A high-quality nitride crystal can be produced efficiently by charging a nitride crystal starting material that contains tertiary particles having a maximum diameter of from 1 to 120 mm and formed through aggregation of secondary particles having a maximum diameter of from 100 to 1000 μm, in the starting material charging region of a reactor, followed by crystal growth in the presence of a solvent in a supercritical state and/or a subcritical state in the reactor, wherein the nitride crystal starting material is charged in the starting material charging region in a bulk density of from 0.7 to 4.5 g/cm3 for the intended crystal growth.