Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Of course with this crazy cold weather, soup is so popular and lately I've been making a lot. I like to make soup for dinner because it can be made early in the day and kept warm or easily warmed up. And the best part is there is usually plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

I pinned (as in Pinterest) this Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice soup awhile ago because it's one of my favorite soups and I just finally got around to making it. So filling and delicious and I love the texture of wild rice. This recipe is basic, easy and delicious.

The recipe below is from Cooking Classy, a very cute food blog. The recipe calls for Lundberg Wild Blend Rice and I looked for it at 3 stores before I finally found it at Wal-Mart! So crazy because I'm not there often but just ran in for something else and randomly thought to look for it! But I was happy because I was about to buy some other wild rice blends and this brand is half the price!

3/4 cup uncooked wild rice blend (I used Lundberg Wild Blend Rice)

1 small yellow onion, chopped 

3 carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

7 Tbsp butter, diced, divided

1 clove garlic, minced

3 14.5 oz low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp of each dried thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts halves

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp lemon zest

Prepare rice according to directions listed on package.

Halfway through the rice cooking, in a separate large pot, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and saute until slightly tender, about 4 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of sauteing. 

Add chicken broth, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Increase heat to medium-high, add chicken and bring mixture to a boil. Cover pot with lid and allow mixture to boil 12 - 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (rotating chicken to opposite side once during cooking for thicker chicken breasts - if they don't fully immerse in broth). 

Remove chicken and set aside on cutting board to cool and then shred into small bite size pieces. 

Meanwhile reduce heat to low and add cooked rice. Add shredded chicken to soup.

In a separate medium saucepan, melt remaining 6 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook 1 1/2 minutes, whisking constantly. Then, while whisking vigorously, slowly pour milk into butter/flour mixture. Cook mixture, stirring constantly until it thickens. 

Add milk mixture to soup mixture in pot and cook about 5 minutes longer, or until soup is thickened. 

Stir in heavy cream and lemon zest and serve warm.

Recipe credit from Cooking Classy