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!
“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.”
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.
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Pin ItMy 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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
More Cozy Chicken Soup Recipes
- Chicken Stew
- Pastina Soup
- Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- CrockPot White Chicken Chili
- Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- One Pot Chicken and Rice
- Gluten Free Homestyle Chicken and Noodles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1 small onion or large shallot, minced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced (~1 cup)
- 2 ribs celery, 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 Blend Rice, Lundberg Farms recommended
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
- If you use a wild-brown rice blend other than Lundberg, it may not be cooked through at 4 hours. If that’s the case, shred the chicken then keep in the refrigerator until the rice is tender, and then stir into soup before serving.
- Do not use straight brown rice, or straight wild rice for this recipe. It was developed to use a brown rice-wild rice blend.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin
Wonderful soup and so easy to throw together. Chicken was perfectly cooked and the soup really had a rich flavor. Will definitely be making throughout the winter!
So glad you loved it, Ann! It is a cold weather staple at our house!!
This was delicious!! I make soup once a week in the cooler months and this will go into my rotation!!!
Fabulous! So glad you enjoyed, Leia!
This was so delicious! The spices are just right, so very flavorful. I love that it’s easy, just put it all in the crockpot and it’s done. I’ll be making this for others when I bring a soup.
I love to hear that, Lori! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I really want to make this recipe today but I only have boneless chicken thighs. Would they be okay?
Hi Diane! I think boneless thighs would probably take 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high!
Can I use chicken tenders? Would the cooking time be shorter if I do? Thanks!
Hi Ally! I think those would only take a couple of hours, so you could try adding them 1/2 way through the cooking process. :)
Can I add butternut squash to this recipe? Has anyone tried it, and did it blend well?
Hi Brittany! I haven’t tried adding butternut squash to this recipe, but I think if you dice it small enough, it could cook in 4 hours!
i enjoy your recipes, good down home eats!
Thank you so much, Richard!!
Made this with the same rice in the recipe and the rice and carrots didn’t seem like they cooked at all at 4 hours. Let it go another two, and practically no change. Definitely not making again. Very disappointed.
Hi Ashley, I’m sorry to hear that! Do you find your crock pot usually cooks food in the time recommended in a recipe?
I had the same thing happen when I made this last night! I bought the exact rice blend but it was still undercooked at four hours. I ended up shredding the chicken and cranking the heat to high for another hour to finish the rice. Other than the rice, I was impressed by the depth of flavor in the broth!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish after it all came together, Rebecca!
I think you could also make this in a pressure cooker, right?
Hi Kim! I think if you cut the vegetables into hunks vs slices it could work. From my understanding, wild rice blends can take 20-30 minutes in the IP which would obliterate thinly sliced veggies.
This is a big hit in our house and with friends. Not to mention it creates several additional meals.
So glad it was a hit with everyone, Amy!
love your gluten free recipes . I have downgraded to a 2 quart crockpot. Is it easy to alter the ingredients or should I do anything differently?
You can halve the recipe – cooking time should be the same – maybe check on it 30 mins earlier than the full recipe. :)
Thanks for this great recipe! I’ve made it a bunch of times for my family, and for friends who were sick. I cook the rice separately to control the texture a little better.
You are too kind – I’m sure they appreciate it so very much!
This soup was so so good. I made it as directed but I also added Kale and spinach to add more nutrition…. Just perfect !!
Sounds delicious, Nanci! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!