This slow cooker chicken and rice soup is healthy, flavorful, and fuss-free, made with boneless skinless chicken breasts, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaves, chicken broth, and instant white rice (for extra convenience).
Chicken soup is classic—a food so powerful it has become a metaphor for warmth, healing, and love—and this slow cooker chicken and rice soup is all of those things. It’s the winter cure-all.
The best part? It’s EASY. Of course there’s something to be said for slowing down with some unhurried, all-day-long cooking, but there’s also something to be said for letting your slow cooker do that unhurried, low-and-slow cooking for you. My slow cooker chicken and rice soup is completely fuss-free and fabulous. Combine boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped onion, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaves, white wine, and chicken broth in your crock pot, walk away, and 4 hours later you’ll have a cozy bowl of chicken soup with all the taste and none of the hassle. I use instant white rice because of the extra convenience, but you can add any grain or pasta you want—or skip the grains altogether to make it lower carb. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- ¼ cup dry white wine (optional)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup instant white rice
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In the base of your slow cooker, combine the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, white wine, broth, salt, and pepper; stir. Add the chicken breasts (make sure they’re covered with the liquid).
- Cover and cook until chicken is tender, about 4 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and use 2 forks to shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Discard the thyme sprigs and and bay leaves.
- Stir the instant rice into the soup in the slow cooker. Cover and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes. Return the shredded chicken to the soup. Add the parsley. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired. Serve.
How much white wine? It’s listed under instructions but not ingredients. Thanks!
Hi Susan! Sorry about that! Just updated the recipe ingredients to include 1/4 cup dry white wine.
I can’t wait to try this. Many is the time I hear about someone not feeling well, and would like to make them some nice soup, but my soup skills are not impressive. I love the way you use ingredients that are staples. There’s something about your recipes.
love your recipe
Can’t wait to make this! I see that the recipe serves 6, but can you clarify what the serving size is? 1 cup? Thanks!
Hi Andie! I’m looking to try this recipe for dinner this week. I’m wondering if I can substitute in basmati rice for the instant white rice. If so, will this change the cooking time in step 3? Thanks!
I have the same question about the basmati rice. I’m assuming you’ll need to add it in sooner?
Hi! I’m looking to try this recipe but want to use regular (not instant) white rice, as that’s what we keep in the house. Does the cooking time remain the same? If not, how would you recommend adjusting it?
@Morgan I’m looking to make the same swap. Did you experiment and find a good time adjustment?
Love your recipe. Thanks for sharing.