Cozying up to a bowl of this Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup on a cold, winter day will warm you right up!
Comfort food for the win!
When I think of my favorite comfort foods, one of the first things that comes to my mind is a bowl of creamy, hearty soup! This Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup screams comfort food to me. It’s chock full of tender chunks of chicken, loaded with hearty veggies and it’s made oh-so-creamy with Organic Valley Half & Half. This is a recipe I’ve been making since college and have tweaked it over the years by adding different veggies, omitting the flour, omitting the cream of mushroom soup, etc. It’s truly a classic Minnesota dish and the version I’m sharing today evolved from a recipe I found on the popular Taste of Home website years back. So a big shout out to Tasteofhome.com for helping me create this recipe! Any other Taste of Home fans out there?!
Set it and forget it.
I love that this recipe can be made in the slow cooker. Heck, I love all slow cooker recipes and how you can prep all of the ingredients the night before and then in the morning all you have to do is start the slow cooker and let ‘er cook. It’s like magic. If set on low, you really can’t overcook this Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup, but if you do have a slow cooker that has a built in timer that automatically switches the temp to “warm,” I’d recommend using that feature. Now if you’re an Instant Pot fan, I’ve included those directions below as well. I’ve got your back!
Oh so creamy and full of flavor. This Slow Cooker (or Instant Pot) Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is hearty, comforting and perfect for those cold winter days. Click To TweetFor the chicken…you’ve got options.
While the recipe calls for chicken breast in their raw state, if you have leftover chicken that you want to use up, that works too! In fact, this Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup recipe is perfect for using up leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken or our Instant Pot Shredded Chicken. Simply add the pre-cooked chicken to the slow cooker or Instant Pot at the same time you add the half & half.
Quality dairy matters.
This is not a sponsored post, however I can’t express enough how important choosing quality organic dairy is. We have talked about this quite a bit on the blog and will continue to remind you of the importance. In fact, here is a blog post where you can learn more about why choosing organic dairy is important to your health, the planet, and the animals. Our go-to dairy brand is Organic Valley and we especially love their Grassmilk line which is made with dairy from 100% grass-fed cows.
If you’re one who doesn’t tolerate dairy all that well, you may be wondering if this Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup can be made dairy-free? Certainly. Simply use a can of coconut milk in place of the dairy and omit the butter or if you tolerate ghee, you can use that. It will have a slight coconut flavor, but it will still be super delish!
How about freezer-friendly?
Absolutely. Once the soup is done, transfer the soup to a freezer-safe container, allow to cool, cover and place in freezer.
To reheat in the slow cooker: Remove from freezer the night before and place in fridge to thaw. In the morning, place the soup in a slow cooker set on low.
To reheat in the Instant Pot from frozen: Place the frozen block of soup in the Instant Pot. You may need to let the container sit in warm water to loosen up the frozen block of soup in order to remove it. Set the Instant Pot on high pressure for 5 minutes. Then, release the pressure using the quick-release option. You can also reheat the soup from frozen on the stovetop in a similar fashion. It will just take a little longer to reheat.
OK, that’s enough from me. I think it’s time to get slow cookin’!
We’d love to hear if you give our Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup a try!
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Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Oh so creamy and full of flavor. This Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup is hearty, comforting and perfect for those cold winter days.
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Soup

Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, raw
- Salt and black pepper
- 6 cups organic low-sodium chicken broth* (use only 4 cups for Instant Pot version)*
- 1 cup wild rice, uncooked
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced (~1 1/4-1 1/2 cups)
- 3–4 carrots, peeled and diced (~1 1/2-1 3/4 cups)
- 2–3 celery stalk, diced (~3/4-1 cup)
- 2 tsp. Simply Organic dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. Simply Organic dried thyme
- 2 Simply Organic bay leaves
- 1 cup crimini or baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced or diced
- 1/4 cup Organic Valley unsalted butter
- 2 cups Organic Valley Grassmilk half and half (or Whole Milk)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Slow Cooker Directions:
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
- Stir in chicken broth, wild rice, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours (or high for 3-4 hours).
