If you are looking for one-pot easy comfort food, you gotta try this amazing creamy curry chicken wild rice soup that is also gluten-free and dairy-free.
I LOVE WILD RICE
It’s a big statement for me to say that I love wild rice. I never did before. I thought it’s such strange rice. So tough and dry. Who would eat this stuff really? I grew up with soft fluffy jasmine rice and never really cared about wild rice until I moved to Minnesota. Wild rice is an official state grain of Minnesota. The majority of wild rice worldwide is produced here in Minnesota. I fell in love with wild rice after had a creamy wild rice soup and wild rice pilaf at different restaurants.
So, here’s my attempt to make some comfort food that is easy, yummy, and can easily feed the entire family. It turned out so good and I feel like I need to share it here.
MAKE SURE YOU USE WILD RICE ONLY AND NOT BLEND OF DIFFERENT RICE
I was actually quite surprised to find that wild rice (cultivated wild rice to be exact!) is expensive. A small 1-lb bag of wild rice cost me almost $7 bucks! but I can tell you that it’s worth it! I won’t suggest using wild rice blend, which is a mix of wild rice, brown rice, white rice, etc. It’s not the same.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE THIS RECIPE
1. It’s super yum! and not to mention it’s really easy!
2. It’s dairy-free and gluten-free
3. It’s convenient and all cook in one-pot
4. I took a little extra step: by sauteeing the aromatics instead of just throwing everything in a pot. Doing this adds a depth of flavor to the end result!
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY CURRY CHICKEN WILD RICE SOUP
1. Turn on saute mode on the instant pot. When it’s hot, add cooking oil or coconut oil and swirl the pot to cover the base
2. Add the aromatics and saute for about 3 minutes. If you use uncooked chicken meat, add it here and saute until they just turn opaque but not cooked through yet
3. Add vegetables, wild rice, seasonings and spices, broth, and bay leaves into the pot. Give it a good stir to make sure nothing get stuck on the bottom of the pot
4. Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to “sealing”. Set the timer to “45 minutes” and make sure it’s on “high pressure”. Let the pressure release naturally after that and carefully unlock the lid to open
5. If you use leftover cooked chicken meat, stir it in at this time.
6. Turn the saute mode on and when it comes to a simmer, mix the coconut milk with cornstarch and stir it well and pour it in and keep stirring until the mixture is slightly thickened and creamy. Do not overboil the coconut milk or it will turn frothy
7. Turn off the saute mode. Have a taste and adjust by adding more salt if necessary
Our family seriously loves this curry chicken wild rice and I don’t mind making it every week too because it’s so darn easy and this big pot feeds us for 3 days!
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS
1. MEAT
You can use sausage
2. MEATLESS
You can stir in extra-firm tofu cubes, paneer cheese, or tempeh cubes that has been baked or pan-fried
3. VEGETABLES
You can use fresh mushrooms, celery, pumpkin cubes, sweet potato cubes, kale, baby spinach
PERFECT FOR MEAL PREP
Once they have cooled down completely, you can portion them out into serving portions and stored in a freezer-friendly container or bag and freeze them if you want to store them longer (up to 1 month). Simply reheat them on the stove when you are ready to eat them. They can also be kept on the refrigerator for up to one week.
