Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Fall is upon us! In Minnesota, that means beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves covering the trees and ground, sweatshirt season, and time to make some cozy Chicken Wild Rice Soup. I have talked to two people in the last two days that have recently had this soup. And soon, hopefully, a lot more of you will be having Chicken Wild Rice Soup because (a) it’s delicious and makes you feel comfy-cozy and (b) the price is right! At just $0.86/serving, how can you resist? Oh, did I forget to tell you the best part? You make it in the crockpot!

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 lb raw chicken breasts
4 cups diced carrots, onions, & celery
6 cups chicken broth
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp sage
½ cup butter
¾ cup flour
2 cups milk (2%)
2 cups additional milk or water

Instructions

1. Rinse the wild rice. Place the uncooked wild rice, raw chicken, veggies, chicken broth, thyme, and sage in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. The chicken should be cooked through and the rice should be soft. There will be extra liquid in the crockpot; do not drain.
2. Remove the chicken breasts from the crockpot and allow to cool slightly. Shred the chicken and return to the crockpot.
3. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the flour and let the mixture bubble for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk until thick and creamy.
4. Combine this mixture with the rice and chicken from the crockpot. Add extra water or milk to adjust the consistency to your liking. Season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

Notes

• This recipe makes 9 (2-cup) servings.
• The recipe originally called for whole milk. I used 2% instead because we do not typically buy whole milk and I wanted to use what I had on hand.
• Rather than using chicken broth from the can or box, I use powdered chicken broth base. It is a fraction of the cost.
• The original recipe called for poultry seasoning. I looked up what poultry seasoning is primarily made from and used those spices (thyme and sage) instead since I already had them in my pantry.
• A little extra veggies and liquid can make it stretch a bit farther for a small additional cost all the while adding nutritional value and reducing calories per serving.
• I use a manual food processor to shred the chicken but you can also use two forks .
• My crockpot is not big enough to combine everything in, so I had to transition to a large stock pot on the stove once the chicken was cooked. If you have a big enough crockpot, feel free to combine everything in there.
• The original recipe that I adapted can be found here.

Cost for the batch: $7.76
Cost for a serving: $0.86
Calories for the batch: 2,776
Calories for a serving: 308