Copycat Panera Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This Copycat Panera Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe is creamy and savory and PACKED with chicken and wild rice. Ready in no-time with an easy-to-follow recipe that tastes like you’ve slaved over it ALL DAY.

When it’s nippy outside there’s nothing like a bowl of Chicken and Wild Rice soup.

This recipe came about because my sister made it at a family get together (birthday party) and ALL of our aunts wanted the recipe.

It’s delicious and takes less than an hour. Trust me when I say you’ll be thanking yourself for making it.

Why Uncle Ben’s Is the Secret Here

In all honesty, this recipe requires the use of the foil packet found inside the box of rice. So grab yourself a 6.2 oz box of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice and get cooking.

If you’re wondering, nope, you can’t use any ol’ wild rice…this recipe depends on that packet in the rice for flavor and success. It’s a secret weapon in my heart 🙂

What Goes Into This Soup

This recipe uses chicken broth, cooked chicken, Uncle Ben’s rice, carrots, celery, onion, and heavy cream. The carrots, onion, and celery are diced up nice and small, sautéed in butter, and mixed together with chicken broth, rice, chicken, and stirred with some heavy cream at the end.

It’s crazy good. I’ve served it at some of my little catered get together’s and it’s one of those recipes people want to know how I made it 🙂

Here are some tips:

• For this recipe, you’ll need 3 cups of cooked and shredded chicken which is about one entire rotisserie chicken once it’s shredded. You can of course bake up two boneless chicken breasts if you don’t want to use a rotisserie chicken, baking them at 375* for about 25 minutes or until cooked through. You can also use any cooked chicken you may have on hand.
• It’s IMPORTANT to sautee the carrot, onion, and celery for about five minutes in the butter. This will soften them up a tad and provide great flavor to your soup.

A basic roux made with butter and flour gives this copycat chicken and wild rice soup recipe its perfectly silky texture. Use a full 1 cup of heavy cream for the most authentic copycat chicken and wild rice soup recipe, half-and-half as a compromise, or whole milk for a much lighter texture.

You’ll use a full box of wild rice. I recommend Uncle Ben’s because it includes a seasoning packet.

Add that seasoning mix to your soup. Use between 4-6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth, adding more as your wild rice requires.

You’ll thank yourself for using low-sodium since there’s already plenty of sodium in the seasoning packet that comes with the rice.

How to Make Copycat Panera Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Melt butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and saute for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent and carrots have softened.

Add flour and stir until vegetables are fully coated. Allow to cook for 1 minute to get rid of the raw floury taste.

At this point it will look very clumped and dry. Don’t worry.

Gradually add chicken broth, whisking as you go to help prevent lumpiness. Add rice along with its seasoning mix and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken and allow to simmer for about 3 minutes until warmed through.

Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding additional chicken broth as needed.

Serve up.

Make-Ahead and Storage

To make ahead, prepare soup up to adding chicken and heavy cream and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days.

When ready to serve, re-heat soup on the stovetop over medium heat, adding additional chicken broth as necessary, then add chicken and heavy cream. The wild rice will soak up a lot of the broth so you’ll probably need to add more when reheating.

The chicken and wild rice soup actually tastes better the next day since the rice has a chance to soak up all of those wonderful flavors. Adding heavy cream after reheating will keep it from breaking.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup FAQ

Can this soup be frozen?

Yes, this recipe freezes well for up to 2 months. Keep in mind, soups with cream do separate a bit when thawed, so heat on low stirring vigorously.

It will come back together.

Will leftovers thicken?

Yes, wild rice continues to absorb liquid, so if you make this recipe and save leftovers they will most likely be pretty thick the next day. Simply stir in additional broth as needed when reheating, adding about 1 cup at a time.

Honestly, it might be even better the next day.

Can I use plain wild rice instead of the Uncle Ben’s wild rice?

You can, but I highly recommend using the Uncle Ben’s wild rice. This is a copycat recipe and the seasoned wild rice is what makes it taste just like Panera.

If you choose to use plain wild rice I’d add garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and sage to the soup and see how it goes. It won’t taste EXACTLY like Panera without the rice, but should be pretty darn close.

Slow cooker directions: Combine all ingredients except the butter, flour, and cream, plus an additional cup of chicken stock in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.

Thirty minutes before serving, melt butter in a small saucepan, whisk in the flour, and stir into the soup. Continue cooking uncovered until thickened.

Stir in the cream before serving.

Other Cozy Soups Worth Making

White Bean Turkey Chili – lightened up chili made with ground turkey and great northern white beans

Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque – the richest and tastiest tomato soup with fresh basil. Perfect for grilling cheese.

Crockpot Lasagna – looking for a heartier option that isn’t soup? Try this easy crockpot lasagna.