I was meal planning last week when I came upon one of my favorite recipes here on IGE – Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Rich, hearty, and soul-satisfying, it’s a cold-weather favorite for sure. Hmm, I wondered, what would I have to change to make this recipe crock pot friendly?
Turns out, NOTHING! I tossed 99% of the ingredients, which I already had on hand, into my crock pot, turned it on low, then 4 hours later, poof! The soup was slow cooked to perfection. If you’ve got a crock pot, cutting board, knife, and one working finger, then you can make Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. It’s as easy as it is 3-bowl worthy.
Can You Freeze Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup?
Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is one of my favorite recipes to freeze before cooking. Add all the ingredients except for the broth into a Ziplock freezer bag then freeze. 24 hours before you want to cook, thaw the pack the refrigerator then pour into the crock pot, add broth, and push “on”. (That’s where you’ll need the 1 working finger!)
How to Make This Recipe
All you need to do is add chicken breasts (cut in half if they’re large,) brown rice-wild rice blend, carrots, celery, onion, butter (for a little bit of richness since there is so little fat in here!) garlic, and spice-cupboard staples including bay leaves, dried rosemary, dried thyme, dried sage, salt, and pepper to a 6-quart crock pot. Add chicken broth then cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
What Rice to Use
Here’s the brown rice-wild rice blend I used and recommend for the perfect cooking timing which I’ll mention in a second. Should be able to find it right in the regular grocery store.
I think there’s a common misconception that chicken breasts take forever to cook in the crock pot. Totally not true. Four hours on low is usually all you need to get tender, juicy chicken. After the four hours were up I shredded the chicken then made sure the rice was cooked. It was, so I stirred the shredded chicken back into the pot, and dinner was done!
Note: if you aren’t using the brand of rice I used, your rice could take longer to cook. If it’s not cooked after four hours, store the shredded chicken in the refrigerator until the rice is ready then stir it in just before serving.
The soup will thicken a bit as it sits, so whenever you’re ready, scoop into bowls then serve. I hope you love this EASY and healthy crock pot soup recipe! Enjoy!
Similar Recipes
- CrockPot White Chicken Chili
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- One Pot Chicken and Rice
- Gluten Free Homestyle Chicken and Noodles
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Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Description
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!
Ingredients
- 1lb chicken breasts
- 1 small onion or 1 large shallot, minced
- 2 carrots, minced (~1 cup)
- 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ground sage
- small pinch dried rosemary, crushed between your fingers
- 1 large or 2 small bay leaves
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup wild rice-brown rice blend (I recommend Lundberg Farms)
Directions
- Add all ingredients into a 6-quart crock pot then cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken breasts are cooked through. Rice should be done around the same time. Shred chicken then stir back into soup and serve (soup will thicken as it cools.)
Notes
- Depending on the type of rice you use, it may not be cooked through at 4 hours. If that's the case, shred chicken then keep in the refrigerator until rice is tender, then stir into soup and let warm for 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Video
Do you have the nutritional info for this? Trying to log it into my fitness tracker :) Thank you, this is a favorite in my house!
Hi Margot! I don’t use a recipe nutrition calculator plugin on my site because I can’t verify them to be 100% accurate and I’d hate to steer someone wrong who is eating with a medical issue in mind (diabetes, for example). I’m sorry I can’t be of more help in this area, again, just coming from a place of not wanting to provide inaccurate information to my readers.
This soup is always a winner. I doubled the recipe this time and had to cook the rice and veggies about an hour extra on low (after removing the cooked chicken as someone else suggested). I used one chicken breast and the rest was boneless skinless chicken thighs. So comforting and easy to make. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you love it, Natalie! I need to try with thighs – never have before!
Hi! My local store doesn’t have all the spices I need, so could I use Italian Seasoning? It has the thyme, sage, and rosemary, but also oregano and basil. Will it change the flavor profile much? And if I CAN use it: how much should I use? :) Thank you!!
Hi Brooke! That should be totally fine. I’d go with 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning.
We made it per the directions with the brand of rice that was recommended and it was still crunchy after 6 hours. We made sure to take the chicken out after 4 and that was fine, but the rice never cooked. Our crock pot is in good shape so I don’t know what could have happened. Should we have rinsed or soaked the rice first?
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that, Kiley!! I don’t rinse or soak my rice first so I don’t think that’s it. What brand/size of crock pot do you have?
I hate to be in the minority here but we found this recipe to be very bland. I tried adding lemon, additional garlic, and additional spices…just didn’t do it for us.