. With mushrooms, and just a few simple herbs and spices, and a creamy broth, it's so good!
First, a little history. Wild Rice is actually the State Grain of Minnesota. Did you know there was such a thing as a State Grain? I didn't.
Wild Rice is native to North America, and mostly grows in the Great Lakes region. It has a higher protein content than most cereal grains.
The color is a beautiful dark brown, and to me it smells a little like tea (though it doesn't taste like tea). When cooked the grains "burst" and the texture is creamy and kind of chewy.
In this recipe you only need 1 cup, and that is the perfect amount with all of the other ingredients.
There are wild rice blends out there, but they don't fare too well in this soup because the grains that are not wild rice get cooked away.
If you can only find the wild rice blends in your grocery store, look for the ones with the highest percentage of wild rice in them. Look on Amazon, too. I provided a link below to the brand I like.
Here is a quick look at the steps to make this amazing pressure cooker Wild Rice Soup with Chicken:
It is as simple as sautéing the veggies and aromatics, then adding the remaining ingredients and pressure cooking it all.
This is a tasty, healthy wild rice soup that is total comfort food. I hope you enjoy it!
Instant Pot Mushroom Soup
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Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
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If you make this fabulous wild rice soup, please leave a comment below with a star rating. I'd love to know how you liked it!
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup with Chicken is delicious and hearty. With wild rice, mushrooms, herbs and a creamy broth.
- 5 slices Bacon, chopped
- 1 med Onion, chopped
- 2 lrg Carrots, chopped (2 cups)
- 3 ribs Celery, chopped (2 cups)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Bay Leaf
- ½ teaspoon Thyme, dried
- 3 lrg cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 4-5 cups Chicken Broth*, low sodium
- 8 oz Mushrooms, sliced
- 1 sprig Rosemary, fresh
- 1 cup Wild Rice, rinsed
- 1 ½ cups Heavy Cream, divided in half
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (or 1 ½ tsp table salt)
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Chicken Breasts, uncut (skinless/boneless)
- ¼ cup Flour
- ¾ cup Heavy Cream (from divided heavy cream above)
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Turn the pot on to Sauté. Add the bacon pieces and cook, stirring occasionally, until mostly done. If you use a leaner bacon, leave the fat in. If there is more that 1 Tablespoon of fat, spoon it out, leaving 1 Tablespoon.
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Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook a couple of minutes.
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Add the butter, bay leaf, and thyme. Cook for a couple of minutes.
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Add the garlic and stir it in, cooking for 1 minute.
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Pour in the broth and stir it well.
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Add the mushrooms, rosemary, and rice. Stir.
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Add ¾ cup of heavy cream, salt, and pepper, then stir. You can use half and half instead of heavy cream, if you want (if you want to use milk, add it after pressure cooking as it will not cook well. Heavy cream or half and half tolerate pressure cooking).
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Add the chicken breasts, and submerge them in the broth.
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Put the lid on the pot and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position. Then cancel the Sauté setting. Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial. Then press the +/- button or dial to select 35 minutes. High pressure.
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When the cooking cycle is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 minute Natural Release). Then Manually release the remaining steam/pressure, carefully, using a controlled Quick Release (A controlled quick release is when you open the valve a little at a time to be sure no soup/sauce is going to spew out along with the steam when you release it. By starting out slowly and releasing the steam in bursts, you can avoid the mess! use a wooden spoon handle, or silicone oven mitts to avoid a steam burn.).
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When the pin in the lid drops down, open it up and carefully remove the chicken to a bowl.
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Mix the flour and remaining ¾ cup of heavy cream together very well, and stir into the hot soup.
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Shred the chicken and add it back into the soup. Let sit for a few minutes to thicken.
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Serve hot. Even better the next day!
*Use 4 cups of broth if you want the soup thick. 5 cups will make it soupier.
Resources to make pressure cooker Wild Rice Soup with Chicken recipe and more
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SandraSoCal
I really enjoyed this soup and will definitely make it again. I cut the recipe in half and did it in my 3 qt InstaPot. (I am only one.) Next time I will cut it down a bit more. I used Wild Rice Blend, and it was fine. There is no wild rice available now anywhere near me. When it returns, I will use it, as I like it.
Sandy
That's good to know, about the blend. I see those a lot and the one I tried was a little mushy. But there are several types and it could be cooked a little less.
Kelley
So delicious! We ended up using brown rice because I couldn't find wild rice and it was thick and hearty! We made it two weeks in a row.
Frank
This really is a terrific recipe. I did wind up using chicken leg meat, and substituting a small amount of xanthin gum in place of the flour in order to keep the carbs to a minimum. The flavor was excellent. I got about 2 1/2 quarts.
Michelle Jones
This is a great recipe! I will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing.
Emily
We've made around five dishes with the instant pot, and this one has definitely been the best! My dad actually proclaimed it the best soup he has had and could not stop waxing poetic about it throughout the meal. We only ended up using 1/2 cup of rice due to a shopping mistake (also, wild rice is expensive in our area), but it was still very filling.
Colleen
Oh my gosh! My boys are home from college and they loved this! I used 8 chicken thighs and had ordered the wild rice from Amazon. I also increased the amount of chicken broth. Excellent and easy to follow directions and this will be a staple in our house. Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Alison
My sister is a picky eater and doesn’t eat pork or beef. I don’t feel like turkey bacon would have the amount of grease or same effect for sautéing the veggies. Can I use olive oil as a substitute?
Sandy
Yes, that would work just fine.
Sheila
HI Sandy. I really enjoy your instant pot recipes.
I'm going to use leftover chicken for this recipe and I was wondering what the timing should be. I think 35 minutes will be too long with already, cooked chicken. Thoughts?
Sandy
The timing is for the rice to cook. It takes longer than normal rice.