This creamy Crockpot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is so easy to make and perfect for cold winter nights!! Filled with wild rice, tender chicken and veggies it’s a gluten free and a great set-it-and-forget-it dinner idea with only 5 minutes of prep time.
In the beginning of my pregnancy, before I could say anything to you guys I was dreadfully sick. I could barely look at food without feeling nauseous. We ate out probably 3-4 times a week because I couldn’t stomach cooking. Let’s just say it’s a pure miracle I was able to get posts out for y’all.
During this time one of my favorite things to eat and one of the only things that would settle my stomach was soup.
I think soup automatically gives you the “feel goods.” There is something comforting about it. It just calms you down no matter how your day has gone. And for me, it calmed my stomach down. Which was a BIG bonus in my book.
I would make Mike run to Panera at least once a week to get me their Chicken & Wild Rice Soup. It’s one of my favorite soups besides of course their signature Broccoli and Cheese soup! So since then I have been on a mission to make the ultimate Chicken & Wild Rice Soup.
And guys I think I’ve got it!
First off, it’s made in a crock pot. As in, it’s literally the easiest soup you’ll ever make. I made this recipe in the morning by just throwing everything in the crock pot and turning it on. A couple hours later I added in the milk mixture and voila.
Thick creamy deliciousness that is the epitome of comfort food!
What You’ll Need
- Chicken: I like to use skinless boneless chicken breast in this recipe. The meat just falls apart into the soup!
- Veggies: Carrots, celery, yellow onion, garlic cloves, bella mushrooms.
- Fresh Herbs: Rosemary and thyme
- Salt & Pepper: To taste
- Wild Rice: Try to find legit wild rice, not a wild rice blend that includes a fair amount of white rice. The wild rice just adds a nutty flavor to this soup that can’t be replicated with regular rice.
- Chicken Broth: You can also use vegetable broth.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of sodium in the soup more easily.
- Cornstarch: This will thicken the soup.
- Milk: Gives the soup it’s creaminess
How to Make this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
One of the things I love most about crockpot recipes is how simple they are to prepare! Here’s how to make this soup:
- Place chicken the the crockpot. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, wild rice and chicken broth.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 – 3.5 hours.
- Remove chicken from the crock pot and shred with two forks. Add chicken back to the crock pot.
- Heat a small sauce pan to medium high heat. Add butter to the pan. Let the butter melt and start to bubble, whisking the entire time to ensure it doesn’t burn. Once the mixture is a light brown color pour the milk in and add corn starch. Whisking the entire time until milk is incorporated and there are no lumps. Let milk mixture simmer for 2 minutes until thick.
- Pour milk mixture into the crock pot and stir. Next add mushrooms and stir. Let cook an additional 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve!
Serving Suggestions
I love eating this soup with a thick slice of crunchy bread. It also goes well with a simple quesadilla, or if you are feeling a little fancy, you can always serve it with popovers on the side! And of course, a classic grilled cheese sandwich is always a favorite combination.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Let the soup come to room temperature then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge. It will keep for 3-4 days. Note that the rice will absorb liquid in the fridge, so your soup will be thicker when you take it out to eat leftovers. I do not recommend freezing this soup.
To reheat your soup, simply ladle the amount you want into a saucepan, add a bit of water if your soup has thickened up, then heat on the stove until the soup is hot.
This soup is actually now one of my husbands favorites, in fact, he asked me to make it again. Which he normally doesn’t do, partly because he knows I’m always creating new things. But he’s pushing for a repeat on this one. My mom even asked for the recipe the day after we made it because the flavors are on POINT and she loved how easy it was.
Guys this soup is a must make for the fall!
In my opinion this soup is better than the Panera version. It packs more of a flavor punch.
I guarantee you’ll love it, even the kiddos will devour this one. Which is a bonus because it’s loaded with veggies, protein and good nutrients! Each serving is only 213 calories with 17 grams of protein.
So what are you waiting for, go out, get those ingredients throw everything in the Crock Pot and wait for deliciousness to show up on your dinner table.
Bon Appetit friends!
