Hearty Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

I love chicken soup! Especially when the weather starts to get cool. This soup is so delicious that after I finished eating my first bowl I promptly announced that I wish I could go back in time so I could eat it again! No joke. But food is also bae! I went with rice instead of noodles because I felt it made the soup more hearty.

If you want to cut the prep time down skip steps 1-3 and add all ingredients (except brown rice) to your slow cooker. BUT, I personally think those extra 5 minutes are worth it!

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Yields: 5 servings

Macros per serving: 17C/8F/14P
Calories per serving: 200

Ingredients:

1/2 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 litre low sodium chicken broth
2 drumsticks (skin removed after cooking)
2 skinless chicken thighs
3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
500 ml water
3 celery sticks (chopped)
2 1/2 carrots (chopped) you can nibble on the other half while you cook!
1/2 zucchini (sliced into half moons)
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. oil
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Add the olive oil and butter to a medium sized pan. When hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté until fragrant.
2. Next, add in the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper.
3. When all the vegetables (except the zucchini) are cooked add them to your slow cooker.
4. Then, add your chicken broth, water, chicken, bay leaf, dried parsley and sliced zucchini to the slow cooker. Basically add all the other ingredients except the rice to your slow cooker.
5. Cook on low for 7 hours on low.
6. After 7 hours, add the uncooked brown rice to the slow cooker and let the soup cook for 1 additional hour.
7. When done, I personally like to remove all the chicken from the soup, remove the skin, bones and cartilage, shred it and add it back in (I added 5 minutes to the recipe just for this step).

TIPS:

• You can also add dehydrated vegetables (think dried soup mix without salt)
• Decrease the time by skipping the sautéeing process
• Add more stock if you like your soup more….soupy
• Don’t add too much more rice unless you also add more stock because it absorbs all the liquid
• This is a great meal to freeze and enjoy later