Copycat Panera Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This copycat Panera chicken and wild rice soup is the kind of recipe you reach for when it’s cold outside and you need something that actually fills people up. It’s creamy, savory, loaded with tender chicken and hearty wild rice, and it comes together in under an hour — no rotisserie chicken guilt required.

My sister made this for a birthday party years ago and every aunt in the room asked for the recipe before they left. That’s the bar this soup clears.

The secret is using Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice with the seasoning packet. I know that sounds like cheating, but that packet is what makes it taste like Panera.

Fight me. Combined with a quick sauté of vegetables, good chicken broth, and heavy cream stirred in at the end, you get a soup that tastes like it took all day when it really didn’t.

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Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Kate Sorensen

Copycat Panera-style chicken and wild rice soup with rotisserie chicken, Uncle Ben’s wild rice, sauteed vegetables, broth, and cream.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Course Dinner

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

Large soup pot

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken meat pulled and shredded
2 boxes Uncle Ben’s 5-Minute Long Grain and Wild Rice use about 1 1/3 boxes with seasoning packets
2 tablespoons butter
2 stalks celery diced
1 carrot diced
1/3 cup onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
64 ounces chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour optional, for thickening
1/4 cup cold water optional, for thickening

Instructions

Prepare the wild rice according to package directions, including the seasoning packet. Shred the rotisserie chicken while the rice cooks.
Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add celery, carrot, and onion and cook 5 to 8 minutes, until softened.
Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the shredded chicken and cooked wild rice.
Simmer for 20 minutes so the flavors meld.
During the last 10 minutes, stir in the heavy cream. If using the optional thickener, whisk flour with cold water and stir it in with the cream.
Keep at a gentle simmer until thickened and heated through. Serve warm.

Notes

Use the rice seasoning packet because it provides much of the Panera-style flavor. Add heavy cream near the end so it does not curdle. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil after adding cream. Rotisserie chicken gives the soup deeper flavor and saves prep time.