Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
Most wild rice sold in the US comes from Minnesota and the state is famous for its Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, a hearty winter favorite.
Wild Rice isn't true rice, but an aquatic cereal grain with a delicious nutty flavor. Minnesotans are famous for their state grain and major cash crop, and for their creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup. Like Chili in Texas, Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is on virtually every diner and restaurant menu in Minnesota and every household has their version. The recipe has countless variations but usually starts with a Mirepoix, the classic French recipe starter of sautéed onions, carrots and celery, and the soup has a creamy base, making it a hearty and satisfying meal for the harsh Minnesotan winter weather.
My Number One Fan surprised me after coming home one evening with a hearty Wild Rice and Chicken Soup that she made in a crock pot. She actually referred to it as a "stoup," - thicker than soup, but not quite a stew. It has been unseasonably cool and rainy for several weeks and this soup really hit the spot on a chilly early-spring day.
Her inspiration came from Creme De La Crumb website, but as always with recipes from our Kitchen Tapestry, she made some modifications that enhanced and improved the recipe. The most notable change is that she did not use chicken breasts, which is the standard ingredient in almost all recipes you see for this dish online. Instead, she used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which fell apart on their own and did not require the last-minute, manual shredding the original recipe called for.
She also used whipped cream cheese, which softened the calorie count a bit, but perhaps more importantly, blended into the soup much more easily and fluidly.
Serve this soup as an entree with a salad and maybe a loaf of crusty French bread or along side freshly baked cheddar biscuits.
Crock Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 3 large chicken breasts), cut into 1-2" pieces
- 3 14.5-oz cans chicken broth (like Swanson's)
- 3 cups whole milk
- 8 ounces whipped cream cheese (like, Kraft Philadelphia)
- 1 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup grated carrots
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3-4 stalks fresh celery, finely diced
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground thyme
Instructions
- Pre-heat the crock pot by filling with hot water and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes on the "high' setting. When ready to assemble the dish, drain the crock pot entirely.
- Put all ingredients except the cream cheese in the crock pot. You might think you have too much liquid but in the final hour of cooking, the wild rice will absorb a good deal of it as the rice grains open and fluff up.
- Cook on high for 3 hours, then set to low for 2 hours more. Just before serving, blend in the whipped cream cheese. Test for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
