This quick and easy creamy chicken and wild rice soup is made in the Instant Pot. It makes a delicious and comforting dinner.
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I saw the hype going around right before Christmas about the Instant Pot. I hadn’t ever heard of one before, but suddenly it seemed like everyone was getting one. I researched them online and they seemed awesome. Anything that makes meal time faster and easier is a great buy to me.
I still wasn’t sure if I wanted one but I mentioned it to my husband and he decided to surprise me for Christmas and get one. Unfortunately, it was delivered in a box that said Instant Pot on all four sides, and I was the one who was there when it arrived. The surprise was ruined, but on the upside I got to use it before Christmas. 🙂
If you don’t know what an Instant Pot is, the simple answer is an electric pressure cooker. But it has so many different functions that I haven’t even used yet.
I took a cooking class in college where we used a pressure cooker on the stove. I thought it was great that it cooked things faster, but it scared me. Even when I got the Instant Pot I was scared to use it at first! I imagined it exploding.
It probably would be sitting in the box still, but my husband was the first to get it out and make some steel cut oats in it (3 minute steel cut oats I might add). After that test run I started using it a lot. One day we used it for breakfast and lunch and my husband said we needed to use it for dinner too to keep the streak going. I have loved cooking sorts of meals in it.
One day over Christmas break I decided I wanted to some soup for lunch. This recipe came together and my husband, who does not love soup as much as I do, said it was the best soup I had made for him.
He had previously been on a soup strike because he said we had had way too much soup this winter, but he gobbled this up. Even my kids loved it. I hope you enjoy it too.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot the recipe can be adjusted for the stove, it will just take a little longer.
Add and cook the chicken fully after the first step of sautéing the onions, mushrooms and carrots.
Then add the rice, seasonings and broth and allow the rice to cook.
Finish it off with the milk and cream cheese at the end just like in the recipe below.
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
1/2 yellow onion diced
3/4 cup carrots diced
3/4 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms (about 3-4 mushrooms)
2 tablespoons butter
1 chicken breast (about 1/2 pound) diced into 1 inch cubes
2 cans chicken broth (14 oz)
1 box Uncle Ben’s quick cooking wild rice
1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons corn starch
In your Instant Pot, select the Sauté feature and add the butter, onions, carrots, and mushrooms.
Sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent and soft.
Add the cubed chicken and seasoning packet from the Uncle Ben’s wild rice box, and stir to combine.
Add the wild rice, and the 2 cans of chicken broth.
Select Manual on the Instant Pot and set the time for 5 minutes.
After the cooking time ends, allow it to stay on keep warm for 5 minutes and then quick release the pressure.
Remove the lid, change the setting to the Sauté function again, and add the milk, half-and-half, and cream cheese.
In a small bowl mix the corn starch with a little bit of water to dissolve then add to the soup to thicken.
This has become a favorite in our house! My kids ask me to make it all the time. They’re not big carrot fans so we sub in celery instead and also use low-fat cream cheese and fat free milk and half and half and it still turns out delicious!
I’m so glad to hear that Michelle! Its one of my favorites too! And those are some great substitutions! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Oh my word it was so delicious and too easy!!! I love trying new instant pot recipes. The best investment I’ve ever made was the instant pot!
Glad you enjoyed it Kristina! I agree the Instant Pot is an awesome investment! 🙂
How many servings does this make?
I’m not exactly sure. I make it for my family of 4 and we have extras. So I would say 5-6 servings?
I am never sure if a recipe is asking for cooked chicken or raw – which did you use?
I use raw chicken.
Hi. I don’t have the quick cooking rice, just the regular Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice. Would it work, could I increase the time by a few minutes? Thanks!
Hi Erica! I haven’t tried it but I would guess it should work with an increase of just 1 or 2 minutes.
Have you ever doubled this?
Jenny, have you ever doubled this? Just made it and it was DELICIOUS. I also thought of adding a little bit of diced celery because we like that – how does celery do, in regards to texture, in the Instantpot?
Hi Jo! I haven’t ever tried doubling the recipe before. I think celery would be delicious in it. It would be on the softer side.
oh wow! Just made this soup. it was easy n delicious! Will make it many times again. i added some salt n pepper to taste.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Jo- how much extra time did you add for doubling the recipe? Thanks
How long do you saute before adding the cornstarch?
Just a few minutes after I add the milk and cream cheese and everything is getting warm I add the cornstarch.
Can I adapt this to a crock pot?
