Chicken Forester Soup is a creamy soup consisting of chicken, mushrooms, spinach and rice. Simple yet satisfying, and perfect with a hunk of grainy bread. Yields 8 servings in under an hour.
Happy December! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I’ve been holding onto this recipe for awhile now. A few weekends ago, my mom stopped by for a short visit. She brought a container of Chicken Forester Soup from a nearby market for us to have for lunch and I heated up a loaf of bread for us to dip in our soup.
My mom recently discovered this soup and it quickly became one of her favorites and she hoped I could taste it and do my best to recreate it. In it, mushrooms, spinach and shredded cooked chicken along with a smattering of rice are swimming in a light creamy broth. It is earthy and so delicious that I wrote out a rough draft for the recipe that night. To be fair, my mom left me the label with somewhat of an ingredient list to go by.
With that said, personally, I think I nailed it. 😉
To Make This Chicken Forester Soup You Will Need:
- low-sodium chicken broth
- half & half
- water
- unsalted butter
- yellow onion
- mushrooms
- rubbed sage
- garlic powder
- turmeric
- unbleached all-purpose flour
- long grain white rice
- baby spinach
- leftover shredded cooked chicken
- freshly ground black pepper
In a saucepan, pour in 4 cups low sodium chicken broth, 2 cups water and 2 cups half & half and heat on low to medium-low until warm.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat.
Add in 1/2 of a yellow onion that has been diced fine.
Add in 1 pound sliced mushrooms and toss in the butter. I’m using a blend of cremini (or baby Bella), shiitake and oyster mushrooms. However, you can totally use whatever you can find or prefer.
Toss the mushrooms in the butter before adding in 3/4 teaspoon rubbed sage, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
Next, sprinkle with 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour.
Stir and cook the flour for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in 1/3 cup long grain wild rice.
While stirring, pour in the warm broth and half & half into the dutch oven with the mushrooms.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the rice has cooked and the soup has thickened. About 20 to 25 minutes.
Once thickened, add in 8 ounces baby spinach and 2 to 3 cups leftover cooked and shredded chicken.
Stir and cook until the chicken is heated through and the spinach has wilted.
Taste and season with 2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste) and lots of freshly ground black pepper, also to taste.
Ladle the hot soup into bowls.
And serve with a loaf of crusty, whole grain bread.
This soup makes a lot and can easily be reheated, slowly on the stove top or in a microwave.
Enjoy! And if you give this Chicken Forester Soup recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Chicken Forester Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, (or 1 quart)
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups half & half, see notes
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
- kosher salt
- 1 pound mushrooms, sliced (a blend of cremini, button, shiitake and/or oyster)
- 3/4 teaspoon sage, rubbed
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup long grain white rice
- 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded leftover roasted or rotisserie
- 4 to 5 handfuls baby spinach
- black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
- Pour the broth, water and half & half into a sauce pan and heat on low until warm. Do not boil.
- Meanwhile, melt butter over medium to medium-low heat. Add in the onion with a pinch of kosher salt. Stir and cook until soft and translucent. About 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add in mushrooms, sage, garlic powder and turmeric. Stir and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle in lour and stir and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the rice and while stirring, pour in warm liquids. Bring to a simmer on medium-to medium high and then reduce heat to low until soup has thickened and rice is cooked. About 20 minutes.
- Stir in shredded chicken, baby spinach and cook until the chicken is heated through and the spinach has wilted.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Buy the Cookbook: Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy Now available on Amazon »
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Hi! Can this soup be frozen?
You CAN freeze dairy-base soups, but they tend to separate on defrosting and that can be pretty unpleasant.
Could you make this and leave out chicken all together and add more mushrooms or maybe a different meat and still taste good? Wasnt sure if ground beef would be okay or not. If not, maybe just 2lbs mushrooms and no chicken?
Hi Kayla! Without testing it, it’s hard to say. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turned out for you!
This looks like so soothing, so comforting. Can’t wait to try this. Why is there an asterisk next to the half and half?
can you freeze left over soup?
Sure! Just reheat on low and slowly.
Fantastic winter soup recipe! Added carrots, peas and made some biscuits to dip in it. My husband loved it!!! I even substituted 2% milk for the half and half. It was still creamy and delicious 🙂
Could you use almond flour and brown rice ?
Hi Amy! I haven’t tested this recipe with either brown rice or almond flour, so unfortunately I can’t say for sure. The only thing with brown rice, is that it takes longer to cook, so times may vary.