I am always up for a nice pot of home made soup and this was one of our top sellers we would sell out almost every time we had it at the cafe. This is also one of my family faves. It is also a great way to sneak in some healthy grains for picky eaters like my husband.

I almost hesitated putting this on the blog today, because as I sit writing this recipe up it is a beautiful 61 degrees with the sun shining and the breeze from the bay coming in, and I am fully enjoying the weather out on my front porch. But tomorrow is another day of rain and cooler temps and I think everyone can use a meal that feels like a warm hug right now.

So here is my social distanced hug to all of you! Enjoy!

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Creamy Chicken and rice soup

Simple and easy, but so comforting.

Course Main Course, soups

Cuisine American

Keyword Casual dining, comfort, Dinners, soups

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

Soup

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter you can use half butter and half olive oil
• 1 med white onion diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 med carrots diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dry thyme
• 1/4 cup flour
• 8 cups chicken stock broth, or water with boullion or base is ok too
• 1 pound roasted chicken breast shredded
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

roasted chicken breast

• 1 pound chicken breast 2 medium sized
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Wild Rice or other hearty grain

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup wild rice mix (or any hearty grain mix)

Instructions

• Start with your chicken breast and wild rice or grain mix. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

  Place your chicken breast on a sheet tray, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes until cooked through 165 degrees, set aside to cool and shred.
  
• Boil water in a small oven proof pot, add your wild rice or grain mix. Bring back to a boil and cover. Place into 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and set aside until needed for soup.
  
• In a large pot, over medium heat melt butter. Add your veggies, salt and pepper and thyme. Cook for about 4 minutes.
  
• Add flour, stir and cook for another 30 second
  
• slowly add in your chicken stock and stir well to ensure there are no lumps. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.
  
• Add shredded chicken and rice or grain mixture and let cook simmer for another 15 minutes or so.
  
• At this point, check the soup for seasoning and desired thickness. Re season if necessary. Finish with half and half and parsley. **see recipe notes for gluten free option** If you would like your soup a little thicker mix in a tablespoon of corn starch to your half and half and stir that into the soup.
  

Notes

To make this gluten free, remove the flour. Make the soup and when you get to the part of re seasoning, you can mix a couple of table spoons of corn starch with your half and half. Bring soup back up to a boil and re asses your thickness then. You can always add a little more corn starch mixed with water or stock to the soup. 

 

I used a grain mixture this time, I like to make sure the grains I use are hearty and can stand up in the soup. I don’t like it when the grains absorb too much of the liquid.