Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup {Slow Cooker}
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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!
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.
IS THIS A GOOD CHOICE FOR YOU?
The nutritional facts are for 1/1oth of the recipe using 1% milk.
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if you like this recipe, you might also like:
instant pot chicken wild rice soup
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157 Comments on “Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup {Slow Cooker}”
Though I usually like the recipes here, this was truly awful. It tasted like straight-up water I followed the recipe, but since no one else seems to have had such terrible luck, so I’m not sure what I did wrong. I ended up adding a TON (tablespoons and tablespoons) of salt & pepper, then some thyme, rosemary, garlic salt, chicken bouillon — anything I could find to give it some flavor — that barely made it edible/flavorful. Now it tastes like lightly-seasoned water. If I ever attempted this again, I would start by cutting out the 2 cups of water.
Hi Marisa, i’m not sure what happened here. Tablespoons of salt and pepper are a lot to add especially when using chicken broth. The 2 tablespoons of seasoning blend (which contains onions, celery seeds, basil, oregano, thyme, cayenne, orange peel, lemon zest, cumin, etc.) should be sufficient to flavor the ingredients. Actually, i’ve had a few people message to make sure I meant 2 whole tablespoons! As it does seem like a lot. The soup definitely shouldn’t have a watery consistency as the milk/flour mixture adds thickness/richness. With your feedback, i’ve added notes to the recipe for additional garlic, onions, and seasonings to give the soup more flavor. Glad to hear you’ve enjoyed some of the other recipes on the blog! 🙂
It didn’t turn out as creamy as I was hoping. Is there anything I can do to make it creamier?
Sara for next time, you can replace all or some of the milk with half and half or heavy cream. Either option will make it creamier!
Just made this tonight and the soup had a little purplish tint to it…why would that be? Should I rinse the rice first? Thanks
Hi Kristi,
Yup! The recipe states the rice needs to be rinsed prior to placing in the slow cooker. 🙂
Love this! I tweaked it a bit- subtracted celery which I dislike, and added mushrooms and a bit of red bell pepper! So delish! I also used brown rice cause thats what I had on hand but next time I’m definitely trying the wild rice. Thank you for this incredibly easy recipe.
I love your recipe for chicken wild rice soup and the other ones you listed look amazing! I hope to hear from you again…..thank you!
For anyone wanting to simplify this recipe (which was easy enough on its own!) – I used Rice A Roni wild rice blend, and I poured both the rice and the seasoning packet in. Therefore, I didn’t use much else for seasoning, maybe a tsp of poultry seasoning, some celery salt, and some herbs d’province.
I also skipped the last step with the milk/olive oil. My family tasted it and they said, leave it out! And it was hearty and delicious just like that! 🙂
I generally try to make a recipe the way it’s supposed to be made the first time and then tweak it to fit my liking. However, this soup was so perfect, I’ll be making it exactly to the recipe every time. I hate super brothy soups and it really is creamy and smooth and has the best flavor!! So easy to make and seriously delish! I don’t ever review anything either, but this was so good I just had to comment! I will be trying your other recipes, because this was phenomenal!
If I didn’t want the “creamy” part, do I just leave out the flour and milk ? ?
You could do that Sandra, but I can’t speak for how different the soup will actually come out.
I really wanted to like this soup but the 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning was just too much for me. It looked good though and was easy to throw together. Next time, I think i’ll try the 21 Seasoning Blend a lot reviewers suggested.
Its a cold rainy day here so I decided to try this recipe. I followed it exactly except I used 1 tsp of poultry seasoning and 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash. After adding some salt and pepper the flavors were perfect! Great recipe. I also added 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms. I will definitely make it again. Thanks
I thought it was great. If it people think it is bland they probably just need to put salt and pepper in it at the end. This is very important. I followed your recipe except I used chicken thigh meat. I am definitely going to try some of your other recipes! I liked that it didn’t taste overly rich. The milk and butter/ flour combo was perfect!
Any idea how many calories this meal is?
Hey Max! It’s 305 calories per serving.
YUMMY!! I am making it again today. The first time I accidentally used regular wild rice. Still good but I think the blend will make it creamier. I didn’t have a problem with this being bland. I buy really strong garlic from the farmers market and I used 21 seasoning salute from Trader Joes.