Hi Rekal. I’m not sure if it would work in a crockpot. I think the rice might get overcooked. Sorry!
This was so good!!! Entire family loved it and went back for seconds.
So glad to hear your family enjoyed it Heather! 🙂
I will definitely have to double this to accommodate my family, has anyone done it yet? If so, how much time should I adjust for it? Thanks in advance!
This was awesome! I didn’t have the Uncle Bens in the box. I only had the rice that you microwave for 90 sec. I added that when I added the cream cheese. Turned out just fine!
I’m new to the whole instant pot thing. My BFF got me one. I literally just made this soup. I doubled as I have a big family. Turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it Edwina! Thanks for letting me know.
How long did u cook when doubling?
Hi Jennifer. I haven’t doubled the recipe so I don’t know how long the cook time will be. Sorry.
Yum! This was such a satisfying soup. Next time I’m going to add a little celery and rosemary, because I think that would make it even better. Mmmmm! Thanks for sharing this!
Glad you enjoyed it Shelby! Those would make great additions. I love rosemary!
I doubled the cream cheese and a tad more corn starch because I just love a creamy/thick soup. Amazing!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it Katie!
Sounds delicious. I’m wondering if I can substitute Almond Milk for the milk and omit the half and half altogether since I don’t have any on hand now. Also wondering about using regular wild rice and how much extra time I would need to allow? Any ideas?
Hi Michelle! I’m not sure about those substitutions as I’ve never tried them. Sorry!
Thanks! I’ll try it.
Try coconut cream instead. That’s what I did and it was fabulous!
I use almond milk and it works great.
OMG! Spectacular recipe!! Kudos to you Jenny! Hubs is sick with a bad chest cold so I made him soup using my chicken feet broth. Only thing I did different was added celery and garlic and substituted a 13.66 oz can of Thai Kitchen Coconut Cream for the milk,cream cheese and half and half (I’m lactose intolerant). Didn’t even need the corn starch either. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for commenting with that great substitution idea. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Used Vegan chick’n, Vegan sour cream, soy milk, dried wild rice, garlic, Vegan butter and Vegan half & half and made vegetable broth.
It was so good!
That’s awesome! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I use mixed vegetables instead of carrots. I also use almond milk and add some minced garlic. Some times I have used Rice A Roni Chicken rice. It gives it a little more chicken flavor.
What if you only have plain long grain wild rice?
I’m not sure how that would change the cook time. You could always try it.
This is a favorite at our house as well! I don’t use the cream cheese, add celery (and more of each veggie to get more servings of veggies in), and I use 1 box of Zatarain’s long grain and wild rice (it’s gluten and MSG free which we need). If I’m in a hurry, I don’t use the cornstarch, and it’s no big deal. And I add the milk and half-and-half (or heavy cream) at the very end after I turn it off.
Last night I left home before I finished it and forgot to tell my husband I hadn’t added the milk/cream. The family liked it just fine, it was just a broth soup, like chicken noodle. So if you don’t do dairy, it’s still really yummy without it!
Also, I only pressure cook it for 3-4 minutes, and then natural release for 5-10. The veggies and rice are a little over done at 5 for me for some reason.
I have an 8 qt instant pot and doubling the recipe it still fits just fine.
Thanks for an amazing, delicious recipe!
I would like to use natural wild rice, so how much time would I have to add? Would I cook the rice for a few minutes and then add the veggies so they aren’t overcooked? This is my very first time using my instant pot so maybe I shouldn’t start out this way? Sorry for all the ? but really would prefer the long-cooking wild rice, as we get it when we go through Northwestern Ontario.
Hi Julie! I’m not sure on the changes you would need using natural wild rice. I would maybe try a different recipe since it’s your first time using the instant pot, and then once you learn what you have to do to tweak recipes, maybe come and try it.
If I double this, will it fit in a 6qt instant pot? Or would that be to much?
Really good, thank you! Next time I think I will leave out the cream cheese, I did add a third can of chicken broth because I had closer to a lb of chicken and kept pressure 4 min instead of 5 because the chicken was thinner than an inch (notes for myself really!!) Wondering how this would be with the addition of some kale, and how that would change cook time, hmmm..!?
Kale sounds a great addition. I don’t think it would change the cook time.
We love this! I leave out the mushrooms, because we don’t like them, otherwise I follow the recipe and it is fabulous! Thank you! (Oh, I always double it for leftovers!)
Glad you enjoy the recipe Cynde!