When sunlight is in short supply, winds are biting, and spirits are flagging, a batch of hearty homemade chicken soup can provide a much needed morale boost. For me, homemade chicken soup is a vital self-care strategy during chilly fall and winter months. One of my favorite new spins on classic chicken soup is this deeply savory and earthy chicken and wild rice soup recipe from our test kitchen colleague Liv Dansky. Dansky simmered batch after batch of chicken and wild rice soup to come up with this ultimate home-cooked version.

The foundation of this soup is homemade stock, which relies on bone-in chicken thighs for a richness and body. The broth is then boosted with celery, carrots, fennel, garlic, and thyme before earthy wild rice is added and simmered until the grains are cracked open and tender. The simmered chicken thighs are shredded and folded back into the soup before it’s finished with a bit of heavy cream for body and lemon juice and zest for brightness. It’s rich, nutty, and bright all at the same time—way more interesting than a basic chicken soup.

What Is Wild Rice?

Our editorial director Daniel Gritzer points out in his wild rice salad recipe that while many people are quick to note that wild rice isn’t real rice, the truth is that both “real” rice—i.e. the Asian cereal we call rice—and wild rice are the grains of aquatic grasses. The shortest answer for how wild rice is different from what we normally call rice (which includes all forms of rice, including white and brown rices) is that wild rice is a cereal native to the Americas and belongs to the genus Zizania in the family of grasses named Poaceae. Asian rice, on the other hand, is native to Asia (or, at least, it was domesticated in Asia), and belongs to the genus Oryza, which is also in the family Poaceae. ​​They’re both grains from plants that belong to the same family of grasses. Wild rice was historically and remains a critically important grain for many Native American and indigenous communities, particularly ones in the Midwestern United States and in Canada.

Beyond these geographical and biological differences, wild rice’s firm texture, nutty flavor, and long black grains set it apart from its white and brown counterparts. Its signature firm chewy texture is due to its intact bran layer and the way it’s processed through parching. Parching is the process of drying the grains over a fire and it gives wild rice its signature caramel-like, nutty, and smoky aromas. This process makes the hull more brittle and dry enough for long term storage. The resulting thick hull and rigid texture mean that wild rice requires a longer cooking period than white and brown rices. With its subtle floral, earthy, nutty flavor, wild rice is wonderful on its own as a simple side dish, in pilafs, salads, and dressings, and—of course—simmered in soups, as in this chicken and wild rice soup.

How to Guarantee a Hearty Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Use bone-in chicken thighs for a rich homemade stock. Skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs provide enough fat and flavor for a rich homemade stock but they’re easier to work with than a whole chicken. The thighs provide ample flavor for the broth, and the simmered meat is also shredded and folded back into the soup for substance before serving.

Add some aromatics. Simple aromatics like celery, carrot, leek, and thyme further infuse the broth with flavor. If you don’t have a leek, you can substitute with one large onion, peeled and diced. 

Cook the wild rice in the stock. Instead of cooking the wild rice separately and adding it to the finished soup, simmering the wild rice directly in the prepared stock infuses a deeper, savory flavor into the grains. Cook the grains until swollen and cracked; this is when they have what I find to be the most pleasant chew—they’re tender but retain a bit of their signature toothsomeness. 

Add baking soda to tenderize the wild rice. Due to its thick hull and firm texture, wild rice can take a very long time to cook until tender. One way to speed up the cooking process and to guarantee the grains soften is to add a small amount of baking soda to the soup as the grains simmer. Baking soda will slightly elevate the pH, and in a high-pH cooking environment pectin (the polysaccharide found in the cell walls of plants) breaks down and dissolves more quickly, leading to softer textures as the cell walls fall apart more readily. Just a small amount is added to ensure the flavor is not altered by it. We do not recommend adding more than the listed amount of baking soda to the recipe, as too much can make the soup bitter. If you prefer, you can omit the baking soda, just note that it will take 15 to 30 minutes longer to cook the rice.

Finish with cream. The homemade stock combined with the wild rice, chicken, and aromatics build a rich and hearty soup, but to turn it into a true stick-to-your-ribs meal, Dansky finishes the soup with a half cup of heavy cream. Make sure to add the heavy cream off the heat after the soup has finished cooking to ensure the cream doesn’t split when you add it. The cream adds body to the soup, while a hint of lemon from juice and zest balances its richness.