A while back, I tried my hand at re-creating a delicious soup I had eaten at a restaurant. It became my Wicked Thai Chicken Soup recipe. I learned afterwards, that the soup I ate was probably one of Campbell’s™ commercial soups.
I was recently contact by a reader, Paula, who told me about another one of Campbell’s™ commercial soups that she had eaten recently and asked me if I would have a go at re-creating that one to make at home, too. I’m always up for a challenge, but this one had an added twist – I have never actually tasted the soup!
So I gave some thought to what was probably in this soup, based on what Paula told me, and this past weekend, I did a test run. The resulting soup was really good, so I’m going to share it here. As for whether it tastes like the soup that Paula tried, we’ll have to wait until she tries it and lets us know :)
Anyway, on with the chowder …
Chipotle Chicken, Rice and Corn Chowder
Summary: This is a hearty, Tex-Mex inspired chicken and rice chowder. It’s a perfect dinner soup. If you like heat, consider adding the optional chipotle peppers, but do be careful how much you add if you’re feeding kids. Those things pack a real heat whollop. This chowder is a perfect use for left-over cooked chicken or try it with chicken taken off a rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup jalapeno pepper, cored and seeded, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup red pepper, cored and seeded, finely chopped
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/4 cup wild rice
- 1/3 cup brown rice *see note below
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste (mainly for colour, so optional if you don’t have some handy or don’t want to open a can)
- 3/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder (easily available, but you can use regular chili powder as well)
- Optional, for some heat: 1-2 tsp. finely diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 2 cups COOKED chicken, shredded or diced into quite small pieces of 1/2-inch square or so
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, over medium heat, melt butter. Add the onion, jalapeno and red peppers. Cook, stirring, until just tender. Add the stock and water and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Add the wild and brown rice, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the brown rice is just tender.
- Add cumin, tomato paste and chili powder and salt and pepper, if needed. Add the frozen corn and cooked chicken and allow to cook over medium-low heat until warmed through and the corn is cooked. In a measuring cup, stir together the milk and cornstarch. Add to soup and cook, stirring, until the soup thickens. Serve and enjoy.
- *Notes: Rice in soups is a bit tricky. It’s all good when the soup is just cooked and immediately consumed, but if you’ll be cooking ahead or planning on left-overs, it has a habit of absorbing all the lovely liquid in the soup. If you’re making ahead, I’d be tempted to cook the rice separately and stir into the soup before serving and thickening. You can also re-thin, with a bit of water or milk (although sometimes this dilutes the flavours of the soup). Or, you can just enjoy left-overs that are a bit more stew-ish than soup-ish.
Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 30 min | Total time: 45 min
Number of servings (yield): 4
Chipotle Chicken, Rice and Corn Chowder - Food and Family
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