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 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 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, a 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 into a 6-quart crock pot. Add chicken broth then cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
My Favorite Rice to Use
Here’s the brown rice-wild rice blend I recommend for the perfect bowl of Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup. It slow cooks in the same amount of time as the chicken so everything is ready all at once. 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.
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 for tender, juicy chicken. It should shred with the tap of a fork.
Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup then ladle and 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 slightly 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.
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Mine turned out super bland and watery ? I would recommend doubling the rice but I was super disappointed with how flavorless this came out
This is my go to chicken and wild rice soup recipe. I usually make it at least twice a month during the winter So easy and good!
Thank you so much for your recipe review and star rating, Pam!!
With so many chicken and wild rice soup recipes out there to choose from, this really means a lot. Thanks Pam!
So good! Love how easy it is with the crockpot too, def a good to for us!
We loved this!
Excited to try this recipe! If I double or triple the ingredients, how do I adjust the cooking time? Thanks!
Absolutely the best soup I have ever made. I have made this 4 times and it comes out perfect every time. I omit the garlic just because we don’t like it. The recipe. Is so easy. So perfect.
Thank you so much for your awesome review, Lin! I really appreciate it!
I’ve made this before and it was so good. I’m making it again tonight, but in my Instant Pot. Fingers crossed!
Perfect recipe! Followed it exactly but threw in a rind of Parmesan. So delish! If you do Parm rind I’d back off the salt. Other than that delicious, love this recipe!
This recipe is up there on the list of the most exquisite soups I’ve made. I added mushrooms and a wild rice/lentil blend, very delicious.
Hello! Have you tried this with olive oil instead of butter/earth balance? I usually make a recipe similar to the Byerly’s recipe, but it’s plump full of dairy and gluten. :) having a dinner party soon with people with food restrictions and wanted to serve this soup, but since my family eats dairy, I’d rather not buy earth balance just for a little in soup. But I’m worried olive oil would be a strong flavor or just lack the creaminess of butter. Thoughts? :)
Hi Holly! You can just leave it out – it should be just fine! :)
I have some precooked shredded chicken I would like to use in this. Do you think the cook time would be roughly the same? Anything you would do different?
This was very good! First recipe I have tried off your site. I tweaked it slightly because of my other dietary restrictions…omitted the garlic and celery and added a little more chicken. I used a homemade broth. Definitely took longer than four hours, more like five to five and a half. But really loved how quick it was to throw together and that the chicken didn’t need to be cooked first! Will definitely be trying other recipes from you, and making this one again! Thanks.
Bland recipe, next one I am going to try is with adding chicken bones to cook and chicken stock instead of chicken broth I think would have given this a better flavor. I am new cook so just trying this one out.
Can I use frozen chicken breasts?
Hi Mary! It’s advised that frozen meat is not cooked in a crock pot. That said, I’ve only ever used thawed chicken for this dish.
Can this recipe be doubled in the crockpot?
Hello from Omaha! The city where we go from mid 80° early in the week to 50 or 60° weather by the end of week. When I woke up this morning and it was 50°, I knew this Sunday would consist of crockpots and soup! This recipe was absolutely delightful! The perfect dump and go for a lazy day or a busy afternoon. 4 hours later I could smell the savory seasonings, combined with rice and chicken through out the whole house. This recipe is definitely a keeper and my new fall/winter to go!
So you know the calories for a serving of this soup. Thanks in advance
The taste is delicious!! The soup is very easy to make but after 4 hours on low all the vegetables were still crunchy.
Oh shoot, I’m sorry to hear that, LB. I’ve had that happen to me before when I sliced them too quickly. I hope you were able to salvage the soup!
Just made this today. So delicious! Very easy and a family fav!
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