Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Bacon

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Bacon

Ah, soup!  As I have shared before on this blog, I love soup.  I love soup any day of the year.  I also love bacon, rice, and chicken.  Tonight's delicious offering came from PinchofYum.com with my picky modifications and omissions, and I offer my sincere thanks for the perfect storm of flavors.

Prep time: 30 minutes        Cook time: 1 hour (give or take)

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 (10¾ oz) cans condensed chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 cups half and half (but I used whole milk)
• 1½ cup cubed or shredded cooked chicken (we used a rotisserie chicken to save time)
• 8 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled (I baked mine in the oven)

Instructions

In a large saucepan, combine chicken broth and water. Add wild rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30-45 minutes (or until rice is tender). Once the rice is cooked, there will be some additional broth – do not drain.

Wild rice mix simmering in the chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour, salt, and seasoning. I mixed my flour, salt and seasoning together first and then slowly added it to my melted butter.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.  Mine was very thick.

Gradually stir in half and half with the butter/flour mixture and cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.  Keep the heat medium and keep stirring.  Mine got a little lumpy.

Add this creamy mixture back into the saucepan with the rice/broth. Add the chicken and bacon. Heat on low, stirring every once in a while, for at least a half an hour. Do not boil. The mixture may look thin, but the longer you heat the soup, the more the flavors blend and the more it will thicken. 

Serve with warm rolls for delicious meal.