Happy new year! I still don’t know how I went so long without a slow cooker. I absolutely love it! I’ve been making soups and braised meats with it since this fall. Nothing like warm soup on a cold day. Anyways, this slow cooker chicken and wild rice soup is amazing. I’ve made it more times than I count.
This soup is flavourful, comforting and filling enough to serve on it’s own as a meal. You can even skip the bread and still feel full with a serving of this soup. You can also treat this as a base recipe and make adjustments to suit your preferences. If you’ve got cooked chicken or turkey, you can use it to make this soup instead of raw chicken; I usually use left over turkey after Thanksgiving or Christmas to make this soup, it’s even better than using chicken. You can also skip the meat, add more veggies and turn this into a vegetarian soup.
How to Make this Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
To make this slow cooker chicken and wild rice soup, you’ll need the following ingredients: 1 lb of chicken or turkey (cooked or raw), ⅔ cup of wild rice, 2 medium carrots, 3 stalks of celery, 1 medium onion (chopped), 2 cloves of garlic (minced), ½ tablespoon of canola oil, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of thyme, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 6½ cups of chicken broth, 1½ cups (¼ lb) of cremini mushrooms (washed, thinly sliced then cut in halves), ½ cup of half and half cream, and salt (to taste).
Instructions
Wash the carrots and celery under running water in the sink. You might need to peel the carrots to get the dirt completely off them. Use a knife to dice the carrots and celery on a cutting board. Peel and wash the onions and garlic. Chop the onions and mince the garlic. Heat the oil in a frying pan with the stove on medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent (about 1 minute).
Pour the cooked onion and garlic mixture into the slow cooker. Add all the other ingredients (minus the mushrooms, cream and salt; if you’re using cooked chicken or turkey, see the Notes section) to the slow cooker. Use a wooden spoon to mix everything together. Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Set the temperature indicator on the slow cooker to low and the timer to 6 hours. You can set the timer to 7 hours if you like soup to be very tender.
Add the mushrooms to the soup about 3 hours before the soup is ready to be done. Use a spoon to mix the mushrooms into the soup. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and let the soup continue to cook. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker about 2 hours before the soup is done. Place the chicken on a cutting board and let it rest for 20 minutes; letting the chicken rest will help to retain the juices and keep the chicken more moist.
After 20 minutes, use a knife and fork to shred/cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Pour the shredded chicken into the soup. Add the cream to the soup when you add the chicken back into the soup. I like to heat the cream in a saucepan on the stove before I add it to the soup; this helps to prevent the temperature of the soup from dropping too low. Use the spoon to mix everything in the soup together. Place the lid back on the slow cooker and let the soup cook for the remaining time.
Taste the soup once it’s done. Add salt to the soup if you think it requires extra salt; I usually add ½ teaspoon of salt to the soup. Remove the bay leaves from the soup and discard them. Serve the soup with warm crusty bread, if desired.
Notes
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If you’re using cooked chicken or turkey, cut it into smaller pieces. Add it to the soup when you add the mushrooms.
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You can also heat up the cooked chicken or turkey and add it to the soup once it’s done. This might be the best option for people who don’t like how poultry turns out in slow cookers.
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If you’re using cooked chicken or turkey, remove the bones from the meat. Put the bones into the slow cooker at the beginning; this will add more flavour to the soup. Remove the bones from the soup before you add the cream.
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Raw bone-in chicken thighs work better for this soup than raw chicken breasts as they’ll come out more moist.
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If you’re using chicken breast, use bone-in chicken breast with the skin on as it’ll be moister.
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Do not use regular rice (or even wild rice blend with regular rice) as it will turn to mush if used in this recipe.
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To make this a vegetarian soup, use vegetable instead of chicken broth. Double the mushrooms in place of the poultry and decrease the broth to 6 cups, so the soup won’t be too thin.
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Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the cream before you heat up the cream, if you want a thicker soup. However, be forewarned that the soup will thicken if left in the fridge overnight. So, if you’re planning to have leftovers, don’t thicken the soup with flour.
Other Recipes You Might Like
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Slow Cooker Jamaican Oxtail Stew
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Spinach and Lentil Soup
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Leak and Potato Soup
-
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Coconut Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken (or turkey; raw or cooked)
- ⅔ cup wild rice
- 2 medium carrots (washed, peeled and diced)
- 3 stalks celery (washed and diced)
- 1 medium onion (washed and chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (washed and minced)
- ½ tbsp canola oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 6½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ lb cremini mushrooms (wash, thinly slice then cut each slice in half)
- ½ cup half and half cream
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan with the stove on medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent (about 1 minute).
- Pour the cooked onion and garlic mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add all the other ingredients (minus the mushrooms, cream and salt) to the slow cooker. Use a spoon to mix everything together. If you're using cooked chicken or turkey, don't add it just yet (see notes below).
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Set the temperature indicator on the slow cooker to low and the timer to 6 hours; You can set the timer to 7 hours if you like soup to be very tender.
- Add the mushrooms to the soup about 3 hours before the soup is ready to be done.
- Remove the chicken from the soup about 2 hours before the soup is done. Place the chicken on a cutting board and let it cool for 20 minutes; letting the chicken rest before you shred/cut it will help to retain the moisture.
- After 20 minutes, use a knife and fork to shred/cut the chicken into smaller pieces. Pour the shredded chicken into the soup and discard any skin or bones that was removed from the chicken.
- Add the cream to the soup when you add the chicken back into the soup. To prevent the temperature of the soup from dropping too low, I like to heat the cream in a small saucepan on the stove before I add it to the soup.
- Use a spoon to mix everything in the soup together. Place the lid back on the slow cooker and let the soup cook for the remaining time.
- Taste the soup once it’s done; the internal temperature of the chicken should be 165 ˚F. Add salt to the soup, if you think it requires more salt; I usually add ½ tsp of salt to the soup.
- Remove the bay leaves from the soup and discard them. Serve the soup with crusty bread, if desired.
Notes
- If you're using cooked chicken or turkey, cut it into smaller pieces and add it when you add the mushrooms.
- You can also heat up the cooked chicken or turkey and add it once the soup is done cooking; this might be the best option for people who don't like how poultry turns out in slow cookers.
- If you're using cooked chicken or turkey with bones, remove the bones from the meat and put the bones into the slow cooker at the beginning. This will add more flavour to the soup. Remove the bones before you add the cream to the soup.
- Raw bone-in chicken thighs work better for this soup than raw chicken breasts; they'll come out moister than chicken breasts. If you're using raw chicken breasts, get them with the bone in and the skin on, so it'll be more moist.
- Do not use regular rice or even wild rice blend with regular rice. Regular rice will turn to mush if used in this recipe.
- You can make this a vegetarian soup by not including the meat and using vegetable instead of chicken broth. Double the mushrooms and decrease the broth to 6 cups, so the soup won’t be too thin.
- If you want a thicker soup, you can add 1 tbsp of flour to the cream before you heat up the cream and add it to the soup. However, the soup will thicken if left in the fridge overnight, so don't thicken the soup with flour if you're planning to have left overs.
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