I asked, you answered.
And when the first six people in a row answer creamy soup, you gotta give ‘em creamy soup.
Kind of like when your students tell you that you’re good at leaching mith, you gotta keep leaching ‘em mith.
And kinda like when your taste buds still crave party balls, you gotta give ‘em party balls. And this is the last time I’ll talk about the party balls. #liar
This is the best wild rice soup I’ve ever had, EVER, compliments of my mama. It has bacon, chicken, wild rice, and creamy cream. It will wrap you up in a blanket of cozy. That’s why you need to make it right.this.minute.
Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup
Author: Pinch of Yum, from Cambridge Medical Center cookbook
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 3 (10¾ oz) cans condensed chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
- ½ cup finely chopped green onions
- ½ cup margarine or butter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups half and half
- 1½ cup cubed or shredded cooked chicken or turkey
- 8 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
- 1 tablespoon chopped pimiento
- 2-3 tablespoons dry sherry, if desired
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, combine chicken broth and water. Add wild rice and onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30-45 minutes (or until rice is tender). Once the rice is cooked, there will be some additional broth – do not drain.
- In a medium saucepan, melt margarine, stir in flour, salt, seasoning, and pepper. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.
- Gradually stir in half and half with the butter/flour mixture and cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add this creamy mixture back into the saucepan with the rice/broth. Add remaining ingredients (chicken, bacon, pimiento, and sherry). Heat on low, stirring every once in a while, for at least a half an hour. Do not boil. The mixture will look thin, but the longer you heat the soup, the more the flavors merry and the more it will thicken. This soup is best served after gently heating for an extended period of time (even a few hours) or the next day! For extra flavor, add more poultry seasoning and/or bacon.
I’m feeling a short post and a round of iPhone games coming on.
Yep, there it is.
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Yum, that looks so comforting. A big bowl of love!
And I wanna learn about mith! :-p So cute. What grade do you teach? I used to teach at a child development center — infants and toddlers mostly, I miss the little buggers sometimes. Just sometimes. :-p
I teach 4th grade. Although I should mention that the student who wrote the note is an English learner… not all of my 4th graders spell like that!
Growing up in Minnesota, wild rice was a staple in my life. This brings me back to childhood…yum!
I used to live for Byerly’s wild rice soup if my mom didn’t have any made
Oh my gosh. Byerly’s Wild Rice Soup is AMAZING!
Totally agree! That was the best dinner, Byerly’s wild rice soup and a breadstick! Yum-my!
Yes, yes, yes! MN girl here also, and no need to go to Byerly’s when this recipe is (dare I say it?) BETTER than theirs! My family loved it – definitely a keeper! Thanks so much.
And Byerlys is so good! Glad you liked it.
This looks heavenly! I want it for lunch TODAY!
Ummmm… yay for creamy soup!
I’m pretty sure the student who made you this picture has a little brother that I work with. His little brother brings me pictures from your student, too! So cute!
HA! Cute!
We must have the best students at our school, right?
I want a bowl of this right now – I love the texture of wild rice in soups and anything with bacon is bound to be a winner!
Me too! I love the texture of wild rice in general… so much more interesting than regular rice.
You had me at bacon…:)
I think this pretty much defines comfort food. Want!
Comfort food indeed! Especially with some nice crusty white bread….
Wild Rice Soup always makes me think of Minnesota – I like the bacon addition.
Thanks! I’m always a fan of a little extra bacon.
Yummy! I love wild rice sooooo much. And who doesn’t love a creamy soup, especially this time of year
I’m going to have to try this one for sure.
Iowa Girl Eats posted a photo of this soup on her Friday favorites — wow, it does look incredible!!
I saw that! Thanks – it’s my FAVE. I only have one photo, though, because I seriously had it eat it right that very second.
Oooh this looks so rich and hearty!! And I love the flavor combination.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Oh, this will be such a hit at my house. Can’t wait to try it! And I love your teacher stories, keep ‘em coming…my mom was a teacher and nothing beats the honest mistakes kids make
Never a dull moment in the classroom.
This soup looks so perfect and full of lots of different textures, and I love the little drawing! Sometimes my kids bring me things that totally melt my heart and give me a good chuckle at the same time too. Gotta love those little munchkins!
