Dairy-free Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This dairy-free chicken and wild rice soup is creamy, flavorful, and perfectly delicious! It’s the perfect mix of roast chicken, wholesome wild rice, creamy broth and milk, and a variety of nutritious vegetables. Loaded with nutrition and protein, this soup makes for a well-rounded meal that is cozy, warm, and bursting with flavor! I also love how simple and quick this soup is to make, which is perfect for busy fall days full of farm chores and late-night hunting season! This soup will quickly become a comfort food and a main staple on the homestead menu this fall!

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Modern Pioneer Recipe

Dairy-free chicken and wild rice soup is a modern pioneer recipe with heritage roots! In all honesty, I really don’t see why this soup can’t be a pioneer recipe. It’s made with simple, wholesome ingredients that the early pioneers would have had access to in some way, shape, or form.

If you raise your own meat birds, you can easily use homegrown chicken in your soup and make homemade bone broth from the chicken bones! Regardless if you raise your own meat birds or not, homemade bone broth is super easy to make. Make sure you check out this free pioneer resource for a step-by-step guide on how to make your own homemade bone broth!

All the vegetables in this soup can also be easily grown in the homestead garden! I love growing my own carrots and celery to use in homemade soups, and using fresh onions from our CSA share is a great way to get locally grown produce that I can’t grow myself. Fresh, homegrown herbs like thyme and sage add perfect flavor to this soup too!

Rice is a dry good staple that would have been easy to pack in the chuckwagon and fix on the trail. I choose to use wild rice since it is technically not a grain, it is a grass seed! As for the milk and cheese, if you have your own dairy animal on your homestead, feel free to use homemade cheese and fresh milk in your soup!

For dairy-free modern pioneers, we have to use cheese and milk alternatives. Of which there are plenty that work well in this soup, but more on that later! In the meantime, not only is this soup dairy-free, but it is also….

• gluten-free
• ‘grain-free’
• nut free
• sugar free
• egg free

Recipe Preparedness

I think making homemade soup on the homestead is one of the simplest and easiest meals to prep and make! The basic elements of most soups are easy to prep and store ahead of time. When you want to make a soup, all you have to do is gather the ingredients and throw them in the pot! Dinner will be ready in a few minutes or a couple hours depending on what pot you use!

Slow cookers are great for prepping soup in the morning to have it ready for the evening meal. The Instant Pot is perfect for making soup in the mid-afternoon or right before you need to serve the soup. Or there’s always the good old fashion stovetop version if you want to do meal prep prior to serving the soup!

As for soup ingredients, here’s how I always make sure I have ingredients for a homemade soup on hand in the homestead kitchen.

Storing Soup Ingredients:

• Homemade Bone Broth– Whenever I make homemade bone broth, I always make sure I freeze or can a few extra jars to have on hand for later.
• Soup Vegetables– During harvest time, I like to chop up a blend of carrots, onion, and celery to freeze for easily pulling out and adding to soups!
• Cooked Chicken– I always have leftover from a whole roast chicken meal, so those leftovers go right in the freezer for using in soups later.
• Canned Chicken– Alternatively, if freezer space is at a premium, you can also can chicken to use in soups too!
• Dried Herbs– Drying herbs from the homestead garden is a great way to have access to homegrown herbs all year round.
• Rice Storage– Rice is a dry good that has a very long shelf life. Stored in an airtight container in a dark and cool location, uncooked wild rice will stay good for 3-5 years!
• Canned Milk– The best part about using dairy-free milk in soups is that canned dairy-free milk has a long shelf life and can easily be kept stocked in the homestead pantry.

Since you have all those soup ingredients prepared, you may want to check out some other delicious fall soups to make on the homestead, like this grain-free turkey and rice soup or this venison stew soup!

Recipe Questions

Can I use a different rice instead of wild rice?

You can use any rice you like in this soup recipe. Just keep in mind that different types of rice will have different cook times and different absorbancy factors. Some rice will absorb more moisture than others, which can make your soup thick or thin.

