Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is a quick and healthy crock pot recipe that's perfect for busy nights. Add all the ingredients in the crock pot then push on!

overhead photo of a bowl of crock pot chicken wild rice soup

“This is one of our very favorite recipes! Tried this three years ago and I get asked by anyone who tries it to make again and again.” – reader, Mel

In a world full of gloopy, heavy crock pot recipes, Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup stands out because it’s light, healthy, and tastes like something you’d order at a local cafe.

Lucky for us, it’s a cinch to whip up at home in minutes!

This nourishing, brothy, healthy crock pot recipe is filled with colorful veggies, flavorful dried herbs and seasonings, tender chicken, and plump wild rice. It’s as easy as it is 3-bowl worthy.

Watch How to Make It

Main Ingredients Needed

I love that I always have the ingredients for Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup on hand in the fridge, pantry, and freezer. Here’s what you’ll need:

Chicken breasts: chicken breasts only need to slow cook for 4 hours on low to become tender and juicy. Any longer and you’ll end up with tough, dry, chicken.
Mirepoix: onion or shallot, carrots, and celery provide nutrition and flavor.
Dried herbs and seasonings: salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried ground sage, dried rosemary, and bay leaves give the slow cooker soup lots of cozy flavor.
Chicken stock or broth: you can use chicken stock or chicken broth interchangeably in this recipe. Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Stock is great if you can swing it.
Wild rice-brown rice blend: this recipe uses a wild rice brown rice blend vs straight brown rice or straight wild rice. I’ll share my favorite brand below.

bowl of crock pot chicken and wild rice soup with a spon

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My Favorite Rice for this Recipe

The brown rice-wild rice blend I recommend for the perfect bowl of Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is Lundberg Wild Blend rice. It slow cooks in the same amount of time as the chicken so everything is perfectly cooked and done at the same time.

That said, if you use a different brand of rice, it could take longer to cook. If that’s the case, store the shredded chicken in the refrigerator until the rice is ready then stir it in just before serving.

bag of wild rice in front of a crock pot

Great for a Meal Train

This crockpot soup recipe is one of my favorite recipes to take to new parents, or someone in need of a hot meal. There’s a couple ways you can deliver it:

Fully prepared: slow cook the soup at home then transfer to a storage container and deliver hot.
Meal kit: add all the ingredients, minus the broth, into a gallon-size Ziplock bag then deliver with either cartons or cans of chicken stock/broth. They can pour the ingredients into their slow cooker when they like, or stash the bag in the freezer for later.

Deliver with a side salad, and Gluten Free Focaccia.

woman holding a bowl of crock pot chicken wild rice soup

Can You Freeze Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup?

Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is one of my favorite recipes to turn into a meal kit and freeze BEFORE cooking. Here’s how:

Freeze: add all the ingredients except the broth into a Ziplock freezer bag then freeze flat.
Thaw: 24 hours before slow cooking, thaw the bag in the refrigerator (the USDA advises that you do not slow cook frozen chicken).
Slow cook: pour the ingredients into the crock pot, add the broth, then push “on”.

Recipe Tip

I’ve had readers freeze the meal kit with chicken bullion, so all they have to do is add water when they pour the ingredients into the slow cooker. Brilliant!

How to Make Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Step 1: Add the ingredients into the crock pot.

Add all the ingredients into a 6 quart crock pot then stir, cover, and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Slow Cooker Tip

Unless you are using monster-size chicken breasts (3/4-1lb each), boneless, skinless chicken breasts only need to cook on LOW for 4 hours. Any longer and they’ll become dry and chalky. If you are using extremely large chicken breasts, cut them in half so they slow cook in 4 hours on low.

ingredients for crock pot chicken and wild rice soup in a crock pot

Step 2: Shred the chicken.

Remove the cooked chicken from the crock pot with tongs, then shred and stir back into the soup.

Again, I think a common misconception is that chicken breasts need to be slow cooked for many hours, but that’s not the case. The chicken should shred with the tap of a fork after just 4 hours in the slow cooker!

2 forks shredded chicken breasts on a cutting board

How to Store and Reheat

This soup reheats fabulously. Let it cool until the soup is nearly room temperature then scoop into airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop. You might need to add an extra splash of chicken stock or broth when reheating.

I find that cooked > frozen > thawed > reheated rice doesn’t hold up well, so I don’t recommend freezing this soup recipe once it’s been cooked.

Family Friendly Recipe

Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is truly one of my family’s favorite meals. My kids and husband find it filling and comforting, and I love that it’s so, so easy to put together and (slow) cook.

I usually serve with a side salad and homemade Gluten Free Focaccia or Gluten Free Biscuits and we’re off to the races. I hope you and yours love this easy, crock pot soup recipe as much as we do – enjoy!

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