Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Posted on September 11, 2013 Updated on September 11, 2013

What:

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe by: I can’t remember…

 

Why:

It’s a surprisingly easy, really, really, good soup! It makes a lot, so it’s a good thing to make on those cold, hot, or perfect temperature days when you have some company over or if you are hungry.

 

The Recipe:

Ingredients

2 boxes of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix Original recipe, prepare according to box instructions

6 boneless skinless cooked chicken breasts cut up (Another option instead of chicken breasts is to buy a precooked rotisserie chicken you usually can find near the deli section of the super market)

2 cups thinly sliced carrots

1 cup thinly sliced celery

2 small onions, diced

8 – 10 chicken bouillon cubes (I always go with ten)

 

Directions

In about 8 tbsp. of butter (1/2 cup), sauté the carrots, celery, and onion until the onions are tender.

Add about 8 cups of water and the bouillon cubes

Simmer until carrots are tender

Add cooked rice and cut up cooked chicken. If you think there is too much rice, don’t add as much (I usually add all of it)

 

Prepare a white sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

8 tbsp. flour

2 tsp. salt

4 cups of milk (any type will do, skim, 2%, or even 1/2 and 1/2, using 1/2 and 1/2 will make the soup richer)

 

Directions

Melt the butter in a sauce pan

Once melted, gradually stir in flour and salt

Constantly stir for about 1 minute

Gradually add the 4 cups milk

Stirring constantly, cook until sauce is thickened

Pour sauce into the soup and heat through

 

Cost:

This recipe is a little pricey, but it really does make a lot of soup. Where I shop, the rotisserie chicken was $6.50, the Uncle Ben’s rice was around $2 a box, the celery and carrots are always pretty cheap, the milk, and everything else I already had. If you had to buy all of it, I would price this soup around $20, but if you already have some of the ingredients, obviously that price would drop significantly. Definitely worth the cost!

 

Variations and suggestions:

For the vegetables, I almost always hand chop them. If you have a food processor that can slice vegetables, that would make that process much faster, but for me, there is something about using a good old fashioned knife and cutting them up. I have more control over how thick the vegetables are and it also helps me improve my chopping skills. I would suggest doing it this way so that you become more comfortable with knife handling and chopping.

 

Review:

Everyone I have made this soup for have raved about it and get excited when I mention I am making it. It is a great soup and goes well with dinner rolls or, my wife and I use the Hawaiian sweet rolls. It’s a pretty filling soup too, so it lasts a while. I would put this meal in my top five favorite meals that I have made so far.