Being on a low inflammation diet, I like to use wild rice in my rice dishes. Learn more about wild rice in this recipe Gluten-free Instant Pot Chicken and Rice!

Can this soup be made in the slow cooker or on the stovetop?

Yes to both! You can easily throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker and allow it to cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. You may want to stir the soup periodically to make sure the liquid levels are staying adequate. For the stovetop version, you can easily throw everything into a large pot and allow it to simmer on the stovetop for an hour or two. Here are a few tips for stovetop and slow cooker versions:

• Slow Cooker– Everything can be added to the slow cooker in the morning except for the milk and cheese. Stir in the milk and cheese about 30 minutes prior to serving the soup.
• Stovetop- You basically need to simmer the ingredients long enough to cook the rice. For wild rice, that can usually take between 1.5-2 hours for the rice to cook.

Are there any substitites for the coconut cream milk/cream in this soup?

You can use coconut milk or coconut cream in this chicken and wild rice soup. Coconut cream will make for a slightly thicker soup with potential for a slight coconut-flavor. If you opt for milk, just about any dairy-free milk alternative will work. However, I don’t recommend oat milk or hemp milk since those tend to have a distinct flavor and texture.

What kind of broth works best for chicken and rice soup?

You can use any kind of homemade broth in this soup, even vegetable broth! Homemade chicken bone broth/stock will have the best flavor for pairing with the other ingredients. If you don’t mind the bold flavor of venison or beef broth, you can use those too!

Will any kind of cheese work in this soup?

Yes! Dairy-free or regular cheese will work in this recipe. I mainly use mozzarella or cheddar cheese in my recipes. For dairy-free cheeses, I like to use dairy-free mozzarella shreds since they add a whiteness to the soup. Dairy-free cheese shreds often need to simmer in the soup for a little longer than traditional cheese shreds in order to melt and blend with the soup.

Want to check out another creamy, cheesy, dairy-free soup? You have to try this dairy-free cheesy cauliflower soup or this dairy-free potato soup!

What if my soup is too thick or too thin?

If your chicken and wild rice soup is too thick or thin for your liking, there are a few things you can do. For soup that is too thick, simply add a splash more bone broth or dairy-free milk. If the soup is too thin, you can add more rice (but it will need to either be pre-cooked or allowed to simmer in the soup until cooked) or you can add more cheese and a tablespoon or two of tapioca flour to help thicken the broth.

Can this soup be frozen?

Yes! Chicken and wild rice soup can easily be frozen for later! I like to freeze mine in glass canning jars, just make sure you leave the lids unscrewed until the soup is completely frozen. The soup will expand as it freezes, and the jar can break if the lid is inhibiting the soup as it expands.

This dairy-free chicken and wild rice soup has all the creamy goodness of a chicken and rice soup while still being dairy-free! It is bursting with flavor and is super easy to make. My whole family loves this soup and it is definitely a staple on my homestead menu!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Minnesota all-natural wild rice
• Primal Kitchen extra virgin olive oil
• Thai Kitchen coconut cream
• Native Forest coconut milk
• Pacific coconut milk beverage
• Supplies: Instant Pot Max, 6 qt slow cooker, stainless steel ladel

This dairy-free chicken and wild rice soup is packed with nutritious vegetables, protein-rich chicken and rice, and nutritious bone broth. Made creamy and delicious by dairy-free milk and dairy-free cheese, this soup can quickly become a modern pioneer comfort food! I love soup season, and there’s always soup on the menu at least once during the fall and winter. This chicken and wild rice soup has definitely been added into the rotation of cozy, nutritious soups! I love having a warm bowl of soup for dinner, as leftovers for lunch, or even as a warm way to start my day!

Make sure you don’t miss any other easy homestead soup recipes! Join our modern pioneer newsletter community to get the recipes as soon as they leave the chuckwagon!

by Alexa