Copy-Cat Panera Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Raquel Grinnell's Note:

I literally CRAVE this amazing, hearty soup from Panera when the weather begins to chill.... this is the closest recipe I have found to theirs. The best part is, it's ready in less than an hour!! I've found that the reviews are right and have lessened the amount of flour; originally 1 cup; just use 1/2 or a bit more depending on how thick you like your soup (Panera's is VERY thick).

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 1.0 pot of ...

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 chicken breast halves (cooked, boneless and cubed)
• 1 (6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice blend, quick cooking version (You will use the seasoning packet. I used Uncle Bens roasted chicken flavor)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup butter (12 tbsp. or a stick and a half)
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 3 cups light cream (can lighten by substituting part or all of the cream with fat-free evaporated milk, or half-and-half)

Directions:

1. Open rice, pull out seasoning packet and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine pepper and flour. Set aside.
3. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth and chicken. Bring to a boil, then stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat.
4. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in contents of seasoning packet, and continue cooking vegetables until softened, about 5 minutes more. Add seasoned flour gradually while constantly stirring, to form a roux. Saute roux for 3-4 minutes to cook out raw flour taste.
5. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
6. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is done,15-20 minutes.
7. Alternatively, for those who cannot get the quick-cooking version of the rice, I have put the broth on to boil and cooked the 25-minute version of long grain and wild rice blend according to the directions, while sauteeing the veggies in the butter. I tend to cook the veggies longer this way, and I like them quite soft. I then follow the rest of the directions above, adding the rice/broth to the cream mixture. I've also used fat-free half and half with no appreciable difference in flavor. Enjoy!

Reviews

[cakeworks]

Panera's rice soup is my absolute favorite! I've been looking for this recipe for about 3 years! I used all ingredients as called for. Soup was just the right texture and thickness. The only thing I will change for next time is the seasoning mix in the rice. I will cut that by at least 1/2. The flavors of the spices were way too intense! Panera's has a subtle flavor and I didn't feel like there was anything subtle about this. Had company for dinner & they all enjoyed it, just too intense for me. Can't wait to try it again, as I can certainly see the potential for this to become my favorite soup at home! I live a long way from Panera's and I crave this soup all winter long! Yum! Yum! It's October so I'm ready to master this! Thanks SOOOOOOO MUCH for the recipe!

[Jili]

Yum! This is the soup I love at Panera, so I was glad to find a recipe at all. And this one was excellent. I was glad I read the reviews, though, and used half the flour; it would have been like cement if I had any more! I also used a wild rice instead of the Uncle Ben's because I had it and we're trying to avoid the high-sodium mixes (and I had about 1 1/2 cups already cooked). I used an additional 1/3 cup uncooked rice boiled in 4 cups of broth with finely chopped carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. I also used half & half because that's what I had.

Thanks for posting this recipe, Raquel! I can't wait for something like having the girls over for lunch to make it again!

[catsoplenty]

Oh my, my, my!!! This soup is delicious!!! I had to make a few adjustments since I had the long-cooking Uncle Ben's Rice. I'm assuming this recipe is for the quick-cooking version since it said to pour in the rice and remove from heat. My adjustments were to use 7 cups of broth (to make up for the long-cooking rice soaking up more liquid), 1/2 cup of butter, scant 1/2 cup of flour and 2 cups of heavy cream. I changed the amount of flour because I was afraid of it turning too thick. I knew I could add more later if I needed to. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I have never had Panera's version of this soup......but I can't imagine it tasting any better!!! This was sooooooo yummy!! Thanks so much for posting!!