Chicken Rice Soup

chicken broth base along with water

fresh carrots, peeled and sliced

celery, chopped

The finished dish... mm mm good

rotisserie chicken

sweet Vidalia onion

leftover white rice

Secret ingredient

I had a bunch of white rice leftover and was getting sick of fried rice. So I decided to make some chicken rice soup. Start out by peeling and chopping a sweet onion (I used two onions but I was making a pretty big pot of soup and I love onions), and some carrots. (I used three large carrots but next time I will use more). Chop up some celery. (I used about 6 stalks).

In a large pot, heat some olive oil (I actually used peanut oil this time because it was closer to me than the olive oil) over med-hi heat and then toss in the veggies and some fresh minced garlic. (I used three large cloves, but I like lots of garlic). Cook and stir about 5 to 8 minutes. Then dump the chicken broth on it, bring to a boil, turn down to low and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull all the chicken meat off the pre-cooked delicious rotisserie chicken you bought. (I LOVE rotisserie chickens!). Cut it into bite size pieces.

After the veggies have simmered for the 20 minutes, throw in all the chicken, and whatever leftover rice you have (I happened to have about 3 cups worth and I put it ALL in there).  You should now add a couple of cups of water and whatever spices you want. I only used some lemon pepper seasoning, and a little salt. Then, this part is totally optional, but I put in a packet of Sazon con azafran which makes the soup yellow and gives it a mild saffron flavor. I love using Sazon in a lot of cooking.

Just warm the soup through and eat!  Tastes even better the next day! I brought some for the gals at work and they went CRAZY over it.

Oddly, I have never made chicken rice soup before..... so this was my first time. I basically took my chicken noodle soup recipe and replaced the noodles with the rice. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Even David ate two or three bowls of it!

If you prefer a "creamy" consistency you could add a can of cream of chicken soup, or a can of cream of mushroom soup at the end. I liked the thinner consistency this time. The rice really absorbs the liquid so you may have to add a lot of water. I think I added 5 cups water in addition to the broth. I was surprised the rice absorbed liquid (seeing as how it is already cooked), but it totally did.

Delicious and I will make it again and again.

Quick Guide to Ingredients

2 large sweet onions, peeled and chopped
3 (or more) carrots, peeled and sliced
6 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)

1 whole rotisserie chicken, discard skin, and chop up all the meat on the chicken.
3 cups of cooked (leftover) white or brown rice. (I used white)

48 oz Chicken Broth
3 to 5 cups of water
Sazon con azafran (optional)
seasonings as desired: I used salt, pepper, lemon pepper. You could add whatever you want.