Seriously. Being in the classroom always keeps a smile on my face! Or, almost always.
This sounds like the ultimate comfort soup, love the addition of bacon and rice; perfect for this season:)
It is the epitome of comfort food. And since we always eat it at Christmas time, it gives me so many warm fuzzies.
This looks amazing. I absolutely love bacon in soup and I love creamy soup even more.
Cream, bacon… it’s kind of a heart attack in a bowl. But you have to have it at least once, it’s so cozy!
Love this soup… and that crock it’s in! This is on my menu for the week!
My father in law made those! Aren’t they fun?
I love this recipe! It isn’t as cold as I want it to be (I live in Phoenix) but I’m so ready for January winter and soups
Delicious!
Turn up the AC and pretend it’s a cold winter night?
Wow! This looks delicious and perfect for my men…two teens and a firefighter hubby. Thanks so much.
Ohhhh! I loved the look of this and the recipe name conjured up sentiments of warm, winter comfort food. I was so excited about this and so wanted to love it. But, I must ask, did you test this before posting? Even with big flavors such as bacon, poultry seasoning and wild rice, this recipe had NO personality or flavor. It tasted to me like old fashion breakfast gravy. I’m so sorry to not give a good report because I thought the look and name were indicative of deliciousness.
Oh, of course I tested it.
We have this every year at Christmas! Sorry that you didn’t like it. Hopefully you can find another recipe with enough seasoning to satisfy!
Steph – I’ve been thinking about your comment since you posted it, so I did some investigating and realized that I mislabeled the chicken broth – it should have been condensed chicken broth! In theory, that would add twice the flavor and saltiness. So sorry for the mistake! The texture will still be probably very similar but hopefully that helps with the flavor a bit!
I agree Steph it was a bit bland when followed as the original directions dictated. I added some minced garlic and red pepper flakes (and more salt and pepper). The flavors did improve the longer it simmered. Also, I used a roasted herb chicken for my “cubed or shredded” chicken to liven it up. Next time I make it, I intend to use a small amount of fresh mushrooms in the recipe. Served with toasty bread and a salad. Family really liked.
Great idea with the mushrooms!
So there are only 3 steps to the soup. When do you add step 2 and step 3 to the main pan from step one (ie the rice and broth). Sorry I need more detail. LOL
Thanks.
Step 2 is when you start making the roux (creamy base) with flour and butter. In step 3, you add the cream to what you already started in step 2. And then where it says “add remaining ingredients” in step 3 would be when you add the wild rice, chicken, etc. Hope that helps!
we have some days of football ahead of us this weekend, this would be perfect to serve!
Growing up in MN too, I love love love wild rice! I make a very similar recipe like this and to cut some time and extra dishes, I’ll use the already cooked bacon – just warm it in the microwave and let it cool to get crisp (I usually have to make extra or be ready to slap a few hands back)
Ha! I have to slap my own hands back!
This looks really good. Why does it only have 2 1/2 stars??
I found this recipe and saved it to my “to-try” file before you made the corrections about the condensed soup and cooking time so unfortunately I was disappointed when I made it. It needed more flavor and was thin thin thin. I may or may not try it with the condensed soup, I try to avoid using those and would have to make a substitute version if I did. I’m glad I decided to check back though so now I know that it isn’t just a bad recipe. I’m giving it 3 stars on the assumption that it is much better when made with those corrections.
Bummer!
When we make this, it’s usually super thick. I think it’s because we let it simmer for several hours, which was not previously noted in the recipe instructions. Sorry for the confusion with the condensed soup – hopefully it’ll go better the second time around, if you’re willing to give it another go. And if nothing else, thanks for the feedback!
good soup
WOW! This recipe is awesome! I just made it and it turned out fantastically
Hooray! We love it, too!
Rainy day here in CT. This soup should help get us through it!!!!
Made this for dinner tonight–WOW! So good! It’s replacing my previous go-to recipe for wild rice soup. (And as a Minnesota native, I take my wild rice pretty seriously!) For those who were wondering about the condensed broth, instead of the condensed chicken broth, I replaced the broth AND the water in the recipe with 6 C water (total) and 5 chicken bouillon cubes. Used half milk, instead of all half & half. Added 1/2 cup sliced carrots and a minced clove of garlic at the beginning. The sherry is delicious, but 2 T was plenty for my taste. Next time I will saute some fresh mushrooms and add those. The soup was super thick and creamy, even without much simmering time. What a great recipe–thank you!
