Marsha's Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Because I can't leave well enough alone, I took a chicken and wild rice soup recipe from a friend, changed some things up, and here is my tasty version! Enjoy! (We sure did!)

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts chicken broth (64 oz.)
• 1/2 pound chopped mushrooms (opt.)
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup shredded or chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup additional broth (for roux, or use broth directly from the soup)
• 3 cups cooked wild rice
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• garlic salt or other seasonings to taste

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and shimmer for 30 minutes.
2. In another pan, make roux by melting butter, then stir in flour until smooth. 
3. Gradually whisk in extra 1/2 cup broth (or take some out of the other soup pot with the veggies in it) and can of cream soup. Cook mixture over heat (bubbling) for about 2 minutes, adding enough broth until it is runny enough that you can add it to the main pot of soup without clumps. 
4. Once you feel it is safe to add the roux (I feel like it should be pour-able and could take more than 1/2 cup extra broth to achieve this), pour it into the main soup pot with the veggies. Add your rice and chicken and heat through until combined. 
5. Taste-test and if desired, add a small sprinkling of your desired seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic salt, etc.) over the top of the pot, stir and taste again.

Marsha's Notes:

I probably used a cup or more of broth from the cooking veggies until I got my roux the right consistency to add to my main pot.

For whatever reason, when I am making soups and things, if I taste test the soup and something doesn't seem quite "tasty enough", a small sprinkling of garlic salt usually does the trick. Just don't add much, stir, and keep tasting until you notice a difference or are happy. If things already seem too salty or garlicy, you can try pepper or other complimentary seasonings, but garlic salt is kind of my go-to.

However, I found that if I used a pre-seasoned wild rice blend, like this Uncle Ben's, then no additional seasoning is usually needed.

This one box was the perfect amount for this soup recipe, no additional seasoning required.

But if you use a plain wild rice, you may need to add those extra seasonings mentioned above (like the salt, pepper, and/or garlic salt).

Plain wild rice that might make your soup require additional seasoning to taste.