Panera Chicken & Wild Rice Soup (Crockpot Copycat)

Because I have a food blog, you probably think that I cook all of the time. No. In fact, I have managed to get it down to no more than three, maybe four days a week. I'm not all that different from you, some days I like to cook, but some days I really don't. Unfortunately, even on the days when I don't want to cook I still have to eat. So I always seek the path of least resistance, and by that I mean the crockpot.

It's warm and breezy as I write this, but big changes are in the air. Next week the highs are going to be in the 40s, the lows in the 30s, my kind of fall weather. I cleaned out the fireplace today, set a fire, and decided a big batch of chicken and wild rice soup would be perfect. I had seen the copycat recipe for Panera's Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, but the thought of paying attention to something on the stove was not appealing. I took a look at the recipe, and just knew that it could be easily done in the crockpot.

As it turned out, I was right! Essentially, after I chopped the celery, carrots, and onion, I threw everything into the crockpot (including an entire frozen breast of chicken), with the exception of the dairy ingredients. Because I had thrown the chicken in frozen, I cranked it up to high and let it do its thing for about six hours. At that point, I removed the chicken, cut it into bite-size pieces, added it back to the pot, along with the cream and cornstarch slurry, and had a wonderfully delicious and soothing soup. The remainder of it went into single serve containers (I use these, that also make soup easy for gifting.) that I marked and stuck in the freezer. I am set with chicken soup all winter.

Panera Chicken & Wild Rice Soup (Crockpot Copycat)

6 cups homemade chicken stock
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces (or not)
1 box Rice-A-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice
2 large carrots, sliced
2 large ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Spray the interior of your 6-quart slow cooker with Pam. Place all ingredients EXCEPT the heavy cream, cornstarch, and water, into the slow cooker in the order listed. Set to "high" and cook 5 to 6 hours, until vegetables are fork tender and the chicken and rice are done. 

Remove chicken (if, like me, you tossed in an entire breast), cut into bite-size pieces and return meat to the pot. Pour in heavy cream stirring to combine. Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup water whisking to ensure there are no lumps, and stir into the soup. Return the lid, and allow to cook another 15 minutes until it reaches desired thickness. 

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Full Plate Thursday, Dishing It & Digging It, Cooking & Crafting with J&J, Amaze Me Monday, Busy Mondays, Make it Pretty Monday, Celebrate Your Story, O My Heartsie Girls Wonderful Wednesday,  Homestead Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Grace at Home, Friday at the Fire Station, Foodie Friday & Everything Else, Create, Bake, Grow and Gather, Share Your Style, Simple Saturday Blog Hop, A Bouquet of Talent, Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party, What’s for Dinner Sunday, Happiness is Homemade Sunday