This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
A warm and cozy chicken wild rice soup made right in the slow cooker. This soup is loaded with carrots, celery, boneless chicken and of course, wild rice! It’s the perfect slow cooker meal for a chilly winter night! The best part is, you’ve probably got most of these ingredients at home already!
Hello Monday. You’ve managed to sneak up on me once again.
I think I need a redo on my weekend. Don’t you hate it when it’s Friday and you’re all like hip-hip hooray and before you know it, it’s Sunday evening and you’re asking yourself ‘where did the weekend go’?
Whose with me for scraping it all and doing it over?
I see a lot of virtual hands.Even though this weekend went by lightening fast, I did accomplish a few main goals:
The hubby and I spent most of Saturday scrubbing our entire apartment from top to bottom. It’s not that it was super messy or anything. I get on these crazy cleaning streaks where I.must.clean. And I must not clean by myself. And because I get cranky doing it all by myself, the husband gets wrangled into cleaning with me. I love how that worked out. 🙂 This weekend just happened to be one of those crazy cleaning weekends. After what seemed like 8 hours of cleaning (but it was probably more like 2), we invited our neighbors over for a little dessert and a movie night. It’s always fun with those two. We partied hard till 3am. HA. <— If playing cards in your pajamas counts as partying!
I spent all of Sunday being sick. And I mean really sick. Like theres-so-much-congestion-between-my-brain-and eyes-that-it’s-making-my-face-hurt, sick. You know the kind of sick where you go from laying in bed to laying in front of the TV to drinking soup for every meal of the day and still not being able to tell the taste difference between soup and oatmeal. And the kind where you run through a few boxes of Kleenex per hour.
Luckily for me, I had a big slow cooker full of this creamy chicken wild rice soup to slurp up all Sunday. My poor throat thanks me times a million. But there went a whole day from my weekend, stolen right from under my nose!
This. Is. Magnificent. I’m eating leftovers right now. Next day soup is my favorite. So good!
How to make Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Like most of my slow cooker soup recipes, this one is a breeze to whip up.
We start by tossing a pound of boneless, skinless chicken into the crockpot with some carrots, onions, and celery. I chopped up my own veggies but if you’re in a pinch you can always just substitute store bought mirepoix mix. You’re also going to need a couple of bay leaves, some garlic, and of course one must use wild rice in chicken and wild rice soup. Make sure to use regular wild rice, you don’t want to use the parboiled wild rice as they will get really mushy.
Also, my recipe calls for a seasoning blend. Make sure to use one that’s salt-free. We’re using a whole 2 tablespoons (yes, you read that right) so we want our seasoning to be free of salt. I used the 21 seasoning salute from Trader Joe’s for my chicken and wild rice soup. Any kind of herb you can think of is in this baby and it makes this soup taste fantastic!
In goes the chicken broth and a couple cups of water and this chicken wild rice soup will cook itself. I know I’ve said this before, but meals that cook themselves are always my favorite kind of meals. You can cook this soup in the crockpot on the low or the high setting. I’ve done it both ways and both work just fine.
30 minutes before the cooking time is up, pull out the chicken breast and allow it to cool before shredding with 2 forks. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the flour and allow the flour to cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and allow it to get all nice and thick. This is the ‘creamy’ part of the creamy chicken wild rice soup. Add this along with the chicken back into the slow cooker. Give it a good stir until it thickens.
That’s it!
This cozy, creamy, stick-to-your-ribs chicken wild rice soup will keep you nice and warm on a chilly winter night. I love the fact that it makes my sore throat feel all better too. Plus the fact that I didn’t have to do much to make the soup 😉
A big bowl of soup, with lots of crusty bread to dip is all you need. Did I mention all the time you’ll save not having to cook dinner?
Love how my slow cooker friend is there to get me through my sore throats and sniffles. What a good friend.
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup wild rice blend rinsed
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 cup onions chopped
- 3/4 cup celery chopped
- 3/4 cup carrots chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups chicken stock low sodium
- 2 cups water or additional chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons salt-free seasoning blend such as Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute OR Mrs. Dash's Original Blend
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or substitute more butter
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the rice under running water. Place the uncooked rice, chicken breast, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth, water, and the seasoning blend in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on the high setting for 3-4 hours or on the low setting for 7-8. In the last 1/2 hour of cooking, remove the chicken from the slow cooker. Allow to cool slightly before shredding using two forks.