DID YOU MAKE THIS INSTANT POT CREAMY CURRY CHICKEN WILD RICE SOUP RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Instant Pot Creamy Curry Chicken Wild Rice Soup (DF and GF)
Ingredients
- 2 cups wild rice about 355 grams, see notes 1
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil or use 1 Tbsp coconut oil (which I did)
- 8 cups vegetable broth or use chicken broth
Aromatics:
- 1 large onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic finely chopped
Vegetables:
- 3 large carrots peeled and cut into small cubes
- 2 large potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes
Protein (use one of the following):
- 2 cups leftover cooked chicken meat cut into bite-size chunks
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken meat breast or thighs, about 450 grams, cut into bite-size chunks
Seasonings and spices:
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt or more to taste
- 2 bay leaves
Creamy sauce:
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 4 Tbsp cornstarch
Garnish:
- Few sprigs of fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Turn on saute mode on instant pot. When it's hot, add cooking oil or coconut oil and swirl the pot to cover the base. Add the aromatics and saute for about 3 minutes. If you use uncooked chicken meat, add it here and saute until they just turn opaque but not cooked through yet
- Add vegetables, wild rice, seasonings and spices, broth, and bay leaves into the pot. Give it a good stir to make sure nothing get stuck on the bottom of the pot
- Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Set the timer to "45 minutes" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Let the pressure release naturally after that and carefully unlock the lid to open
- If you use leftover cooked chicken meat, stir it in at this time. Turn the saute mode on and when it comes to a simmer, mix the coconut milk with cornstarch and stir it well and pour it in and keep stirring until the mixture is slightly thickened and creamy. Do not overboil the coconut milk or it will turn frothy. Turn off the saute mode. Have a taste and adjust by adding more salt if necessary
- Garnish with few sprigs of fresh cilantro leaves just before serving
Notes
- I can only find cultivated wild rice (paddy wild rice). It's hard to find the real "wild" wild rice these days, if you can, go for it!
- If you plan to halve the recipe, the cooking time remains the same. The pressure cooker time is not determined by the quantity of food but rather the size of the food.Â
12 comments
This was so incredibly good. I used a lot more chicken as I wanted a little more protein. I cannot say enough good things about the flavor. I used a combo of wild rice and brown rice because that was all I could find.
Hi Jan, I’m very happy to know that you enjoyed it too! Never hurt to have extra protein 😉 We make this at least once a month! Thank you for stopping by to share your feedback 🙂
I’d never tried wild rice but was curious after seeing recipes for IP wild rice soup in many blogs. Tried this one because I trust your tastebuds as a fellow Indonesian. I was a bit skeptical about the taste because it looked like bubur ketan hitam especially with the smell of coconut milk, but it did not disappoint! Very creamy, savoury and comforting. It’s a bit hard to find pure wild rice where I live but I will keep this recipe for whenever I can find some!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Fiona 🙂 I have to admit it does look like bubur ketan hitam ha..ha..! I never really liked wild rice before, but now I can’t have enough of it 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe – it looks so delicious!!! However, I would like to use 1 cup of wild rice and halve the rest of the recipe. Would the cook time still be the same? Thanks!!!!
Hi Joyce, if you halve the recipe, the cooking time will still be the same. With a pressure cooker, the timing is not determined by the quantity of food but rather the size of the food. More food will just take longer to pressurize compared to if you have less quantity. I hope it makes sense. So, in short, the cooking time remains the same. I hope it turns out great for you 🙂
I took inspiration from this recipe. I simmered a whole chicken to make stock, removed the chicken, then boiled wild rice in the stock, added frozen corn and frozen spinach (stocked up food during this outbreak), added some fish and soy sauce, and then picked the meat off the chicken and added it, plus some hot pepper powder.
The coconut milk addition with the corn starch was wonderful! I like creamy soups, but my partner can’t eat dairy, so this was a great idea. This makes a full pot of soup and it’s delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wow..you made your own stock (clap..clap..clap). I love what you added in there. I will definitely use that idea in the future when I made this again. I love using coconut milk instead of dairy for this. It is the perfect food during this time! Thank you for sharing!!!
Moose Lake Wild Rice Co! They’re in Deer River, Minnesota! They have both wild and cultivated. I buy in bulk from them. Check them out http://mooselakewildrice.com/
Thank you Ronnie. I will definitely get the wild rice from them in the future!!!
It really looked like paddy wild rice not the real thing I’m from Minnesota and I know my wild rice
Hi Hazel, you are right, these are cultivated, not the “wild” wild rice. I’ve heard that it’s hard to get the real wild rice anymore.