Instead of using plain wild rice, use the rice a roni wild rice and dump in the seasoning packs. Also use rotisserie chicken. This helps the bland problem. Doing it again tonight and adding chunky mushrooms for texture.
This soup is so wonderful! Thank you so much.
THANK YOU for this recipe! I made it today, and it is seriously the best soup I have ever made. A forgiving recipe too, as I had no poultry seasoning or garlic on hand, so I substituted some thyme and pepper and garlic powder. Also, we are dairy free, so I substituted rice milk (which I was a little worried about, but it was great.)
This looks so yummy!! I am making this for a Halloween Potluck party. Would you please tell me if the bay leaf should be dry or fresh? If it is fresh should it be cut up? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I am not much of a cook. Thank you.
I used dry bay leaves, but either would do! Just toss them in whole, no need to cut them up 🙂
Hello, I do not have wild rice and neither did Walmart. Can I use regular brown rice?
Yes, regular brown rice will work.
I felt that the poultry seasoning was really overpowering, quite disappointed with that, I think it’d be a good soup had it had less of that ingredient. Bummed because I wasted a day making this????????.
Jenny, I didn’t have any poultry seasoning on hand, so I just added a bit of thyme and pepper, and it was delicious. Thought I’d let you know, in case you’d like to try it again! My family loved it.
Just have to say this soup is absolutely amazing! I used some fresh herbs to season it-a poultry herb blend, consisting of rosemary, sage, and thyme. It turned out fabulously. I served it to guest and everyone loved it! Then I had to make it for us again over the weekend because it was so good! Even the kiddos love it. So now I’ve made it a total of 3 times, and am going to try out the butternut soup with grany smith slow cooker recipe this week so as not to make this delicious soup out wear it’s welcome!
I used the Royal Blend rice you suggested. It’s only been cooking on low for 4 hours and the rice is mush. Did I do something wrong?
The rice is suppose to breakdown quite a bit and be slightly mushy (see pictures for accuracy of mushy). As long as you didn’t use parboiled rice, I think you did it just fine! 🙂
It was so easy and delicious! Buying mirepoix at Trader Joe’s makes it super fast to put together. Thanks!
I plan to freeze the leftovers. I heard somewhere that one shouldn’t freeze a cream soup- the milk or cream part doesn’t do well when thawed. So it’s better to freeze it before the add milk or cream step. Does anyone know if this is true? I thought I’d freeze the soup without the butter, oil, milk and flour addition, then just whip that up when I thaw and heat up a batch. Any thoughts?
I thought it needed a little something too so I added curry powder. It was perfect.
Do you have to rinse the wild rice even if it is in a blend like Lundberg?
Just give it all a good rinse before adding into the crockpot.
Has anyone tried using basmati rice instead of wild? I don’t have any ???? and a trip to the store won’t work right now
Can you use jasmine rice in place of the wild rice?
Unfortunately, I haven’t.
I made your wild rice soup tonight. I did not have any trader joe’s seasoning or poultry seasoning so I substituted some thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. I used 1% milk which is what I had in the fridge. It turned out a little bland. I think next time I’ll try to find that seasoning and also maybe try some half n half to make it a bit creamier. Otherwise I really like this recipe and it’s pretty easy to make. Thanks so much!
Mrs. Dash makes a blend (salt free) that’s much easier to find in stores, perhaps thats another option if you can’t make it to TJ’s!
Mad this tonight, it was phenomenal!! Family loved it! I used Mrs. Dash extra spicy blend, it actually had quite a kick, which we like but may not be for everyone. Also, I added 1 can of mushroom slices, adds texture and bulk to make it healthy and more filling. Love that I’m stuffing my 12 yr old with veggies and he doesn’t even realize it!!! Could probably use more chicken. I’ll probably cut up some rotisserie chicken and throw it into the leftovers for dinner tomorrow! Thanks for this great recipe!!
Marzia – Plan on trying your soup this weekend. Does it freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing it before, but I do believe it should freeze just fine. You may need additional water/broth/milk to help thin it out once defrosted.
Yes, freezes well. But, I know it’s in there and ate the leftovers fast!
