Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and Rice Soup

Delicious and warming Thai flavours add such a nice hint of spice to this easy slow cooker chicken and rice soup. Fantastic slow cooker recipe for busy people. 

If you love Thai flavours in soups, take a look at our Thai Noodle Soup. 

Thai Chicken Soup 

I believe chicken soup and cold weather come hand in hand for many of us. There is something so comforting and satisfying about slurping delicious and warm liquids on chilly days. 

I am a fan of classic chicken soup recipes like this Chicken and Dumpling Soup I grew up on but once in a while I love to spice things up. By which I mean, I love adding new flavours to the tried and true classics. 

Chicken and rice soup is probably something you remember eating as a child. I know I do but I wanted to breathe a new life into the old favourite. 

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

In order to reinvent it, I added Thai flavours to the usual ingredients you’d find in a chicken and rice soup like onions, celery, chicken stock, etc. 

The first thing I changed is I replaced white rice with wild rice simply because I love the flavour and texture so much!

I wasn’t sure about the specifics but one thing I knew for certain, my chicken and wild rice soup needed to be made in a slow cooker as wild rice takes ages to cook! 

To infuse this soup with Thai flavours I added a few spoonfuls of Thai red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. These ingredients deliver the usual 4 main flavours of the Thai cuisine. Sweet, salty, spicy and sour. 

I don’t love all things that come from a slow cooker but soups and stews are definitely those things that taste better if cooked low and slow.

Also, who is NOT a fan of a “throw everything in, walk away and come hours later to a cooked meal” method?! Easy and convenient. 

Recipe Tips

Here are my suggestions for making this soup taste extra delicious. 

• Dice the vegetables in equally sized pieces, so they cook at the same speed. 
• Feel free to use white rice instead of wild rice and spinach instead of kale if that is your preference. 
• Add sliced mushrooms and kale one hour before the soup is done. They don’t benefit from hours in the slow cooker.
• Serve the soup with a slice of lime, sprinkled with chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro for authentic Thai flavours. 

This soup is a variation on my regular Thai curry recipe minus coconut milk as I wasn’t sure how it would do in a slow cooker. I also wanted to keep this soup quite lean. 

If you prefer a creamy texture, stir in a can of coconut milk at the end and heat until it warmed through. 

More Thai Recipes to Explore:

• Vegetarian Thai Green Curry
• Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
• Thai Roasted Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken with Thai Glaze

This recipe was originally published in 02/2017. Updated and republished in 01.2021

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Delicious and warming Thai flavours add such a nice hint of spice to this easy slow cooker chicken and rice soup. Fantastic slow cooker recipe for busy people. 

4.6 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main

Cuisine: American Thai fusion

Keyword: Thai chicken and rice soup, Thai chicken soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 241kcal

Author: Julia Frey of Vikalinka

Ingredients

• 1 onion diced
• 2 celery ribs diced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2-3 tbsp red curry paste
• 250ml/1 cup passata or crushed tomatoes
• 125g/3/4 cup wild rice or white rice
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1.5 litre/6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 6 (1 cup) large mushrooms sliced
• 100g/1 cup black kale/cavolo nero sliced
• ½ lime juice only
• 2 tbsp brown or palm sugar
• 30g/1/4 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 tbsp peanuts chopped (optional)

Instructions

• In a slow cooker combine evenly diced onions and celery, minced garlic, Thai red curry paste, fish sauce, crushed tomatoes, wild rice, chicken breasts and low-sodium chicken stock (otherwise the soup might be too salty).
• Cook for 4 hours on hight or 8 hours on low.
• The hour before the soup is done, take the chicken breasts out and shred them with two forks, then return back to the slow cooker.
• Add sliced mushrooms, kale, lime juice, sugar and chopped cilantro (I chopped up cilantro stalks as well as the leaves) and cook for additional hour.
• Serve sprinkled with some chopped peanuts and more cilantro.

Nutrition

Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 592mg | Potassium: 803mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 3037IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 2mg