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Crockpot Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup. The perfect comfort food. Slow-cooked chicken and vegetables with fresh herbs, lemon, and rice. It’s warming, hearty, full of flavor, and simple to make. We love to add grated parmesan cheese and parsley on top, plus bread on the side for dipping. Totally delicious!
Something my mom always made was chicken soup (and frozen potstickers). She adores just about any bowl of soup. One thing she always used to do that I thought was so unique was stir a cup or so of instant rice into the soup just before serving.
One thing about my mom? She was the queen of the instant rice. She’d always have it on hand for an easy side. But more times than not, she’d stir the rice into soup. And then? She’d top it with popcorn.
Another thing about my mom? She loves a bowl of homemade popcorn more than anyone you’ll meet.
And this is how she made her bowls of chicken soup. By the end of the bowl, the rice usually soaked up much of the broth, but it’s actually so delicious!
I’ve made a lot of chicken and wild rice soup before, but I haven’t shared a classic version like the one my mom would make.
When the temps got really cold during Christmas week, I made this soup in the crockpot. I’ve been loving my crockpot this winter!
I started the base the night before I planned to serve this. Then I just let it cook, low and slow, all day long. It turned out so yummy that my family ate up bowl after bowl!
And, of course, my mom fully loves this recipe the most!
These are the details
Ingredients
- salted butter
- chicken breast and or chicken thighs – I use boneless, skinless
- yellow onions
- shallots
- garlic
- celery
- carrots
- fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary – if fresh is unavailable, dry spices work!
- dried bay leaf
- broth – I use bone broth
- dry basmati rice – any dry white rice will work
- baby spinach
- lemon juice
- fresh parsley
Special Tools
You need a crockpot for this recipe. Or you can use the stove-top cooking method.
Steps
Step 1: add ingredients to the crockpot
In the bowl of your crockpot, layer the butter, chicken, onion, shallots, garlic, celery, and carrots. Pour over the broth.
Now add the thyme, sage, rosemary, and bay leaf. Season with lots of salt and black pepper. If you have one handy, add a parmesan rind for an even more flavorful broth!
Note that the order really doesn’t matter; just get everything into the crockpot!
Step 2: start the cooking!
Now cover the crockpot and slow cook. You can cook on high for just a couple of hours or on low all day long.
And again, if you don’t have a crockpot, you can easily make this on the stove.
Step 3: add the rice
The very final step is adding the dry rice. It’s important not to add the rice until you are ready to serve. If you add the rice too early, it will soak up all of the broth. The dish will become souper rice (my mom used to make this when she was in middle school!). It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s not what we’re looking for with this recipe!
If you want to be able to serve this at any time you like, just cook the rice separately, then stir it into the soup when ready. Either way is just fine!
Add the spinach and lemon juice with the rice as well.
Step 4: serve
Ladle the rice and soup into bowls. You can top it simply with parsley, or add some parmesan, which is, of course, is so yummy!
Make sure to serve with bread, or you can try what my mom loves – add some popcorn on top! It’s fun!
A note about leftovers
Lastly, if you’re planning to enjoy this soup leftover, just note that the rice will soak up a lot of broth. You can do what I mentioned above and not add the rice directly to the soup when cooking, or you can add additional broth to the soup when rewarming.
Looking for other soup recipes? Here are my favorites:
Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup
Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Rosemary Bacon
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup
Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Soup
Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
Pumpkin Beer Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Lastly, if you make this Crockpot Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crockpot Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 444 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup chopped, celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped sage
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups dry basmati rice
- 3 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Crockpot
- 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, mix the butter, chicken, onions, shallots, celery, and carrots. Pour over the broth. Add the thyme, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Add the parmesan rind, if using. 2. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-4 hours. Shred the chicken,3. 20 minutes before serving, stir in the rice, spinach, parsley, and lemon juice. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is fluffy. Alternatively, you can cook the rice separately and add to the soup before serving.4. Ladle the soup and rice into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
- Stove
- 1. In a Dutch/oven, mix the butter, chicken, onions, shallots, celery, and carrots. Pour over the broth. Add the thyme, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Add the parmesan rind, if using. 2. Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or up to a few hours. Shred the chicken.3. 20 minutes before serving, stir in the rice, spinach, parsley, and lemon juice. Let cook for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is fluffy. Alternatively, you can cook the rice separately and add to the soup before serving.4. Ladle the soup and rice into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on January 29, 2025
Making this tomorrow. I assume you chop the chicken into cubes before cooking?
Hey Dennis,
Nope, you can leave it whole, you are going to shred the chicken in step 2. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
My wife and I are both just getting over that nasty stomach bug, so this recipe could NOT have come at a more perfect time.
Made just ONE adjustment: substituted OUT the rice and added IN MATZOH BALLS! 🙂
Matzoh Ball Soup = Jewish Penicillin.
Thanks, Tieghan – and your mom.
(And for all of you”negative Nellies…” there are countless other recipe websites out there with no personality. I’m sure they’d love having you.)
Hey David,
Awesome!! So glad to hear you and your wife both enjoyed this recipe. Great idea to add matzoh balls. Feel better soon! xT
Could you use a different rice ?