I don’t have a crockpot. How can I go about making this on the stove top, or even in the oven?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I can’t say if the same quantities for broth, etc will be used when making it on the stove or the oven. Please use your best judgement 🙂
Come now, how was soup slow cooked before there were crock pots.
Simmer very slowly on top of the stove in a covered large pot with lid. . Same proportions. Guess what……if it gets too thick, just add a bit of water……..
Has anyone made it with dairy-free milk? Wondering if it would work. I can’t eat dairy. Thanks
I think one of the commenters said they replaced the regular milk with almond milk. Olive oil can be used in place of butter, but keep in mind these changes will make the final produce a little less creamy.
We used canned coconut milk and it turned out PERFECT! Really happy with the results! Thanks for the awesome recipe.
I have used almond milk twice with good results
Have you tried using coconut milk instead of regular milk? I’m curious to know how that might work out.
Unfortunately, I’ve only tried it with regular cows milk.
I’m wondering if anyone skipped the milk and flour and just made it as a brothy soup? I’m anxious to make this.
I had some of mine before adding the milk/flour mixture and it was ok but I wouldn’t put as much of the trader joe seasoning in it. I also prefer a broth based soup.
Nancy, if you’re making this into a broth based soup that is definitely going to be too much seasoning. Since the soup will lack creaminess, it will make the seasonings too prominent. But the recipe is a cream based soup and requires milk and flour therefore that amount of seasoning is required for the flavor to carry through.
We loved this recipe. Made it yesterday with canned coconut milk and LOVE IT.
can you use the wild rice my husband harvested last fall
Hi Linda, I purchased mine from a bulk bin type of store and the brand wasn’t specified unfortunately, but Lundberg (brand) sells a ‘Wild Blend’ that would be perfect for this. And sometimes they call it ‘royal blend. I’ll pop a link for it below if you’d like to purchase off of Amazon!
Royal Blend
Yum! This is a beautifully simple, hearty meal.
I must avoid gluten, so I did a bit of research, then went with my gut and used Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour. Perfect! I think the key is that this flour blend does not include xanthan or gums of any kind. I stock up on the stuff when we visit the big city…and beg others to shop for me when I can’t get out of town.
Next time, I’ll pick up some of TJ’s 21 spice mix, but today I used 50% ground poultry seasoning from the spice rack and 50% Mrs. Dash original. Love that you recommend salt and pepper at the end. It’s the best way to keep sodium under control.
Hubby said the soup reminded him of a hearty chicken and dumplings. I agree!
Totally saving this recipe for a cold, busy day…if I can wait that long.
That’s perfect DeAnne! Great tip on using the poultry seasoning + Mrs. Dash mix. I find the poultry seasoning to be a little too fine ground for me so the Mrs. Dash is a great way to balance it out. It does kind of remind me of chicken and dumplings too! Thanks! 🙂
I don’t live anywhere near a Trader Joe’s or Costco to purchase these specified seasoning. Is there an alternative. I do have the really finely ground poultry seasoning in my cupboard if that’s what you meant in the recipe?
Sandy, you definitely don’t need to use the TJs or Costco seasonings exclusively. Just any poultry seasoning that contains onions, celery seed, and herbs such as marjoram, parsley, thyme etc. It’s best if you choose one that’s salt-free or low sodium.
I am making this with long grain brown rice instead and it’s been on high 4 hours and the rice is nowhere near done. Did I mess up? Or should I just keep letting it cool away? Ugh, I never seem to get rice right. ????
I’d allow it to cook a little longer, Kathleen. Checking every 20 minutes or so until it’s done.
I am not sure what kind of wild rice to use. Are you talking about a box and leaving out the seasoning packet with it? I could not find wild rice on its own like packages of brown and white. Not sure if it is my store or you are thinking something different??
Hi Lisa! No, it’s not the kind of wild rice you’d find with a seasoning packet. It’s a ‘wild rice blend’ that usually contains Texmati white, brown, wild, and red rice. Usually sold in bags (like regular rice) or in plastic jars. I know that Lundberg makes one called a ‘Wild Blend’. Other brands may label it as a ‘Royal Blend’. Here is a link if you’d like to purchase off of Amazon. Hope that helps!
