Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 8-12
Equipment
- Large pot
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs bone in skin on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion medium diced
- 3 large carrots medium diced
- 1 fennel bulb cored, medium diced
- 2 large celery stalks medium diced (celery leaves reserved for serving)
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms quartered
- 5 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme bundled with twine if you have it!
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup wild rice blend cooked according to package directions (cooks to about 2 cups!)
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup each chopped fresh parsley and dill
- lemon zest lemon juice, celery leaves, olive oil, and black pepper, for serving
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs all over with kosher salt and black pepper. Add oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add chicken thighs skin side down, and sear until deeply golden, about 10-15 minutes. Flip and cook second side about 3 minutes more.
- Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add onion, carrot, fennel, celery, and garlic to the pot. Cook for about 3 minutes, just until veggies start to sweat. (they are going to cook mostly in the broth!)
- Add in mushrooms and cook just slightly, about 2 minutes more.
- Pour in chicken stock and add in bay leaves and thyme. Return chicken to the pot. Bring mixture to a simmer.
- Simmer on low for 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked (at least 185ºF), and vegetables are tender.
- Remove chicken from soup. Let chicken cool for a few minutes so you can handle it. Remove skin and discard. Shred chicken and return to soup. (you can leave the soup on low while you do this!)
- Remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- In a small bowl, mash up the butter and flour until a paste forms. Add mixture into the soup and bring to a simmer. Cook until lightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in rice and heavy cream. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
- Stir in fresh herbs
- Serve topped with lemon zest, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a few celery leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper. So comforting!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