PrintCrockpot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
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Prep Time: 5 mins
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Cook Time: 4 hours
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Total Time: 4 hours 5 mins
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Yield: 8-10 1x
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Category: Dinner
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Method: Crockpot
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Cuisine: American
Description
This easy Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup goes perfectly with a slice of crunchy bread. It’s a great weeknight dinner idea with only 5 min of prep time.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. skinless boneless chicken breast
- salt & pepper to season
- 3 carrots, diced
- 1 1/2 cups celery, diced
- 1 1/2 cups sweet onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
- 1 cup wild rice
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- 1 cup thinly sliced baby bella mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk
- salt to taste
Instructions
- To a crock pot, first add boneless skinless chicken breasts on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper.
- Then add carrots, celery, onion, garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, wild rice and chicken broth.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 – 3.5 hours.
- Remove chicken from the crock pot and shred with two forks. Add chicken back to the crock pot.
- Heat a small sauce pan to medium high heat. Add butter to the pan. Let the butter melt and start to bubble, whisking the entire time to ensure it doesn’t burn. Once the mixture is a light brown color pour the milk in and add corn starch. Whisking the entire time until milk is incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Let milk mixture simmer for 2 minutes until thick.
- Pour milk mixture into the crock pot and stir. Next add mushrooms and stir. Let cook an additional 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 154 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 17 g
- Cholesterol: 39 mg
Keywords: chicken wild rice soup, crockpot chicken soup, slow cooker chicken soup
Want More Comfort Soup Recipes?
Crock Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Roasted Poblanos
Healthier Creamy Potato Leek Soup
Made this soup today for the first time & it is delicious!!! I used skinless boneless chicken breast tenderloins & they were very easy to shred! I left the rosemary out & included the optional mushrooms! I didn’t have unsalted butter, so used regular real butter. I also didn’t have whole milk, so used 2% milk. I will definitely be making this again!
★★★★★
Cooking is all about making it your own! So glad you enjoyed this soup!!
Delicious, healthy and so easy! Perfect portion for 10 people (5 adults, 5 teens).
★★★★★
If you scale the ingredients it to 2x, how long do you cook it for? I’m assuming it would need to cook longer before shredding the chicken and adding the milk/butter/cornstarch?
Yes, but not that much longer, maybe 30-45 minutes.
To make this dairy free, could I swap out the whole milk for coconut milk? Would I need to up the amount?
yup, I’ve done it before as well and just used a 14 oz can of full fat coconut milk
This recipe is marked as gluten free, what floor do you recommend to make it gluten free?
That was my fault, it should not have been marked as gluten free. However, you could use arrowroot in place of the flour in the recipe and it will help thicken the soup. Arrowroot is gluten free. 🙂
This looks good, but it isn’t gluten-free… it has flour in the recipe. I hope it works with corn starch and plan to try it.
yup, that was my fault. clicked the gluten free button too fast, I just updated it. yes it should work with cornstarch or arrowroot.
Love the recipe, however, for those of us who truly have to omit gluten from our diet, wheat flour is not gluten free as the recipe notes state. Just wanted to let you know. 🙂
★★★★★
You are so right, I can’t believe I made that silly mistake. I overlooked that small ingredients. (hand to forehead) I have since changed it to cornstarch! Thank you!
2 questions…do you keep cooking the soup on high once you add the milk mixture to the crockpot or reduce to low? and, can you freeze this soup? Thanks! Looks super yum! 🙂
yes, I keep it on high for the 30 minutes and then turn it off. It should freeze fine. I’d recommend letting it completely cool, then store in freezer safe bag. Let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then you can warm it up again.
Can I make this in the insta pot? Looks delish!! This is my fav at Panera too 🙂
I’m sure you could. You’d obviously reduce the time, maybe to 25 minutes
We always make chicken noodle soup, I have yet to make chicken and rice but man this looks so good!
This is one of my favorite soups to make for the fall! So delicious!
★★★★★
This is warming me up just looking at it!
★★★★★
HI! Just so you know, the fact that this recipe includes flour makes it decidedly NOT GLUTEN-FREE. I’m sure it’s delicious and I plan on making it without the flour, but it’s definitely false advertising to say it does not include any gluten ingredients.
Hey Hally, sorry it was a mistake when I was clicking through the categories. I have since changed it.
Looks delicious. How many carbs per serving ?
hey jim, it’s 22 grams per serving
Do you know what the carbs are? They seem to be missing from the nutrition information.
Chicken soup is so good! Loving this version!
There’s nothing better than a soup of soup with crunchy bread! This looks wonderful!
Wow this looks so comforting and perfect for cooler weather! YUM!