Recently I scrolled past a TikTok sharing a man’s POV of arriving home from work to see his wife had dinner ready and waiting in the crock pot. He promptly dropped to the floor and tried crawling back out the door.
I about fell out of my chair (many of the commenters did not, which I understand!) As a recipe creator though, I got a kick out of it because crock pot recipes CAN be kind of gloopy, boring, and bland with no texture or color.
Luckily Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is not one of those recipes!
This nourishing, brothy, slow cooked soup recipe tastes like something you’d get at a local deli or cafe. It’s filled with colorful, healthy veggies, bold herbs and seasonings, tender chicken, and plump wild rice. This dish is as easy as it is 3-bowl worthy!
Watch How to Make It!
Simple Cozy Comfort Food
Not only is this chicken wild rice soup one of my favorite cool-weather recipes, but it’s also one of my favorite recipes to take to someone in need of a comforting meal. Whether they’re sick, just had a new baby, or any other reason in between—it’s true what they say: chicken soup feeds the soul!
That said, I’ll usually ask the recipient if they want the soup already slow cooked and delivered warm, OR as a meal kit so they can toss it into their own crock pot, OR as a freezer pack so they can make the soup when it suits them best. This recipe is super versatile and a crowd favorite. The flavor and eating experience is just so cozy. Don’t forget the Gluten Free Focaccia!
Ingredients Needed
I love that I always have the ingredients for Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chicken breasts: trust me when I tell you that chicken breasts only need to slow cook for 4 hours on low to become juicy and tender. Any longer and you’ll end up with tough, dry, chicken.
- Vegetables: onion or shallot, carrots, and celery provide a boost of nutrition.
- Garlic: can’t have chicken soup without it!
- Dried herbs and seasonings: salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried ground sage, dried rosemary, and bay leaves give this soup lots of cozy flavor.
- Butter: this soup is low in fat, so a couple pats of butter add flavor and a little richness.
- Chicken stock or broth: you can use chicken stock or chicken broth interchangeably in this recipe. Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Stock would be great!!
- 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 the brand I recommend using below.
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 the broth into a Ziplock freezer bag then freeze flat. 24 hours before slow cooking, thaw the bag in the refrigerator then pour into the crock pot. Add broth and push “on”—easy!
FYI: the USDA advises you don’t cook frozen chicken in slow cookers, which is why I thaw the freezer pack before adding to the crock pot.
Another 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, which I think is so brilliant!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Add the ingredients to the crock pot. Told you this was easy! ;) Add all the ingredients into a 6 quart crock pot then stir, cover, and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
Step 2: Shred the chicken. Remove the cooked chicken from the crock pot with tongs, then shred and stir back into the soup.
Like I mentioned, I think a common misconception is that chicken breasts need to be slow cooked for many hours but that is totally not the case. It should shred with the tap of a fork after just 4 hours in the slow cooker!
My Favorite Rice to Use
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.
How to Store Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
This soup re-heats 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.
Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup truly is one of our 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, or garlic butter bread 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!
More Cozy Chicken Soup 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 large shallot, minced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced (~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 slightly as it cools.)
- Leave a comment and star rating if you loved the recipe! Thank you for considering!
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
The “before” picture of all the ingredients is so pretty! You lined up all the goodies just so :) Looks delicious for those wintery times ahead!
I often have cooked chicken or turkey pieces in the freezer to make other dishes. How would the time change if I used that along with long-grain white rice and wild rice ( not mixed)? I would think it would just be the time of the rice to cook. My husband doesn’t care fore just breast meat
Hi Kathy! I think mixing white and wild might not turn out so well. White cooks much faster than brown and wild, which is why the blend of brown and wild works so well. What you could do is cook them separately then stir into the soup at the end. I’d cut the broth down by about a cup or cup and a half if you go that route!
I think my boyfriend would love this, I’ve pinned it. Thank you x
Wonky Lauren
This was dinner last night – I stopped by the grocery store over lunch so I could throw it in the crock pot before I went back to work. I couldn’t find the wild rice blend you showed, but found one that looked similar by Rice Select, and it cooked up just fine. It was delicious! Your recipes have been on the menu nearly every night this week! Next on the list is the loaded potato, possibly tonight!
Awesome!! So glad to hear it was so easy and you loved it! :)
Just stop! This looks like a must try b/c it’s so darn easy!
I love chicken and rice soup! This looks amazing and I love any time I get to use my crock pot. It is so nice to come home after a long day at work and have dinner ready to be served! I’ll definitely be making this as the weather gets colder.
Can’t wait to try this!
