Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

Chicken with Wild Rice Soup is an Italian Style soup with no cream in it.

Tiny meatballs can be added for a hearty meal and are perfect for a season of cooler weather to warm you up, especially at that first snowfall.

It's full of wild rice, and chicken and this is a great version in comparison to all the heavy cream versions, it's lighter and a healthy bowl of comfort food that's for sure!

This soup is very easy to make in no time and bursting with flavors, serve it up with hot crusty garlic Italian bread with butter and it's a whole meal by itself in a bowl!

Economical Hearty Soup

This healthy chicken and wild rice soup have no cream or milk, and the meatballs flavor the soup perfectly.


This is a totally comforting soup whenever you have those "low-key got the blues days" and need warmth and some tasty food to pick you up.


This Italian-style chicken soup also freezes perfectly in individual containers so you can just pop it in the microwave for a single serving.

Other Options

• any boneless meats
• tiny meatballs
• any vegetables
• use vegetable broth instead of chicken
• Turkey can be substituted for chicken or beef meatballs
• add escarole, spinach, or kale for greens in your soup
• add pasta instead of rice, barley, or quinoa
• tomato sauce for a tomato-based soup

Ingredients you will need to make Chicken with Wild Rice Soup (measurements and instructions below in printable recipe card

• olive oil fingerling carrots, chopped in half or use slices
• celery stalks, finely minced
• minced garlic onion, chopped
• coarse salt and ground pepper 
• canned chicken broth or vegetable broth
• water
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed (or thighs)
• wild-rice blend (do not use the seasoning packet)
• granulated garlic powder, dried parsley, basil, and a pinch of rosemary
• Optional: tiny meatballs, greens of any kind like spinach or cooked escarole

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Easy Chicken Soup Recipes

This soup is not only delicious to warm you up but also any time of the year when you need comfort food.


Depending on what you put in your soup vegetable-wise, this can be a whole meal in one bowl, just serve it with crostini or garlic bread to dunk in this amazing broth!


Don't forget to review our additional ingredients to make this soup a whole meal in itself!

Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

Yield: 12

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

Chicken and wild rice soup all from scratch and we also have a variety of optional additions like tiny meatballs.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup fingerling carrots, chopped in half or use slices
• 2 celery stalks, finely minced
• 3 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1 small onion, chopped
• kosher coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2- 14.5 ounces of canned chicken broth or vegetable broth
• around 3 to 3 cups of water
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed (or boneless thighs)
• 1/3 cup wild-rice blend (do not use the seasoning packet)
• 1 teaspoon each of granulated garlic powder, dried parsley, basil, and a pinch of rosemary
• Optional: 1 small 4-ounce can of tomato sauce for a tomato-based soup
• Add some boiled cooked spinach or escarole to this soup, which is chopped in with broth, chicken, and meatballs.
• Add 1 can of cannellini beans to the broth drained
• Another option is to add 1 cup of cooked ditalini pasta or another small pasta (always cook separately).
• If you want a spicy soup, add a little cayenne pepper for heat.
• Meatball Recipe:
• 1/2 pound ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/4 cup Italian-flavored breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 3 tablespoons flat-leaf fresh parsley chopped
• 1 whole egg
• 2 cloves freshly minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste usually around 1/2 teaspoon each
• Mix the meatballs ingredients, shape them into small 1-inch balls and refrigerate.

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot over medium-high. saute the carrots, celery, and onion; seasonings and salt, pepper to taste.
2. Cook, occasionally stirring until vegetables are crisp-tender, no longer than 3 minutes (make sure the garlic doesn't burn).
3. Add the broth, chicken, rice, and 1 - 1/2 cups of water to the pan or more tasting for more seasoning.
4. Bring to a boil then set to low heat.
5. Drop the raw meatballs into the soup pot and let them simmer with the chicken.
6. Simmer the meatballs and chicken until cooked all the way through for around 15 minutes skimming off the top for any film residue.
7. Place the cubed chicken from the cutting board and return it to the pot.
8. Continue cooking until the rice is soft around 10 minutes.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Serve with grated cheese on top, red pepper flakes if desired, and hard-crusted Italian garlic bread

Notes

Other Options

• any boneless meats
• tiny meatballs
• any vegetables
• use vegetable broth instead of chicken
• Turkey can be substituted for chicken or beef meatballs
• add escarole, spinach, or kale for greens in your soup
• add pasta instead of rice, barley, or quinoa
• tomato sauce for a tomato-based soup

Nutrition Facts

Calories

136.2

Fat (grams)

7.14

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.58

Carbs (grams)

7.47

Fiber (grams)

0.85

Net carbs

6.62

Sugar (grams)

1.25

Protein (grams)

10.29

Sodium (milligrams)

306.49

Cholesterol (grams)

43.5

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https://www.whatscookinitalianstylecuisine.com/2011/04/chicken-meatball-escarole-soup.html

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chicken and rice soup, meatball chicken and rice soup, Chicken with Meatballs, and Wild Rice Soup

soup recipes, wild rice recipes,chicken soup recipes

Italian

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Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2011. It was edited and re-published in 2023.