Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is easy to make and so delicious and comforting! Pair it with a nice salad and crusty bread for a tasty and filling weeknight dinner meal.
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup joins creamy chicken noodle and sausage tortellini as the newest additions to our list of soup recipes on the blog. We’ve been on a soup kick here at home since Texas weather started cooling down, so expect more delicious ideas to come.
Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons not only for the best holidays of the year but also because of the hearty casseroles and comforting soups I get to cozy up to. And this soup is everything hearty and comforting!
If you’re a fan of Panera’s chicken and wild rice soup, you’ll fall head over heels for this crockpot version. You get the yummy goodness you love for far less it would cost at the restaurant and right in the comfort of your home.
It’s so easy to make in the slow cooker, the hardest part of the recipe is the wait! You can throw it together in the slow cooker the night before and enjoy it for lunch the next day or before you leave for work in the morning and have dinner waiting at the end of the day.
Helpful tips
- You can swap the wild rice with brown rice, if you like, without change to cook times.
- Want one less pot to wash and less fat to burn? Instead of making the roux with flour and butter, just whisk the milk and flour together until smooth and without lumps. Slowly whisk in the milk mixture until the soup begins to thicken and cook the soup in the crockpot a few minutes longer.
- The soup will be a little loose when hot and fresh from the crockpot, but it will thicken nicely as it stands.
Serving suggestions
- This creamy slow cooker chicken wild rice is the perfect warm-you-up dish for chilly weather. Serve it with French bread and a side salad, and you have a satisfying and meal that’s sure to be a family favorite.
- To fancy it up, ladle the soup into hollowed bread bowls!
How to store
- Unlike pasta, wild rice freezes well. However, the rice expands and absorbs quite a bit of the liquid, so you might have to add a splash or two of fresh cream or milk to thin the soup out to desired consistency when reheating.
- If you’re planning to freeze the whole batch, I suggest undercooking the rice for a few minutes for better texture.
- Allow to cool completely and transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 7 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse wild rice in cold, running water and drain well. Place in the crockpot.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Place in the crockpot over rice.
- Add onions, carrots, and celery.
- Add chicken broth.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for about 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 7 to 8 hours.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, heat butter until melted. Add flour and whisk into a smooth paste. Continue to cook for about 1 minute or until lightly browned.
- Gently add milk, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred using two forks. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker.
- Slowly add milk mixture, stirring to combine, and continue to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until chicken is heated through and soup is thickened to desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Notes
- You can swap the wild rice with brown rice, if you like, without change to cook times.
- Want one less pot to wash and less fat to burn? Instead of making the roux with flour and butter, just whisk the milk and flour together until smooth and without lumps. Slowly whisk in the milk mixture until the soup begins to thicken and cook the soup in the crockpot a few minutes longer.
- The soup will be a little loose when hot and fresh from the crockpot, but it will thicken nicely as it stands.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Jenn says
Could I use frozen split chicken breasts instead?
Caitlin says
Just a heads up milk isn’t listed in the ingredients list ?
Lalaine says
Thank you, Caitlin! I corrected the recipe 🙂
Pamela Shannon says
2 cups milk?
Lalaine says
Hi Pamela,
Yes, two cups milk 🙂