Glad to clear this up. The picture looked like a blend, but the ingredients called for wild rice. Using the blend will cut down on the cost considerably.
I just finished making it to the exact recipe. I found it bland but it tasted ok. I feel like it is missing something from making it taste amazing. Idk if that would be a cheese or some other seasoning. Anyone have an idea what to add?
Try boneless skinless chicken thighs for more chicken flavor
I just made this recipe last night too! I thought it was easy enough to put together, but I also thought it was a little bland. I was hoping for it to taste more like Panera’s Chicken Wild Rice soup. Both my husband and I ended up adding our own spices to our individual bowls to kick up the flavor a bit….but I’d like to figure out how to make the whole dish a bit zippier!
Any suggestions?
This was SO good! I made it according to the recipe and it was perfect! I’m not really a recipe saver, but I will be saving this one to make again! I used a whole container of chopped celery, onion and carrot from Trader Joe’s so this soup was a cinch to make! Thanks! 🙂
I use 2% milk. didn’t come out creamy. I guess 2% milk may be the reason why. Type wasn’t specified though. Still good.
Glad you liked the soup, Courtney. For next time, you could replace some (or all) of the milk with half and half as suggested in the notes to make it creamier. 🙂
Marzia,
Where can I find the amounts of the ingredients? I really want to make this soup soon…sounds so delicious!
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Pat, the recipe ingredients and quantities are listed above the comments section.
What size slow cooker is this recipe made for? 🙂
I typically use a 7-8 quart slow cooker.
Thank you!
How do you think adding mushrooms would work? I love chicken wild rice mushroom soup but I’ve never made it.
I think mushrooms would be delicious along with all the other goodness in this soup 🙂
I didn’t have poultry seasoning so I substituted Cajun seasoning on a whim. I had no idea what to expect but I love how it turned out! Creamy and slightly spicy. Will definitely make again
Do you think this would freeze well???
Not too sure about freezing as the rice may become too mushy. Please use your best judgement.
I thought this said it was gluten free, but it has all purpose flour???
I am unsure as to why you thought this soup was gluten-free. I do not mention it being gluten-free anywhere here on the post. Perhaps you’ve visited here by clicking on a link from a different website that promotes gluten-free living? If that is the case, the website you were on unfortunately didn’t check to make sure whether this recipe fits the criteria.
FYI…the ingredients list is missing the two bay leaves. I was also wondering if you did anything additional to get the creamy texture? I followed the recipe exactly and it tastes yummy but it didn’t turn out creamy.
Hi Shala,
Thanks for catching that! I’ve added it in. Nope, I’ve posted the recipe exactly how I make it. I did add a note at the bottom where you can replace some of the milk with half and half to make it creamier. Perhaps start with 1/2 cup half and half and 1 1/2 cups of milk next time? You can always replace more of the milk with half and half too.
did you use the Trader Joe 21 Seasoning Salute in place of the poultry seasoning? if you used both how much of the Trader Joe did you use with the poultry seasoning?
Yes, i’ve stated in the notes section that I used the 21 seasoning salute for my poultry seasoning. You can use either one, just don’t use both. 🙂
Any Idea if this could be done with almond flour or coconut flour? Thats all i have on hand 🙂 I’m going to give it a try tomorrow! (probably with less flour to start since a little usually goes a long way with almond or coconut)
No unfortunately haven’t tried with almond/coconut flour. I’d love to hear how it went though, Megan!
Almond/coconut flour didn’t work. It apparently lacks thickening agents. I was able to dig in my cupboard and find regular flour and then the recipe was great!!
If you want to replace the flour with a non-gluten substitute, you can use corn starch. I tried it and it worked: http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreecookingtips/qt/Corn-Starch-Tips.htm
How many servings does it make?
The recipe states 8-10.
Just wanted to let you know that I made this last night for a big family dinner and it was awesome. Even my notoriously picky 12 year old daughter LOVED it. I used the Organic 21 Salt Free Seasoning Blend from Costco and finished it with a sprinkle of Poultry Magic (which does have a salt) and there isn’t a a bowl leftover! I totally forgot to take a picture but it was every bit as lovely as your photos but I won’t forget next time. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Debbie! I appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment! 🙂