Oh hi. Please, please tell me you’ve had chicken wild rice soup before? I asked Tony if he ever had it before and he said he hadn’t even HEARD of it. Like what? Are you living in a cave? Are you my boyfriend?
But then I asked a few more people. And apparently it’s a very Minnesotan thing. You know just big old creamy soups with rice and basic things like chicken and carrots. By the way, did you know we also make tater tot hot dishes and egg bakes for holidays? Basically anything you can make into a soup or a casserole has real potential to be a dinner winner in Minnesota.
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But wild rice soup? Such a classic staple; it’s basically at every salad bar or cafe. I would call it the clam chowder of Minnesota; we love it very much.
Apparently we also love butter since this soup typically has a half cup of butter or more. Ugh, no thank you. Let’s save that for cookies.
I’ve always wanted to make a healthier version of my favorite creamy wild rice soup and finally was able to test this version on Tony’s family; they loved it! It tasted just like I remembered.
At first, I was nervous because I made it in the slow cooker. A) I typically don’t make many things in the slow cooker because I have the time to enjoy meals right away and B) slow cookers intimidate me like no other. However his soup has increased my confidence to test out more recipes because it turned out SO SO good!
The soup is creamy, rich (except it’s not!) and tastes like something you’d order from Panera Bread. Surprisingly you can have an entire serving for under 300 calories and get over 20 grams of protein in! Gotta love that.
I typically serve the soup with a nice salad and also some hearty multi-grain bread for dipping. I’m excited to make more slow cooker recipes — let me know if you have any requests in the comments. xoxo!
More healthy soup recipes to try:
Healing Thai Butternut Squash Lentil Soup (with a slow cooker option!)
Paleo Coconut Chicken Sweet Potato Noodle Soup
The Best Chicken Soup You’ll Ever Eat
Butternut Squash Green Chile Chicken Soup
Golden Coconut Chicken Lentil Soup
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I hope you love this healthy slow cooker chicken wild rice soup! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Lightened-Up Slow Cooker Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 1 cup sliced carrots (about 2-3 large carrots)
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 pounds uncooked chicken breast or chicken thighs, cut into bite size chunks
- 1 1/4 cups uncooked wild rice or wild rice blend
- 7 cups chicken broth, organic if desired
- 1/2 cup light sour cream
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium or large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots, mushrooms and celery and saute for 6-8 minutes or until onions are softened; stir in seasoning (oregano, thyme and poultry seasoning) and cook for 30 seconds longer.
- Transfer to crock pot. Next add in uncooked chicken breast chunks, wild rice and chicken broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hour.
- About a half hour before you are ready to serve the soup, mix sour cream and flour together in a small bowl with a fork. Turn slow cooker to high and slowly add in sour cream/flour mixture; stir for a few minutes until well combined, then place cover back on crock pot and allow to cook for 20 more minutes to allow soup to thicken up.
- Add salt and pepper to taste before serving. We like serving ours with homemade multi-grain bread for dipping. Serves 8.
Made and doubled this recipe last night for hosting our church small group. It was a huge hit! Easy and so tasty! Eating it right now for leftovers and feeling very thankful there were leftovers. 😂
So happy to hear that!
Perfection
My husband isn’t normally a mushroom fan, but still thought the dish was delicious! Great comfort food!
YUM! Glad to hear that you are both enjoying this recipe 🙂
Honestly…the BEST
I don’t know if anyone else had this, but I used Trader Joe’s Wild Rice and my soup turned purple! The soup is absolutely delicious still. Also, I substituted 1/4 cup Fat Free Evaporated Milk and 1/4 cup of Fat Free Yogurt and left out the mushrooms (I don’t like them). I was very surprised with the purple color.
So interesting! I’m not sure why that could’ve happened. I’m glad it tasted delicious anyway!
So easy and so good!! My husband, who loves super creamy soups, LOVES this. Doesn’t miss all the heavy ingredients at all!! Can’t wait to enjoy the rest of it tonight!!
I’m so glad to hear that! Yay! Thanks so much for leaving a review ☺️
Delicious! I threw whole chicken breasts in and shredded them at the end instead of using chunks of chicken. I also used greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and it worked perfectly. Thanks Monique!
Delicious and easy meal-prep lunch for work in the winter! I made it in the instapot for a one-pot meal
So cozy!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Super tasty and easy to make! I will absolutely make again!
Glad you enjoyed!
This recipe turned out awesome! I used an 8oz can of water chestnuts (drained) instead of the mushrooms. I added these in at Step 3 so they retained crunch. I also modified the chicken a bit- I cut them into a few large chunks and, during Step 3, I removed them and shredded the chicken in another bowl, then added it back to the slow cooker. I made this for family and everyone went back for seconds. I also appreciate that this is a hearty, but calorie conscious recipe. Highly recommend!
This slow cooker recipe was a hit in our house. Easy and so tasty. I found seasoned wild rice that I think added a great taste. This recipe will be one of my staples!
Love that idea! Glad it was a hit 🙂
Hi there! Can I use regular rice instead of wild rice? 💚
Sure, that sounds delicious. I might recommend a brown rice so that it cooks up properly with the time indicated.
I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and even though it said not too and added shredded chicken the last 15 minutes of cook time. Overall it still turned out great! Great flavors and a great lightened up version of the original. A tad heavy on the wild rice for me, but would make this again.
I’m glad it worked out well! Feel free to lighten up on the rice next time 🙂
I love this recipe, especially as the weather gets cooler, this is the perfect Sunday night meal. I love the addition of mushrooms for a veggie boost and the sour cream/flour mixture instantly thickens up the soup without weighing you down. Great lightened up version!!
