Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup

Name: Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 310 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 lb chicken breasts (-boneless, skinless or chicken thighs); 3/4 cup wild rice (-rinsed); 1 onion (-chopped ); 3 stalks carrot (-chopped); 3 stalks celery (-chopped); 2 bay leaves; 2 cloves garlic (-minced); 2 tsp dried herbes de provence (-or mixture of thyme, oregano); 2 tsp salt; 1.5 tsp black pepper; 8 cups unsalted chicken broth; 1 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 tbsp all purpose flour; 1/2 cup heavy cream (-up to 1.5 cups if you want things super creamy); fresh parsley or chives (-garnish, optional)

January 12, 2019 Updated: September 11, 2019 By Dawn - Girl Heart Food 44 Comments

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This Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup is filled with lots of chicken, wild rice and veggies for one comforting meal that’s sure to warm you up on the coldest of days. It’s like a big ol’ hug in a bowl!

A bowl of the best chicken and rice soup garnished with fresh parsley.

I seem to be on a soup kick lately. I can’t help myself! They’re just too simple to whip up. Plus, I can’t stand the cold and I need all the comfort food I can get.

The older I get, the less I can handle being chilly. As I think about it, I guess I’m quite finicky because I don’t like it too hot either. Anywho – this slow cooker chicken and rice soup is the bomb dot com 😉

What Ingredients Do I Need for this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe?

What I love about this slow cooker chicken and rice soup (besides the taste, of course), is aside from a couple minor finishing things at the end, it’s all dump and go. Place everything in your slow cooker and go about your business. Come back a little while later, serve yourself a bowl and enjoy!

All you need is –

A good quality store-bought broth (or homemade)
Chicken breast
Wild rice
Carrots and celery
Aromatics, like onion and garlic
Seasoning, like salt, pepper, dried herbs and bay leaves
A touch of cream
And, if you like, flour and butter to make a flour roux (totally optional)

Ingredients for a homemade chicken and rice soup on a wooden board.

How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup

Place chicken, rice, veggies, herbs and broth in slow cooker and set temp to ‘low’. Cook 5-6 hours.

After time is up, carefully remove chicken and shred. Place back in slow cooker.
Add cream and stir.
Make a roux on the stovetop and stir into slow cooker.
Portion, garnish and enjoy!

A photo collage of how to make slow cooker chicken and rice soup.

What’s the Best Rice for Slow Cooker Soup?

Use regular wild rice, not white, pre-cooked or a wild rice blend….just straight up wild rice.

Do I Have to Cook Wild Rice Before Adding to Soup?

No! Just put it right into the slow cooker as it is and it will cook along with the rest of the ingredients.

What is a Flour Roux? How to Make a Roux?

A roux is a mixture of flour and fat, usually as equal proportions, and used as a thickening agent in soups, stews, sauces and gravies. Most often butter is used as the fat component (as used in this chicken rice soup).

Making a roux is easy! Simply melt butter in a pan, stir in flour to form a paste and cook for a few minutes until it forms a paste and the flour-ey (is that even a word, lol) taste is gone. You don’t want to overcook or brown the roux too much because it will lose some of it’s thickening abilities if you do this.

An overhead shot of a bowl of creamy chicken and wild rice soup garnished with fresh parsley.

Can I Make a Gluten Free Chicken and Rice Soup?

Absolutely! Wild rice is naturally gluten free.

So, instead of using a flour roux to thicken the slow cooker chicken soup, use a cornstarch slurry. Simply mix about 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/2 tablespoon of cold water in a cup and pour/stir into the slow cooker and cook for a few minutes during the last few minutes of cook time.

Cornstarch is a more potent thickening agent than flour, so that’s why you need less cornstarch than flour.

Remember, if you want things even thicker you could always add more cornstarch slurry.

Tips for Making This Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Boneless/skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, but you could use chicken thighs or a combo of both, if you prefer.
Cook time is 5-6 hours on low. Since each slow cooker varies, check on at 5 hours.
If you want the soup thicker, add more roux.
Because there’s rice in there, leftovers may thicken. Upon reheating, you may need to add a little stock to loosen.
This chicken wild rice soup is just a touch creamy, but not overwhelmingly so. If you want a super creamy chicken and wild rice soup, simply add more cream, up to 1.5 cups.
‘Unsalted’ chicken broth was used here. If you use anything otherwise, like ‘low sodium’ or regular, you will have to adjust salt accordingly.

An overhead shot of a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup alongside some celery and parsley.

Like this Chicken and Wild Rice Soup? You May Enjoy These Too

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup – Similar to this creamy chicken and wild rice soup, this split pea soup with ham is simply made in the slow cooker. It’s hearty and just the thing you’ll want on a cold day!
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – Such a comfort food classic! With lots of chicken, veggies, egg noodles and dill, it’s super flavourful.
Roasted Cauliflower Leek Soup with Cheddar – This savoury soup is loaded with veggies and is so yummy with a big hunk of crusty bread for dunkin’!
Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup – This fall classic is super creamy from the addition of Greek yogurt. So good!
Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup from Annie of Ciao Chow Bambina – Hearty, creamy and topped with bacon…what’s not to love?

Hope you love this homemade chicken and rice soup as much as we do!

Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂

~Dawn

P.S. If you think this easy chicken and rice soup will make your belly happy too, please be sure to hit that little Pin button. Many thanks, you guys! XO

A bowl of slow cooker chicken and rice soup garnished with fresh parsley.

5 from 17 votes