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
Hi, this looks so good! My husband is gluten & dairy free… what would you recommend in place of the butter? Thanks!!
You can use vegan butter, or leave it out!
can’t get lundberg around here. Can i use Uncle Ben’s Long Grain Wild Rice ?
Hi Mary Anne! Is the Uncle Ben’s long grain wild rice part of a box mix that comes with a seasoning packet? The only reason I ask is because sometimes the rice in those mixes are parboiled. That said, if the directions say to cook the rice for 45 mins or so, it should work.
The ads make it very difficult to view the recipe
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I’m so sorry to hear that, Tina! I try to ride the very fine balance of ensuring a good user experience on my site, while also keeping the content free. Were you trying to view the recipe on a mobile phone, or tablet, or laptop/desktop? Thanks so much!
My 4 year old daughter loves this soup and requests it all the time. She also loves helping with the prep work! This is our 3rd or 4th time to make it.
Awww, I LOVE hearing that, Hillary! It’s a favorite of ours as well. :) Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Long time listener, first time caller. I found your site when I had a wheat allergy. The allergy is gone (allergies are bizarre) but your recipes remain terrific.
Agree on Lundberg as a quality product, but it’d be great to get a Minnesota brand and be more local. Also, if using dark meat does one need to skim the fat? I’m making this tomorrow.
Allergies ARE so strange – I used to be terribly allergic to plums then one day I just…wasn’t!
Shouldn’t have to skim if using dark meat! :)
Hi, where can I find the nutritional info for this great looking soup? Thank you
Yes I would also like to know the nutritional value as well
Hi Greg! I am working on adding nutritional information to my recipes — look for those to come in 2024!
This is So Easy and So, So Good!!
I’m thrilled you love this recipe so much, Becca!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
This has become a family fave!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Krista!
This is my families favorite soup! So easy and delicious. I serve with a cheese bread. My husband loves dunking his bread in the soup. Yummy
Oh that sounds wonderful, Lisa! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Love this soup but how do you keep the rice from getting mushy. My daughter doesn’t like wild rice to I use jasmine or long
Grain white rice. I just comes out mushy every time. TIA!
Hi Deneine! Unfortunately I don’t recommend you slow cook white rice for the exact reason you mentioned – it’s VERY hard to maintain the right texture without overcooking! If your daughter doesn’t like wild rice, I’d reduce the amount of liquid in the soup recipe then cook white rice separately on the stovetop and stir it in right before serving.
This soup is so delicious! I made it for family and they loved it and requested to take over the leftover soup! The only change I made was adding some fresh corn to it. I also found it needed some additional broth so have some on hand just in case. :)
Love that idea, Marcia! So glad your whole family enjoyed it. :)
This is my go-to soup! We love this soup so much…my husband request it often! My crockpot broke so I just cook it on the stove!
Ahh, so glad to hear that, Carla!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Wow! New favorite recipe in our house! Absolutely love this recipe. Perfect evening for this delicious soup! We can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! Thanks for my new favorite recipe!
So, so happy to hear it, Analecia!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Can this recipe be doubled? In a standard 6-quart slow cooker?
That should work, Stephanie!