- Add mushrooms during the last 30 minutes of cooking time. At this time you can remove the bay leaves and discard and also remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks. Then add chicken back to slow cooker.
- In a saucepan of medium heat, add butter and half and half (or milk), and heat through whisking continuously until butter is melted.
- Stir half and half and butter mixture into the slow cooker. Season with salt (~1 tsp-1 1/2 tsp.) and pepper to taste. Add additional broth or milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
- Garnish with fresh parsley, fresh thyme and shredded or shaved parmesan, if desired.
Instant Pot Directions:
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breast, broth (4 cups), wild rice, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and mushrooms in the Instant Pot.
- Lock lid into place. Turn vent valve to ‘Sealing’ position.
- Select ‘Manual’ setting on high pressure and set cook time to 30 minutes.
- When cook time is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes then release remaining pressure using quick-release method (i.e. flip the vent valve to ‘Venting’ position).
- When all of the pressure is released and lid unlocks, remove the bay leaves and discard. Remove the chicken and shred with two forks.
- On the stove, add butter and half and half in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until well combined and heated through. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot along the whisked butter/half & half mixture. Stir to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnish with fresh parsley, fresh thyme and shredded or shaved parmesan, if desired.
Notes
*Depending on how much liquid your rice soaks up, you may need to add more broth to achieve a soup-like consistency.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of repipe (~1 1/2 cups)
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 23 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 24 g
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Stephanie Tucker says
This looks so good. I’m planning on making it for dinner tonight. I would like to point out a fine detail. An Instant Pot is both a slow cooker and a pressure cooker along with being a yogurt maker, rice cooker, etc. I find many people assuming that an Instant Pot is just used for pressure cooking, but that is the furthest from the truth. I think it would be better to describe the second set of instructions as “pressure cooking in the Instant Pot.” It’s very helpful to have those second set of instructions! However many of us will use our Instant Pot to slow cook the recipe.
Es says
When do I add the final cup of broth for the instant pot recipe? The ingredients say 4 cups, but the instructions say to add 3 cups.
Jessica Beacom says
You only need 3 cups of broth for the Instant Pot version. We’ve updated the ingredient list to clarify that.
Claudia says
Made this tonight for our weekly meal prep! It is sooooo tasty. My husband loved it! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have half and half so I used grassfed whole milk and it worked just fine.
★★★★★
Megan says
Is there a way you could make this dairy free? It looks delicious!
Stacie Hassing says
You could try full fat coconut milk in place of the milk.
Sarah says
I used full fat coconut milk instead of half-half and it turned it great! Only thing, mine was really thick. Any ideas why? Should I rinse the rice first?
Stacie Hassing says
It should be thick but not SUPER thick. It could have been because of the coconut milk instead of half and half? For the rice you certainly could rinse it but that would not change the thickness of the soup. Also, you could always add additional broth to make it less thick. Thanks for your feedback!
Meredith says
So excited to make this! As a former MN gal, wild rice soup is a fav.
Jessica Beacom says
Right?! As a former Minnesotan myself, wild rice soup is one of my go-to comforts when I’m missing home.
Marci says
Threw this in crock in AM to be ready for after kids soccer game tonight! Perfect 60 degree MN evening! I used a long grain brown rice with wild rice blend. I hope it turns out ok!
Melissa says
I have frozen chicken thighs and an instant pot. How would you adjust?
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Melissa,
You don’t have to increase the cooking time when using frozen chicken thighs (unless they are frozen into a big chunk… then add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time).
Carrie says
I made this yesterday. I had to leave it in almost 10 hours so it was nearly a casserole when I got home! That said, for the last steps I subbed organic light coconut milk (for half-and-half or full fat coconut milk) and added another 1.5 cups of broth to that while it warmed. I also sauteed my mushrooms in a pan while the milk/broth mixture was warming. I dumped both in the slow cooker, gave it a stir, and dished it up. We really, really enjoyed this soup and despite the last minute adds, it tasted like it had all cooked together all day.
