Hearty Simple One-Pot Chicken and Rice Soup

The Crooked Ladle

Cozy Up to this Tasteful Comfort Food

Cozy Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

How welcoming is a bowl of piping hot soup to take the chill off of a cool day. Well, I’ll tell you that this recipe does the trick for my family. This chicken and rice soup warms your bones seemingly melting one’s cares away in just a few bites. It’s a simple creamy comfort meal filled with ultimate soothing flavors garnered from healthy vegetables and protein rich chicken. Best of all this soup offers subtle warming flavors assured to deliver a pleasurable meal.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 35

Suggested Tools:

· Stock pot or cast-iron Dutch oven

· Chopping board

· Small bowl

· Large stir spoon

· Soup ladle

· Sharp knife

· Measuring cup

· Measuring spoons

· Spatula

· Vegetable peeler

Ingredients:

. 2 cups - chicken breasts or thighs, boneless/skinless chopped into ½ inch bite size pieces

· Long grain rice – Either ¾ cup white rice or 1 ½ cooked brown rice

· ¾ cup - yellow onion, peeled and diced well

· 1 cup - carrots, peeled and diced finely

· 3/4 cup celery, washed, remove celery strings and dice finely

· 1 teaspoon - fresh garlic, peeled and finely minced

· 4 cups - chicken broth

· 1 cup - heavy cream

· ¾ cup evaporated milk

· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or for gluten-free, cornstarch or gluten-free flour

· 1 tablespoon - olive oil

· 1 tablespoon butter

· Spices: ½ teaspoon each of dried Oregano – Tarragon - Thyme

· Salt and pepper to taste

Note: For a healthier version, replace the cream with an equal portion of the chicken broth.

Instructions:

1. Add to a small bowl, 3 tablespoons of flour or cornstarch. Then stir in 1 cup broth and mix to make a slurry. Set aside for later use in step 4.

2. Heat the olive oil and butter in the stock pot on low temperature until the butter is melted and then on medium/low heat sauté the carrots, onion and celery together for about ten minutes or until the vegetables become tender, stirring occasionally during the sauté.

3. Add garlic and the spices and sauté for 5 more minutes.

4. Turn stove-top temperature to a lower heat (between low and medium) and add one cup of the chicken broth, followed by the flour/broth slurry you made earlier. Mix quickly while adding - at one cup at a time - the remaining two cups of broth, stirring all the while. Add the cream and rice and stir. Cook for ten minutes.

5. Add the chicken, then the salt and pepper to taste and cook for ten more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Note: If you wish to make the soup thicker at this point, simply add a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch to a small bowl or mug and mix in ¼ cup of the existing soup liquid to make a small slurry. Then add the slurry to the soup pot and stir. Cook for five more minutes or so. Taste soup to determine if it needs additional salt.