Home Kitchen Chicken Forester Soup

Happy December! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I’ve been holding onto this dish 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 go-to 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 savory 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 cook this Chicken Forester Soup Set out:

• 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 completely 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!