PS: The light coconut milk was plenty of ‘creamy’ for us.
★★★★★
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Carrie,
Great recovery with the extra broth and so good to know that the full-fat coconut milk worked so well. Thanks for sharing!
Gracie says
Is it possible to make thi in a 4qt slow cooker? What sort of adjustments would have to be made?
Gracie
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Gracie,
You shouldn’t have to make any adjustments to the recipe itself. Just keep an eye on it as it may cook slower or faster depending on how hot your slow cooker runs.
Sarah says
I really dislike recipe websites these days with all the ads plastered on every inch of the screen. I’ve resorted to just printing the recipe and leaving the website asap. I look forward to the day when this fad goes away for recipe developers; it really detracts from your website experience and I find it overwhelming. It gives me anxiety honestly, which is ironic being on a Holistic Health type website. That all being said, I look forward to trying this recipe.
★★★★
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Sarah,
We understand that ads aren’t ideal and that they aren’t ideal when it comes to user experience, however, without revenue from ads we would not be able to provide content that is 100% free. Instead, we’d have to put it behind paywalls or into books or membership sites that users would have to pay for – much like newspapers have done now that advertisers have moved to online advertising rather than print ads. We appreciate your honest feedback, however, we don’t believe this ‘fad’ is going to go away anytime soon.
Jenn says
Can you cook this on high in the slow cooker?
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Jenn,
You can, just decrease the cooking time by about half.
Lisbeth Irish says
I used skim evaporated milk, like they taught at the Culinary Institure of America, instead of half and half and it turned out great
Jessica Beacom says
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Natalie says
I made this last week. This soup is amazing! I used the coconut milk, since we do not use much dairy. I was not sure if I was supposed to add the coconut milk to the melted butter, but I did, and it turned out really well. My whole family loved the soup! I am making this again tonight. This is my new favorite recipe!
Stacie Hassing says
This is so GREAT to hear! And it’s good to know that the coconut milk works as a substitution! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Jenna says
WOW did this satisfied my creamy soup craving! So flavorful!
★★★★★
Janet McClure says
Ok Missy Minnesota, here’s a local question for you…..FYI, I’m NOT a fan Taste of Home. I find their recipes look good but lack flavor. Very bland, Too bland. So….. how does your recipe compare to Byerly’s Wild Rice Soup? (Although I haven’t tried your recipe, I plan to…..but…. kind of feel like some bell peppers need to be added in with the onion. Just feels like this recipe needs it.) Overall ….. looks fabulous and I agree, if you’re from Minnesota, THIS is comfort food!
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Janet,
I’m going to field this question for Stacie since she’s on maternity leave but being that I’m also Minnesota-born and raised, I feel that I’m pretty qualified to answer (wink, wink).
To answer your question about how it compares to the ‘gold standard’ (Byerly’s Wild Rice Soup or even the Boundary Waters Restaurant in the old Dayton’s downtown), it’s very similar but not quite the same. Byerly’s uses minced ham instead of chicken and relies on a bit of dry sherry to give it it’s characteristic flavor and going on memory I believe that the Boundary Waters used chicken and a bit of poultry seasoning (though I could be wrong – it’s been a while).
That being said, with all recipes, it’s always recommended that you taste and adjust your seasonings accordingly as we all sense flavors differently. If you give it a go, we’d love to hear that you think and if you made any changes.
Heather says
Hi there,
Would this work with a milk substitute- like almond milk? I know it won’t be as creamy, but would it suffice?
Jessica Beacom says
Hi Heather,
It definitely works with non-dairy milk. I think unsweetened cashew and oat milk work best but you can also use unsweetened, plain almond or almond/coconut milk creamer with very good results.