Hey Julie,
Sure, that would be just fine for you to do. I would suggest cooking it on the side according to package instructions just because all rice cooks differently. I hope this helps! xT
Thank you SO much for this. As soon as I saw crockpot, I was in! You have saved me time and time again with what to fix for dinner! For those of us that don’t really like to cook, and not that great in the kitchen, you always have something we can put together that everyone always loves, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. Everything I have ever made from you has been delicious! You give so much content for free and I always look for your emails! I don’t know how you do it, but thank you so very much! This girl is so grateful for you!!
Thanks so much, Ellen:) I appreciate you trying so many recipes, I love to hear they are always enjoyed by your family! Thanks for being here! xT
Insane to me that people are up bullying a stranger on the internet on HER website/post at 5am. For starters, she literally didn’t say THIS Christmas. It could’ve been any Christmas her entire life being able to use the stove. Also, her mom “never cooking” doesn’t mean the woman never cooked once in her whole life or that there can’t possibly be a recipe that reminds Tieghan of her mom. My mom never cooks even for herself now that I’m an adult and I can list 15 things she made for dinner or that remind me of family meals, good grief. You don’t know everything about someone based on social media, and we definitely don’t have the right to be cruel to strangers based on what limited info we have on them. If you don’t enjoy the content, find something else to cook! That being said, I started the crockpot for this this afternoon because it sounds wonderful and the house currently smells delicious! I love all your recipes and am sure this will be the same, sorry people are so unkind.
She clearly states “ this winter” when talking about this soup. And she has said before her mom didn’t cook at all, just baked. Now her mom suddenly has all these memorable dishes. The point is her origin story of saving her family from starving and making her mom sound borderline neglectful are BS.
You may want to read her post again. But honestly, one has to wonder what is really bothering you. Are you OK?
If you don’t like the story, put the book down. There are many other recipe sites out there.
Hi Hannah,
Thanks so much for your kind message and giving this recipe a try:) I hope it is delish! Have a great rest of your week! xT
Thanks Tieghan, this recipe looks excellent. I’m definitely going to make it on the weekend.
I was thinking of using quinoa instead of rice, just because l like the taste of it better when it’s been frozen.
I love getting your daily recipes.
Can this soup be frozen?
Hey Stephanie,
Totally! I would just keep the rice separate for freezing purposes. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!!! Keep the recipes coming!!! Thanks girl!
Thanks so much, Mia! I hope you love this soup, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Sounds good, Tieghan! So glad you seem to prefer salted butter like me…more flavor!
On a side note, I’m just here for the recipes. Seems some people appear to want to “dig” into things unrelated to the recipe results.🤷♀️😵💫
Thanks so much, Becky! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Considering your entire family was in Austria (apart from you) during Christmas week, I’m not sure how it’s possible you made this recipe for them all at that same time. Get your story straight, girl!
What does this comment have to do with the recipe itself? The comment section is supposed to be directly related to the recipe, not to the holidays and family or monitoring someone’s personal life. Geez
Oops! Sorry! We must have missed the post regarding the rules for posting comments. Would it be possible to see those again?
Hi Debra! I’d love to see the rules for posting comments if you have a link for them. It’s a public site, readers can post what they want. She provides lifestyle, fashion, and travel posts as well, so we’re allowed to comment on her lifestyle. Feedback and critique is normal in every job, a public figure just happens to get their feedback…publicly!
Rude
Why do you always lie about your family eating and loving your food. You made this during Christmas week and your family ate up bowl after bowl….did you ship it to Austria? Your family wasn’t home.
I look forward to making this but sure would love if you think you could add calories.
Doing an old school style diet but having trouble with calories. Love your recipes.
Thx
The calories are listed as 444 calories per serving. They are listed in all her recipes.
Her calorie counts are notoriously wrong. You’re better off following bloggers that are centered in specific calorie/macro counts, or in just putting this recipe into an app that will calculate it for you.
Hi Chrissy,
The estimated calorie count is listed above the ingredient list:) But, I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
Great recipe! I keep the rice separate and just pour the soup over the rice in a bowl when ready to serve. Makes freezing the soup easier too!
Thanks so much, Renathe!! That is a great idea! Have a nice evening! xT
Do you rinse the basmati rice? They seems like lots of rice in soup
Hi Esther,
Yes, you can rinse your rice. Please feel free to use less rice to your liking. I hope you love this recipe! xx
If you made this during the holidays how could your family eat up bowl after bowl? They were in Austria and you skipped the trip.
My thoughts exactly Serena. She didn’t make this for her family during the holidays. Just another example of her dishonesty to make the narrative fit her vision of what she thinks her followers want to hear. STOP LYING ABOUT YOUR SO-CALLED LIFE TIEGHAN!!!
Her stories never add up, that is a sign of a compulsive liar. Her mom never cooked for them but baked cookies for dinner and they had to wait for Dad to get home to make dinner so hero teighan saved the day! Yet here is a soup her Mom always made. Just like the potstickers yesterday and ramen Mom would make for them after school…and the many many other recipes she has said are a version of something her mom cooked. I don’t even think she knows the truth anymore.
Why do you care so much about someone else’s life? It’s a recipe for heaven’s sake. Make the recipe or don’t 😂
To be fair she probably considers the goats her family at this point.
It is sure soup weather. Even more so where you all live. Ha!
It really is! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it:)