Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup

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My chicken wild rice soup made in the instant pot is thick, creamy and packed with comforting flavors. Not only is it delicious, it can also be made dairy free and is a naturally gluten free recipe. Read on to learn how I make it.

Let’s Make Soup

Begin by roughly chopping the vegetables. You will need 1.5 cups of each: celery, onion, carrot and mushroom, as well as 1 clove of mined garlic. If you’re not a mushroom fan, you can omit the mushroom, but I highly recommend you try it. My son hates mushrooms and he actually loved this soup. So go ahead and give it a try!

I used rainbow carrots, which was also a fun addition, but any carrots will work. You can even purchase prechopped mirepoix mixes (carrots, celery, onion) in the produce section of most grocery stores. So if you’re short on time that may be the best solution for you.

Next, cut 2 large chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Season with 1 teaspoon Kosher salt. I weighed my chicken and had 24 ounces. Anywhere from 20-32 ounces will work perfectly.

Set your instant pot to the sauté feature and add in 1-2 teaspoons of light oil. I use avocado oil, but any light tasting oil will work, such as vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil.

Sauté the chicken pieces in 2 batches in Instant Pot. Remove to a bowl or plate.

Add the chopped veggies and another teaspoon Kosher salt.

Sauté for 5-10 minutes or until the veggies have begun to release their moisture and become soft. Then add in 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.

Add the chicken back in along with the remaining ingredients: 1 cup uncooked wild rice, 3 Tablespoons Organic Better Than Bouillon, 2 Bay leaves and 64 ounces of water.

Wild rice is actually not rice at all, it is a grass or reed. You can read about it here. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s, but it is widely available in grocery stores and is located near traditional brown, white and other rice.

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Seal your instant pot and set on manual High for 25 minutes. Allow the instant pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes and then move seal to venting and allow remaining steam to escape.

In a separate bowl measure 1 cup of your dairy or milk substitute. You can use heavy cream, half and half, fat free half and half or any non dairy milk. I tested all four to compare and they are all super delicious. Even the Nutpods almond and coconut milk creamer was oh so creamy.

As you can see, all four soups end up looking very similar. The main difference I noticed in the heavy cream and fat free half and half is mouth feel. You can tell there is a deeper richness to the heavy cream and it is more filling, if that makes sense. It was definitely not a deal breaker for me and I found all four options to be equally delicious. So, pick whichever works best for your lifestyle.

To your cream or dairy substitute add in 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch and mix until all the corn starch is dissolved. The liquid and cornstarch mixture is called a slurry.

By now the instant pot should have released all of it’s pressure and you can now open the lid. Switch the instant pot to the sauté feature, pour the slurry into the soup and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 1 minute for the cornstarch to fully thicken the soup.

Your soup is now ready to enjoy! You can serve it right away or set your Instant Pot to the Keep Warm feature and serve later. This recipe makes about 3.5 quarts of soup. I like to make it as a meal and then save the leftovers for lunches later in the week.

I hope you add my Instant Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup to next week’s meal plan and that you enjoy it as much as I do. Get my free Family Meal Planner straight to your in box, when you sing up here. 

Until next time, happy cooking!

Laura

Looking for more instant pot soup recipes? Check out my Instant Pot Beef Barely Soup and my Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta.