September 17, 2023
Soups
September 17, 2023
Soups It’s that time again, sweater weather, apple picking, pumpkin carving, but most importantly soup season. While I am an all year long fan of soups, it just hits different once the temperature drops. Consider this creamy chicken and wild rice soup your invitation to soup season. With shreds of chicken, spoonfuls of earthy wild rice, and thick chunky carrots, peas, and onions this hearty soup eats similarly to a stew. So roll your sweater sleeves up, get the dutch oven out and make this soup.
Who Doesn’t Love a Creamy Soup…
A fair warning, this soup isn’t creamy until it is. Don’t be worried 90% of the way into the recipe when the broth is a little thin. There are 3 things here that make this soup creamy, and yes all of them are necessary.
Flour + Butter = Roux
Heavy Cream – Also added for a ton of flavor.
Wild Rice – The soup wont start thickening up until the rice is added. The cooked rice will absorb some of the soup, release starch and you will be left with a super creamy and wildly earthy in flavor broth.
What You’ll Need for Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Chicken – I will let you in on a little secret … I use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken for this recipe. Since this recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken you are free to use whatever chicken you want. Dark meat, light meat, yet why not make it easier on yourself. Save the time and buy a whole rotisserie chicken. Just rip off, shred, and throw it in the soup.
- Wild Rice– Another pre-cooked ingredient. I know it is an absolute pain to cook wild rice on the side, but it is worth it. By cooking it on the side and adding it at the end you make sure that the rice doesn’t get overcooked or undercooked. You are looking for plain, unseasoned wild rice. There are a lot of pre seasoned packets out there, while they are great and I use them all the time, they don’t belong in this dish. You may also find plain wild rice in a self serve dispensary.
- Chicken Broth
- Beef Broth – Yes we mix both chicken and beef broth here. 100% feel free to use all chicken broth. I add beef to add another depth of flavor but its not a make or break ingredient.
- Heavy Cream – One of the two ingredients that makes this soup super creamy.
- Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated only!
- Flour – AP to make the roux.
- Garlic – Fresh only!
- Peas – The secret to keeping the peas firm and somewhat green is to use frozen peas. Although canned peas are extremely convenient they have a tendency to turn into mush when you cook them.
- Carrots – You are looking for those super chunky “horse” carrots. The soup cooks for about an hour start to finish. Thin, dainty carrots get mushy if cooked for too long, and we want the carrots to hold their shape.
- Celery
- Thyme – Fresh, picked off the steam.
- Butter
Storing and Reheating
If you have ever left rice in water, or even soup you know that it will keep absorbing the liquid. I am not saying that this soup cant be stored in an airtight container for approx 3-5 days but just keep in mind it will be thicker than when you put it in the fridge. If you want to make this soup in advance, hold off on adding the rice. Once ready to eat add the rice and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. I personally love this soup the next day after the rice has absorbed a lot of the liquid. It almost becomes a super creamy rice dish opposed to a soup.
To reheat, place in a saucepan over medium heat, or microwave in increments of 2 minutes.
Looking for more super cozy, sweater weather recipes? Check out the below!
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 large carrots cut 1/2 inch discs
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme picked off the stem
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup flour
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 cups chicken cooked and shredded or cut
- 1/2 cup peas frozen
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 2 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
Instructions
- In a large deep pot over medium-low heat melt the butter. Once butter has melted add in the chopped onions, celery, carrots, 1 tsp of salt and a few cracks of fresh pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes until onions have sweated out are soft and translucent.
- Mix in garlic and thyme. Cook for another 2 minutes then add the flour. Toss the par cooked vegetables in the flour and cook for 5 minutes stirring every few seconds to ensure that the flour does not burn at the bottom of the pot.
- Add both chicken and beef broth to the pot and mix vigorously to incorporate the flour into the broth. Add the chicken and peas. Bring to a boil with the lid on over medium heat (approx 5-7 minutes). Once at a boil add in the heavy cream and bring to a soft boil with the lid off for 20 minutes. Soup will still be thin by the end of the 20 minutes.
- Add the grated parmesan and wild rice. Cook for another 10 minutes.
- Remove off the heat and let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes before serving, during this time the soup will cool down, and thicken up.
I just made this recipe with all this cold weather coming in and wow what a soup! it’s so cozy and comforting, I can’t wait to make it again!