Creamy Chicken & Rice Soup

It was one of those days that were extremely busy and I decided to purchase a rotisserie chicken at Sam’s Club for our supper. When I got home with it, I wanted to take that chicken breast and turn it into something really savory. The search I did on Pinterest led me to a favorite site – Sally’s Baking Addiction. She has some incredible recipes that I’ve tried in the past and this one did not disappoint, either! My pictures don’t give this soup an accurate representation. Why not? Because it was so good, I ate half of my portion and THEN remembered to snap a photo! (Any other bloggers relate?)

I followed her recipe pretty closely and the result was the best chicken soup ever! I had been to Panera Bread in recent days and enjoyed their chicken and rice soup, but I have to say, this recipe surpassed theirs! Sally’s recipe calls for noodles, but I opted for rice. I also used half milk and the other part half and half.

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

• 1 Tablespoonunsalted butter
• 3/4 cup  chopped yellow onion 
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 8 cups Chicken broth
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 2 Cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced
• 1 cup Half and Half or whole milk (I used 1/2 Cup of each)
• 1 cup rice (I cooked Minute Rice and added it at the end)

Melt the butter in a large pot (4 quart or larger) over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Stir in flour and seasonings; cook for 2 minutes.

Next, add the chicken broth and potato. Stir, then increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the soup to a boil, without stirring, and boil for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot, and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes have softened. Taste the soup, and add more seasonings to taste, if desired.

Add the chicken, half-and-half/milk and rice. Once again, taste the soup and add more seasoning as desired. Serve warm.

**Every time I reheated the soup, I added more chicken broth to thin it out a bit. It was perfectly creamy and so very satisfying!

Don’t you love it when a recipe makes plenty and then you look forward to lunch leftovers? That’s what happened here! Even though soup weather is kind of coming to a close (hallelujah!) I always like to have a good recipe ready for days when stomachs need the comfort chicken soup brings. Stick this one in your files; you won’t regret it!