Beautiful picture. I can’t wait to try this recipe this winter. Thanks for sharing!
I live in greece and have no access to condensed chicken broth. We have condensed cream of chicken or boullion cubes. Any suggestions? I really want to try this without being dissappointed
I would use the chicken bouillon cubes to make a thick broth.
I made this today and it turned out perfect! Used chicken stock instead of broth.
Yay! Glad you liked it Corrie.
This looks wonderful!! I am curious though…..do u think its possible to put this in the crockpot and let it simmer all day until it thickens? Also…I dont have pimentos….would it be ok without them or is there a substitute I could use instead of pimentos? Thanks so much
Hi Lindsay,
I teach English language learners so you’re spelling comment made me laugh! Unfortunately I have to say this recipe didn’t workout at all for me. I’m pretty sure I followed it correctly, I’m kind of a nut about following recipe directions. My husband and I noticed a strong flour smell as we spooned it into our bowls. We had to thin it out because it was so thick. I took one bite and actually spit it out. It tasted like I had a mouth full of bacon flavored flour. I love bacon but this was awful. I was looking forward to it but now I’m totally bummed by the results. Have you experienced anything like this before?
This recipe sounds great! Also, where is your pottery from? It’s lovely.
It’s handmade by Robert Briscoe! http://www.robertbriscoe.com/
I made this this soup tonight and I thought it was very good! I simmered it for two hours after I combined all the ingredients. It was thick right off the get go…I would make sure to cook down the flour and butter mixture for longer than a minute to make sure all the “raw flour” taste gets cooked out. I also added some of the bacon grease from cooking the bacon in with the butter. Great soup for a cold night in the midwest!!!! Even my two sons (ages 4 and 7) ate it up while dipping chunks of toasted bread in it!
I made this recipe with chicken broth because that’s what I had and I loved it- but I tweaked/recommend the following-
1) saute some mushrooms and add those in with the chicken
2) add up to 1/2 tsp more salt
3) don’t skip the sherry like I did
4) I got a wedge of parmesan cheese and grated a substantial amount into the soup and stir and let it cook for a minute more- WOW!! huge difference!!!
Perfect for winter
Thanks for post this
Hi! I am including this in my slow cooker recipe collection here http://mommyssweetconfessions.blogspot.com/2012/12/34-slow-cooker-soups-stews-and-chilis.html
Made this soup today for my mother and husband! Used fat free half n half and turkey bacon and it was amazing!!!!
Cannot have enough good soup recipes and this looks fabulous. I also love the soup mugs. Can you please tell me where you found those?
I found your recipe on Pinterest this morning and said right then and there…”I am making this for dinner tonight.” I did, I did not have the same type of soup but took the recommendation of another commenter and used 5 cups of chicken stock. The recipe was easy to follow and the resulting dish was FANTASTIC!!! The children said this was one of the best soups I have made yet and the husband said it was great!! So this one has been saved for eternity in the Donovan Recipe File!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Oh and I will add that I had to use milk as I did not have the half and half on hand….all went well with that substitution.
That’s awesome! Glad you and your kids like it.
This sounds delish and would like to make this soup this weekend. Looking for lots of comfort to ease my soul from this yucky flu. I have a question, however about your ingredients list. You mention “condensed” chicken broth… I’m confused. Are you meaning condensed chicken soup or just regular chicken broth as it can’t be both. Thanks!
Regular chicken broth. Sorry for the confusion! I’ve since asked my mom and the recipe source what that should really mean and they’ve both said regular chicken broth. I’ll change it on the ingredient list.
Hi Lindsay,
I made this soup in November for a friend who was sick and busy, so I ate some then and then froze a big bag to give to her. Well, I never saw that friend again so I thawed and ate the remaining soup with a couple of friends this past weekend. They confirmed what I already suspected – this is the most delicious soup ever conceived.
It was so thick. Almost a paste, really. Very creamy and tasty. I added a bit of Korean red pepper powder like this: http://i.imgur.com/M3CLMtv.jpg but I can’t see that changing the flavour too much. I can’t understand the other comments here which describe the soup as watery or flavourless.
Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be making it again soon.