I came up with this recipe by involving my 4 year old daughter in deciding what to make for dinner. I showed her photos of different types of soups and she kept picking ones that were creamy chicken. I love how this recipe is super simple but tastes so good. I like to purée about one-third of the soup and add it back to the rest of the soup to make it extra rich and creamy.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into 1-inch chunks
- Salt and pepper
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp salt (** If using store bought chicken stock, you will need less salt)
- ½ cup flour
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; Remove from pot and set aside.
- Melt butter in the pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and 2 tsp salt ( if using store-bought stock, don't use as much salt!). Cook another minute without getting any browning.
- Whisk in the flour until it gets a golden color, about 1 minute. Whisk in chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme, cooked chicken, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Simmer the soup for about 15 minutes, or until the carrots are al-dente.
- With the flame very low, stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Remove about one-third of the soup (omitting chicken) and blend until smooth. Add back into the pot. **This step makes the soup rich and creamy. You can skip this, but I highly recommend doing it!**
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste if needed.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley.
