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
I made this today. It filled the house with a wonderful aroma. I used brown rice, and it turned out perfectly. My son who isn’t crazy about vegetables loved it so much, he’s taking it for lunch tomorrow! It’s a winner and a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Love converting a veggie hater! Thanks so much for the feedback!
I’d like to make this for more than 4 people. I’ll double up on most of the items but are there any ingredients I should not double up on like salt or butter?
I would double everything!
Looks great! Could I make this with thighs instead of breasts? What do you think about adding some escarole or spinach near the end of cooking? Thanks!
Sure! The thighs just might take a little extra time to cook. Also I just made the stovetop version of this soup this week and added chopped kale in and it was AWESOME. I’d add it to the crock pot around hour two? Honestly I think it’d be fine all four hours but I don’t want to tell you that then have it end up as mush!
Hi just wondering did you use chicken breast fillets or bone in? Also if I can’t find the rice blend is it possible to use pure wild rice or white long grain rice? Should I change cook time then?
Hi Mari! These are boneless chicken breasts. Pure wild rice would take longer to cook while white rice should take less time. I’d check around hour 3 or so for white!
LOVE this recipe! It’s so easy and super tasty! Thanks for another great one, Kristin! We are experiencing “El Nino” here in Southern California (we are such wimps) and this is the perfect rainy day dinner!
Hehe, no worries, yes it is perfect for a blustery rainy day!
Can this recipe be doubled? 4 servings isn’t enough when my husband eats more than a serving at a time!
Sure! I might tack an extra 2-3 hours of cooking time.
Made this today it was fantastic! So happy to find a wild rice soup recipe I can eat and that is yummy! Definitely adding to my rotation since all my picky eaters devoured it! So thankful to stumble upon you site! Love how you use pantry staples!
Sadly, no wild rice so I used white rice and when I came home cooking it on low for more than 4 hours about 7 my rice was creamy. It smelled wonderful. Hubby said it tasted good. I have company coming from traveling all day and wanted a great meal. Kind of a failure. I will still eat it, just sad that the rice did that. :(
Hi Shannon! White rice takes much less time to cook vs wild which is why it turned out soft.
I made this soup today except I made two changes. 1) I prepared it in a slow cooker (4.5 hrs on low); 2) I omitted the rice and instead added 16 oz of frozen egg noodles to the slow cooker for the last 45 minutes of cooking, and changed the heat seating to High during this time. It turned out amazingly! This will be our new go-to chicken soup recipe.
I’m thinking about using the Tyson Grilled and Ready Pulled Chicken Breast. Seeing as it’s fully cooked, I could throw it in when I get home, and cook for a extra 30 minutes. What cha’ think? (fyi, I keep a bag of this handy for flat bread pizzas, salads, etc…)
I made this soup for Christmas Eve and it was wonderful. The only problem was I couldn’t find this wild rice blend. Where do you purchase it? Looked at Hy-Vee and Fareway. The stuff I used I don’t want to use again. Thanks!
Hi Chris! I purchase my Lundberg Farms rice at HyVee – it’s in the health food section vs the general Asian foods aisle. I hope that helps!
I love this recipe! It is SO yummy! I’ve made it in the crock pot and in my heavy duty cast iron. I’ve made double batches and shared it with friends and my parents. My husband the constant burger eater loves it too. Thank you!!
Hope this isn’t a stupid ? but was wondering if you mix all ingredients together before you start the crock pot, your picture is lovely, but do you cook it as pictured ? ? This looks fab and wanted to cook for my very sweet but picky boss. Thxs for sharing. Francine
Not stupid at all! Yep, you mix everything together before cooking. I hope she likes it!
I don’t think I’ve ever commented before, but I love your blog. This soup recipe is delicious, as is your gluten free chicken & noodle soup. Thank you for all of your awesome recipes. :)
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong (or potentially my crock pot is on the fritz) but I cooked it for 4 hours on high and my rice is still crunchy! I’m even using the same brand of rice as you coincidentally. The soup is fantastic and everything else is cooked through including the chicken. Any suggestions? I already took the chicken out and cooked an extra 2 hours and the rice is still not cooked.
Hi Sierra! I cooked this recipe on low for four hours, though I’m not sure why cooking on high for four hours would still leave the rice crunch – you’d think it’d have the opposite effect. As you mentioned, crock pot cooking temperatures can vary so I’d recommend that you just keep cooking until the rice is tender!