- When the rice is done cooking, add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker. Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan. Add the flour and let the mixture cook for 1 minute. Whisk the mixture slowly while adding in the milk. Continue to whisk until all lumps have dissolved. Allow the mixture to thicken and become creamy.
- Add this creamy mixture to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add additional water or milk to your preference if the consistency is too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- To make the soup richer and creamier, replace some or all of the milk with half and half.
- Keep in mind the soup will thicken as it sits. Leftovers should be placed in a Tupperware container and refrigerated. Additional milk or water may be added to adjust the consistency of the soup when reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Easy to follow, first time making chicken wild rice soup and it turned out great! I like that it came out not very spicy or salty and that you can add flavor to your liking.
Couple tweaks…I make this on the stovetop with rotisserie chicken & a couple of boxes of Rice a Roni long grain & wild rice, along with the seasoning packets they come with. In addition to the seasoning in the recipe (I use an herb/garlic blend), the packets add the extra flavor needed. I probably add twice the amount of carrots/celery to bulk up the soup & serve with fresh bread/rolls. The above really makes this soup fantastic! For the most part, this recipe has good bones.
The crockpot creamy wild rice soup is the BOMB!!!!! So, so good!!!!
I made this for my family tonight and it was sooooo good! My husband has only ever had Bearcreek Wild Rice Soup and he was very unsure, but he loved it! All four of my kids (7 and under) are two or more bowls each. Thank you for this!!
What do you think about this in an insta pot? I know would have to adjust time but????
Hi Tammie!
I have an instant pot version of the recipe here. Enjoy!
so so good! creamy and perfect with bread for a warm and cozy night. used chicken thighs, so it took a bit longer but stayed so juicy & flavorful. definitely season up a bunch of you like flavor!
I just made this for dinner tonight in my IP. I keep precooked and shredded chicken breast in the freezer for quick dinner ideas on the fly. I just put everything except the shredded chicken and the roux into the IP for 30m. I used a chicken rub (2Tbsp) with salt because that’s what I had on hand. I also used half and half instead of milk, and when I added the roux to the soup along with the chicken, it thickened up like restaurant creaminess. This soup took an hour start to finish for me with cutting up veggies to everything coming together. Worth it and I’m pretty sure it will freeze well if I need to.
I followed the recipe to the letter. I used Mrs. Dash, and found that it made the soup quite spicy. I also was not crazy about the outcome using the roux to thicken the soup. The things I love about a chicken and wild rice soup are the hearty flavor of the wild rice, and the richness of the broth, slightly thickened with cream. I feel like this recipe does not allow these things to come through. The spicy-ness and thick texture was overpowering. Sadly, most of the soup was wasted.
This is the second time I’ve made this meal. I actually cut this recipe in half because it’s just me but it made the perfect amount and it’s delicious as always.
I make this all the time – our family absolutely loves it, exactly as written!! Thank you!
Just finished making it and I absolutely love it! Creamy and delicious. Will be making this soup regularly.
Love this recipe!! I enjoy a heartier (vs brothy) soup, and this is it! I lightly brown the chicken first in olive oil & butter and loaded with Mrs. Dash salt free chicken grilling blend. I also use that in the recipe vs regular blend. Awesome!! Oh … And half n half!
Can you use 1/2 and 1/2 rather than milk?
Made this recipe and it was great! I used half and half to thicken. My husband loved it!
This looks great and was going to try it. Do you think adding chopped fresh spinach would be good?
Hoping you can recommend a gluten free flour substitute for this recipe?
Re Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup, I have made this recipe several times and like it. I am dieting right now though and would appreciate knowing the nutritional info for it. Is that available?
I’m an older gent who has a smallish, 6-cup crock. I’d love to find a chicken and wild rice soup recipe like yours. Of course I’m assuming your recipe is for a regular crock.
I accidentally bought the wrong rice! It has some precooked already. When would you suggest adding it in? Haven’t made rice in my slow cooker so I’m clueless but very excited to try as it sounds delicious!
This is delicious! I did add mushrooms and about a tsp or so of umami! Thanks for posting! Definitely a keeper!