Perfect for fall & winter! Glad you love it 🙂
One of my favs!
So happy to hear that!
Delicious! Reminds me of the kind I used to always get at the salad bar 🙂
I made this week and LOVE it! So cozy and comforting. I have a very small pantry so didn’t want to buy a new wild rice mix, so I used the long grain brown rice I had on hand instead. In case anyone is wondering how to sub brown rice: I reduced the liquid by 1 cup because brown rice requires less water than wild rice. Some of the rice was a little chewy but really it worked pretty perfectly and there was enough broth (looked just like Monique’s pictures!). Hope that can help others 🙂
Amazing! So glad the brown rice worked out, and great tips 🙂
Can I make this on the stove too?
Yep!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked forever, and finally made it today. So delicious and easy; thanks Monique!
YES so glad you made it and loved it!
How could I turn this into a crock pot freezer meal? Getting ready for baby #2 and want to get some freezer meals made, this looks delicious!
Congrats on baby #2! 🙂 You can make this recipe, let it cool completely, and freeze it in tupperware!
I am very impressed with this recipe! So simple and SO delicious. I added mushrooms and would recommend 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed this one! Mushrooms sound delicious in here 🙂
Would dairy free sour cream be an okay substitute?
That should work!
This was delicious! I made it in my instant pot for a quick weeknight meal. Tons of flavor!
Hey Val! I am thinking of trying this in my instant pot too! what setting did you use and how long did you cook it? Thanks!
Could I make this recipe with boneless chicken thighs instead of breast?
Real life… best chicken and wild rice soup ever!!! Thank you for the recipe. I am filing this under the “Do not change a thing bc this recipe is perfect” category! ?
I too had the issue of it being way too thick before adding the sour cream. I still added it but without the flour. Then I had to add more chicken broth, more seasonings and some water at that. It was still very tasty!! I will make it again for sure!!
This looks great! How much is each serving? Thank you!
I made this recipe yesterday and then ate it for lunch today. I thought the soup looked pretty thick already before adding the flour and sour cream, but added it anyways to follow the recipe. When I had the soup for lunch today it was the consistency of oatmeal with little broth left. It was super tasty still but just wondering if it was necessary to add the flour and sour cream or if it could have done without? Do you think adding another cup of broth would bring it back to a soup like consistency? Still tasted very good!!!
It is supposed to be thick, but not THAT thick. It’s odd because I’ve had people report the broth to be thin. You can always thin it out with more chicken broth, or the next time you make it feel free to leave the sour cream/flour mixture out. 🙂
Loved it! I was craving this soup, but not the extra fat and calories. Thank you for this. I also doubled the veggies and added mushrooms, then added a little rice starch at the end to thicken it up more, but that was just my preference. Will definitely be making this again.
II followed the recipe but the soup barely thicked so I doubled the amount of sour cream/flour mixture and still nothing.
It’s 2 degrees outside in Wisconsin and the forecast is calling for colder weather. I was craving Chicken and Wild Rice soup so I got all the ingredients and made it last night. It was fantastic! I really like how it is hearty and wholesome without being too thick and creamy. Always looking for ways to cut out fat without sacrificing taste. The combination of herbs and sour cream was just right. I try to incorporate more vegies into everything we eat so I doubled the vegies and added 8 oz of sliced mushrooms as well. So good! Thank you!
Yes to more slow cooker recipes!! Typing this as I eat this dish; it’ s a perfect “transition” soup to fall.
I’m from Illinois, so maybe it’s a Midwest thing? This is my ultimate fall/comfort food. Excited to try your recipe!
I love all of your recipes and think I will make this one next week! I am only cooking for two, do you think the leftovers would hold up or freeze well? Thanks and can’t wait to try another winner!!
Yes, I do!
This sounds amazing! I have been a long-time lover of chicken and rice soup, although I’ve never had a creamy version (and I’m not from anywhere remotely close to Minnesota). I’m so excited to give this a try! I may do a second version minus the chicken, too, because my boyfriend is vegetarian.
Made this soup yesterday and it turned out fantastic!! Thank you so much, I am loving your blog and have tried so many new recipes over the past few weeks. It makes healthy eating so easy and my husband even likes the recipes as well, especially the muffins.
I have to tell you how happy I found you! The meals I’ve tried have all been nothing short of delicious!!! I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow, but I have a question. Do you think it would still taste delicious without the sour cream? I really don’t care for it, but wanted your input before deciding to leave it out or not? Thank you!!
Hi there. I’m not sure! The sour cream is what makes it creamy. I love it with the sour cream!
This soup is ultimate comfort food, love that you made it in the slow cooker!
It looks amazzzingggggg! So delicious! Need to try this recipe.
http://www.trangscorner.com
Can anyone tell me what components make up the “poultry seasoning”? We don’t really have such broadly-named seasonings in the UK, just specific ones like cajun or jerk seasoning. Thanks 🙂
Hi Natasha! You can actually leave it out and then add salt and pepper to taste.
Thanks Monique 🙂 I’m planning on picking up the ingredients for this tomorrow. I will let you know how it turns out!
The internet has this wonderful tool called “Google”. Lol
I love a good slow cooker recipe as I often have a million things on my mind. I made a great one with venison for New Year’s day. Do you ever work with other lean meats like wild game?
How can he never have heard of such a classic favorite like this soup? That’s hilarious. This soup sounds amazing right now! Pinned!
I would love if you had more low FODMAP recipes.
I have utmost faith in your slow cooker skills! Been following you since 2011 and you have never steered me wrong 🙂