Chicken Wild Rice Soup with ham is one of our favorites year round.

You might be thinking it’s not soup season, but this is one of those soups that works great with a side salad and it doesn’t matter what time of year it is, I’ll always love this soup! If you are lucky enough to have any leftover, it makes the best lunch the next day. This Copycat Panera Chicken Wild Rice Soup is so easy, and tastes just like our favorite soup at Panera Bread. It’s not too heavy, so you can enjoy it year round.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Ham Recipe

This recipe is better than the Panera Bread version, because we’ve added diced ham. The ham is sautéed with the vegetables and it gives the soup a nice smokey flavor.

I love making soup for dinner. It usually can be made in one pot (easy cleanup), you can usually count on leftovers for lunch the next day, plus it’s not too heavy of a meal.

Ingredients for Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

2 cups cooked chicken shredded (we use rotisserie chicken)
2 cups wild rice cooked
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup cooked ham diced
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons cooking sherry
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion diced
1/4 carrots diced
1/4 cup celery
1/2 tsp thyme

How to make Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

In a large stockpot sauté the onion, celery, carrot and ham in butter.
Add flour, let the flour cook a little to lose the flour taste.
Add the cooking sherry and deglaze the pan and cook the alcohol out.
Add the chicken stock, the cooked chicken and cooked wild rice.
Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Finish by adding the milk and thyme. Serve warm.

Tips and Tricks for this recipe:

Can you freeze chicken and rice soup? Sadly, this recipe does not freeze well. There is not enough fat in it for it to freeze well
Hearty Leftovers: the rice in this soup, tends to absorb a lot of the liquid, and the leftovers the next day are more on the “hearty soup” side if you know what I mean. Still delicious, just a little more thick.
The alcohol cooks out. The cooking sherry really gives this soup recipe a great flavor. The alcohol cooks out when you use it to deglaze the pan.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup with Ham

The ham gives this hearty soup a smokey flavor we love.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken shredded (we use rotisserie chicken)
2 cups wild rice cooked
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup cooked ham diced
1 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons cooking sherry
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion diced
1/4 carrots diced
1/4 cup celery
1/2 tsp thyme

Instructions

In a large stockpot sauté the onion, celery, carrot and ham in butter.
Add flour, let the flour cook a little to lose the flour taste.
Add the cooking sherry and deglaze the pan and cook the alcohol out.
Add the chicken stock, the cooked chicken and cooked wild rice.
Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Finish by adding the milk and thyme. Serve warm.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!

What to serve with this Chicken Wild Rice Soup:

–parmesan breadsticks (for dinner)
–pear gorgonzola salad (soup and salad for lunch with friends)
It’s such a good soup, your whole family will love it, I just know it!