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It’s time for a big healing bowl of Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup! Put on your cozy sweater and slippers and get settled in.
Nothing beats a hot bowl of chicken soup, am I right? Especially when you are sick or feeling under the weather. I came down with a real nasty cold on January 1st that lasted about a week and half, ugh the worst! Guys, I am not a very good sick person. There are some people who can push through their cold and still go on with their every day lives – I envy them, I am not one of those people. I get sick and I am pretty much incapable of doing anything that’s productive until my cold is over. Here’s the thing though when I’m sick I still crave healthy, homemade food to nourish my body – I can only take so many canned soups before I start to go a little crazy. These are the moments in life when I miss being a kid and having my mom make me homemade chicken noodle soup – HI Mom are you hearing this?! Shout out to you for being an awesome soup maker when I was sick!!! Paul is the sweetest husband, he will run to the store to get me all of the kleenex I need and make all the cups of hot tea until I’m content. He will do all of the laundry and the dishes and the life stuff that still needs to happen while I’m on the couch. BUT he won’t make me homemade soup – well okay he would if I really asked him to. BUT let’s be honest, I know I would complain that he cut the carrots too big, and he would ask me a million questions – SO I might as well just make the soup myself. With Paul’s help and moral support as I blew my nose and washed my hands a trillion times I made two different soups while I was sick. Trust me, it was worth all the effort because nourishing soup helped me to feel better. There is a point to this story: I realized that this blog is seriously lacking a recipe for chicken soup for when you’re sick – this NEEDED to be remedied ASAP!!!!
Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is exactly that, it’s a nutritious, healing soup that will help you to feel better and get you back to real life sooner. It’s got all the classics: tender carrots, onion, celery, tons of garlic (for flavor and to help boost immunity), chicken right off the bone, and some wild rice. Plus it is packed with dried oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf to help give this soup life – seriously those few herbs really adds depth and excitement to the soup.
My goal was to create a soup that you can handle making while you’re sick, I wanted to make it as easy and as simple as possible. I decided to let the slow cooker do the work for us – even though the end result will take more time – I realized I really hated standing over that hot pot of soup stirring while trying not to sneeze in it (gross, right?). Slow cooker you are the best! You make this soup while I’m watching Netflix on the couch or taking a bath or sleeping! There are only 8 ingredients (all the herbs are included as one) and they only take 10 minutes to prep. Â Just chop up a few veggies and throw them in there with the chicken, wild rice, store bought chicken broth, and dried herbs. Even I, the-worst-sick-person-in-the-world can handle making this soup! To get the most nutrition and flavor into the soup I used chicken pieces, skin on and bone in. Once the chicken is cooked I removed the skin, shredded up the chicken and threw the bones back in for an hour to extract all their goodness. BUT I really truly understand that when you are sick you sometimes barely have the energy to walk into the kitchen let alone make soup, so to make it even easier you could use shredded store bought rotisserie chicken. It all depends on your energy level, either way the soup will be delicious.
I adore how this Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup turned out, bursting with herb-y flavor and those tender carrots and celery give it that classic taste. The chicken is melts-in-your-mouth and the rice adds texture and a sort of creaminess to the soup. Even if you aren’t feeling sick Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is a great way to warm up on a cold evening. What I suggest you do friends, is to make a batch of this soup right now -sick or not – Â freeze some of it, if not all of it so that it’s there for you when you do get sick. OR for when you just need a quick meal. Either way it’s a win win!
Stay warm, healthy, and extra cozy!
Looking for more tasty soup recipes to warm up with? Try my Lemon Artichoke Soup, Slow Cooker Split Pea and Ham Soup, or Healing Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
- Category: Soup, Entree, Chicken
- Cuisine: Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Description
This soup is perfect for when you are sick or just need a comforting bowl of soup. It has simple ingredients and is easy to prepare. It’s packed with herbs, chicken, the classic veggies, and wild rice. It also freezes really well.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced (this may seem like a lot of garlic but it helps boost immunity, plus adds flavor)
- 1/2 cup wild rice (I used a wild rice blend, You could also use brown rice)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon each (dried ground sage, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano)*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 pound chicken pieces, skin on bone in** (I used drumsticks and thighs)
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- Optional: 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- To a slow cooker add all of the ingredients except the nutmeg, Stir to combine.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 1 hour before the soup is done cooking remove the chicken. Allow the chicken to cool enough to handle. Remove the skin and discard, shred the chicken. Add the chicken, bones, and any juices back into the soup. Once the soup is done cooking remove the bones and the bay leaf, discard.
- Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed to bring out the flavors. Add in the nutmeg for a little warmth, if desired. Serve immediately.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
*You could swap these herbs for a teaspoon or more of poultry seasoning, they should have similar ingredients. Also make sure not to skip these herbs because they add so much flavor to the soup!
**If you want the soup to be easier to make you could swap the chicken pieces for about 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken. Add it in an hour before the soup is done cooking, rather than at the beginning.
Yum looks delicious, making this today also added a can of stewed tomatoes, because why not.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Nancy! đŸ™‚