Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice Soup

Kitchen Little Essentials

For this recipe, you will need:

A Dutch Oven

Chef’s Knife

Cutting Board

Large Spoon

This soup recipe is the kind of thing that you can almost always rely on when you need a low-maintenance dinnertime win that will feed a crowd. It proved this truth over the weekend, as I needed an easy meal that would stretch over a couple of days, reheat easily, and it also needed to be gluten-free. This Creamy Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice Soup checks all of the boxes and then some.

Admittedly, I’m funny about soup sometimes, and for me to really get excited about one, it needs to have a lot going on. Flavor! Textures! Heartiness! So, when I developed this recipe I really leaned into my need for this qualities, and essentially wound up with a loaded chicken and wild rice soup that is just a bit more interesting than your run-of-the-mill variety.

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, Fully Loaded

The addition of smoked sausage and sweet red apples really elevates a standard-op chicken and wild rice soup so, so well. Theoretically, it all just WORKS: sausage and apples (works), chicken and apples (works), chicken and sausage (but of course). Essentially, no matter how you shake it, this combination of ingredients – this cast of characters – is just very well coordinated from top to bottom, destined for success and ultimate SOUPREMACY. Ha.

I really enjoy the very slight sweet bursts you get from the apple, and we’re only using one – so it’s not too much. The smoked sausage will release its smokiness into the soup as it simmers away on the stove, adding a truly delicious note to the soup that I don’t think I could ever leave out now. It’s just really great, you know?

How to Make this Creamy Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice Soup

I am just over here, never not loving and longing for a constant rotation of heavy-hitting one-pot meals, and boy does this chicken and wild rice soup number deliver – she packs a punch. Here’s the low-down on today’s recipe:

1. We’ll start this chicken and wild rice soup story like any other. We’re going to cook some onions, mushrooms, an apple (okay, this part is different), and a carrot in a little olive oil until tender and then add in the garlic. Adding garlic after the other ingredients have had a chance to cook is something you’ll see me do in almost any recipe that requires garlic. We do this to mitigate the garlic’s tendency to burn and go bitter. It wants to do that, garlic does, and if you add it in the very beginning along with the other ingredients, the likelihood of it scorching on you is rather high.
2. Anyway. We’ll add in the wild rice and allow it to toast up a bit in the oil, with the aromatics, and then deglaze with a bit of sherry. You certainly don’t have to use sherry but it’s nice and it’s also noticeable – the flavor comes through. You could use a dry white wine or simply chicken stock. Up to you!
3. The chicken is going to be added just before the liquids (broth + cream) and you don’t have to do a thing to it. Just set it atop the veggies and rice, add in the sausage, and then pour the liquids over. The chicken will poach in the liquid and cook all the way through. When it has, simply move it to a plate or cutting board and shred it with two forks. The shredded meat goes right back into the pot and will add body and texture to the soup.
4. The rice will really drink up the broth – especially as the soup sits. So, I always end up adding more stock/broth after the soup is technically done cooking, to get it to the proper “soup” consistency.

To Reheat your Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Again, the rice in this soup will continue to drink up the cream-laced broth as it sits, which isn’t a problem. To reheat it, you will need to replenish some of that absorbed liquid by adding in more broth/stock, cream/milk, etc. Just add until you get the soup back to your desired consistency, bring to a simmer until heated through and slightly bubbling.

If you like the looks of this Creamy Chicken, Sausage & Wild Rice Soup, you might also like:

Roasted Garlic Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup

Two-Ingredient Squash & Caramelized Onion Soup

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