Great note about cooking the chicken, too. I seriously overcooked chicken in the crockpot forever, because I thought it would be fine if it was in liquid. Whomp whomp…
This looks so good. Can’t wait to try it! If I was to freeze this meal to have later, would you cook the meal first then freeze? Or freeze uncooked?
Ooo that’s a great idea! I’d freeze uncooked without the rice. I’ll have to make a few batches to have on hand in the freezer myself!
I was wondering about freezing too. I’d like to give this to a friend recovering from surgery so she can just dump and turn on crock pot. veggies and chicken and spices can be frozen together? Rice in separate bag and box of stock? All she would need to add was butter? Does that sound like it would work? Or should spices be mixed with the rice and not frozen?
I actually did this for freezer meals before we had our second son. Add everything, including rice and butter, to a ziplock bag then thaw before adding to the crock pot with the broth.
Hi – I know this is an old post, but did you find the veggies were okay after being frozen? I’m recovering from surgery on my hand and chopping is difficult. I’m thinking of making this with a frozen carrot, celery & onion veggie mix. I was thinking of adding it near the end so they wouldn’t get mushy. But now I wonder if I should thaw them and add them at the beginning?
Why not frozen chicken?
Just curious….liquid ratio gets thrown or what?
The USDA doesn’t recommend it, and someone usually asks, so I just usually throw the disclaimer in! :)
Ahhh! I see. Thanks!
Yum this looks delicious! I am always in need of super easy recipes like this! Especially soup, because eating lots of soup is the only way I can survive cold Iowa weather ha! :)
Exactly – brrrr!
Yum! It looks super easy to make on a busy day. Plus it would be great on a chilly fall night for dinner.
I have a wild rice/quinoa blend. I wonder what quinoa would do in a slow cooker for 4 hours? This sounds really good and I really appreciate slow cooker recipes that are truly the one-step cooking process vs browning, etc.
Hi Sarah! I have a recipe for quinoa in the crock pot, but it only takes 3 hours (and just barely that) to cook before getting mushy. Maybe if you cut the chicken into 2-3 pieces per breast it would cook quicker than 4 hours!
Hi Kristin
This looks so yummy. I absolutely love rice but am not much a fan of Wild rice… I know different rice holds up differently in the crock pot but is there a specific kind of rice..ie jasmine etc. that you think would work best as a substitute.
Hi Sondra! I only tested this recipe with the brown/wild rice blend, but if you want to stick with either white or brown, I’d go with brown. I’m just not 100% sure how long it would take to cook. I’d check at 3 hours to see how it’s doing!
This looks wonderful. Do you think I could add some cream at the end, or half-and-half?
I think adding sour cream at the end would be a great idea if you want the soup on the creamy vs brothy side!
This looks like the perfect meal to make ahead and take to work for lunch all week – one of those recipes that gets better each time you reheat it! I just pinned it to make this weekend.
Yes, exactly, Kealey! Hope you love it!
Right before I read this post I was thinking, “What can I make for dinner tonight without having to go to the store for any extra ingredients?” And the I saw this blog post! This will be going in the crockpot at 3pm today so it’s ready for dinner at 7! I have a Bobs Red Mill wild and brown rice blend that I think will work perfectly in this soup. Can’t wait!
Yesss – love when that happens! Hope you love it!
Could you use a 4 quart crockpot??
I have a bigger one but my hands are weak and I can’t use it but I have picked up a 4 quart one with a pot that comes out for washing and I could handle that.
But will it make this recipe.
The recipe looks delicious and I hope to make it.
Hi Nancy! I *think* it’d be ok, but I’d start with adding the chicken broth first then determining if adding the other ingredients would cause the broth to spill over. Let me know how it turns out!
I urgently need to go to Old Navy. Just pulled out a V-tee of yore and there is a hole in the armpit. Not cute. Time to freshen up for fall! Also, this soup is my lunch survival mode. On this weekend’s must-make list!
I feel ya’!! Their tops especially are so comfortable yet cute right now!
Life has been so crazy busy with work, school, and a new workout split (I’ve jumped on the “body building” bandwagon-but still want to eat real people food) that I have THREE crockpot recipes on the meal plan this week. And I am seriously considering adding in this one. CWR is one of my top 5 favorite soups (and soup is in my top 5 favorite foods ever), and this looks like just what I need to eat this weekend.
Awesome!! Hope you love this easy version!
Can I ask, what crockpot brand and size do you use? I have had the worst luck with mine…cooks too quickly, too slowly, etc.
You bet! I use a 6-quart crock pot that’s very similar to this: I love it because you can program it, then it will turn to auto warm once the set cooking time is over!