Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Okra & Tomatoes

Ever get a craving for something soul-satisfying and yummy delicious, but healthy and delicious as well? All the time, right? This Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Okra & Tomatoes checks all those boxes, and more. It’s a perfect transition soup, full of fresh, late summer vegetables simmered in broth, but substantial enough–with roasted chicken and nutty wild rice– to make you feel like fall is in the air.

The best way to use leftover Rotisserie Chicken

This hearty soup is the best way we know to use leftover roasted chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken. Wild rice cooked in broth gives the soup nutty flavor and dense, chewy texture, similar to steel-cut oats. We like to finish it off with chopped tomatoes and okra for fresh pops of color and flavor. An added bonus, the okra thickens the soup and turns it into something more like your favorite stew!

What Exactly is ‘Wild Rice?’

Wild rice is technically not a rice at all, or so they tell me. It’s a seed produced by grasses grown along fresh water, such as the northern Great Lakes. Whatever it is or isn’t, wild rice definitely packs a powerhouse punch nutritionally speaking. It clocks in at twice the plant-based protein of its white and brown rice cousins. Plus, it has all the texture and flavor of your favorite steel cut oats. I am totally obsessed with it.

Doesn’t Soup Take Forever to Make?

Not this Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Okras & Tomatoes! You’ve already done the hard part by roasting the chicken and preparing a stock with its carcass. If you’re using a rotisserie chicken, it takes 5 minutes to take the meat off the bones and, hopefully, you’ve defrosted your homemade stock. If not, Kitchen Basics boxed stock will do in a pinch.

Put your rice on to boil and simmer for 45 minutes.
Dice your vegetables, reserving the okra and tomatoes.
Saute the onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic in oil, adding the Cajun spices.
Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the tomatoes, okra, chicken, and broth. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

How can I easily store homemade stock?

After years of driving different homemade stock storage methods, I’ve finally found the best route. For years I tried everything from gallon-ziplock bags (yikes) to mason jars.

Recently, I found these Silicone Soup Freezing Trays. They have been a lifesaver! I love to save my homemade stock in these 1-cup soup freezer storage bins. When I’m in need of stock, I just pop one section out easily and place the rest back in the freezer.

Can’t I just cook the rice in the broth?

Many chicken and soup recipes call for you to add the wild rice to the soup pot so that it cooks along with the other ingredients. We find that this method gives you less control over the rice’s cooking time so that you end up with undercooked rice or, more often, mushy over-cooked rice. Cooking the wild rice on its own and adding it at the end best preserves the wild rice’s unique chewy texture and sweet/nutty flavor!

Roasted Chicken and Wild RIce Soup

January 7, 2021

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 45 min

Total: 1 hr 5 min

Difficulty: Easy

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This Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is the perfect Fall & Winter soup, full of fresh vegetables simmered in broth, but substantial enough--with roasted chicken and nutty wild rice-- to make you feel like fall is in the air.

By: Marion

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
2 stalks celery, (1 cup)
2 medium carrots, diced (1 cup)
½ bell pepper, any color, diced (½ cup)
3 cloves garlic
½ jalapeno, diced (optional)
2 tbsp. neutral oil, such as avocado
Kosher salt
1-2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
1 heaping tbsp. Tomato paste
1 14-oz. can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup okra, sliced, fresh or frozen
3 cups shredded left-over roasted or rotisserie chicken
6 cups chicken broth
Wedge of fresh lemon
1 cup wild rice
3 cups chicken broth

Directions

Step 1 In a saucepan, bring 1 cup of wild rice to a boil in 3 cups of salted water (add about 2 tsp. Salt to water).
Step 2 Let it boil for 5 minutes, then cover and simmer for about 40-45 minutes.
Step 3 Dice the onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and jalapeno if you’re using.
Step 4 Mince the garlic.
Step 5 Heat the oil in a Dutch oven, and saute the diced vegetables for about 2-3 minutes.
Step 6 While the vegetables are sauteeing, add a sprinkling of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of the Cajun Seasoning, and stir to blend.
Step 7 Add the minced or crushed garlic and stir.
Step 8 Next, add the the tomato paste and stir to incorporate. Taste and add the other tablespoon of Cajun seasoning if you like (we do).
Step 9 Add the Rotel tomatoes and the sliced okra and stir.
Step 10 Finally, add the shredded chicken and the chicken broth and to the dutch oven. Simmer for about 25-30 minutes.
Step 11 During the last 15 minutes of simmering, add at least 3 cups of cooked wild rice to the soup and stir.
Step 12 Squeeze the wedge of fresh lemon over the soup and serve!