Turkey and Wild Rice Crock Pot Recipe

Well, Thanksgiving was fun!  Leftovers are fun too...what to do with all that food?  Well, tonight I tried a new recipe using my leftover turkey.  It was a hit with the hubby and me and the kids choked it down (unless it's straight sugar, they choke down everything I serve...).  The best part?  It took 5 minutes to prepare this morning and the crock pot did all the work during the day and we had a wonderful soup to warm up to!  It took another 5 or 10 minutes to do the last minute stuff in the recipe, but no big deal.  Pair it up with some leftover rolls and some eggnog or sparkling cider and we were all set!  (I paired mine up with leftover Hot Buttered Rum, but let's not split hairs...)

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup {Crock Pot}

 

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 (4.3 oz) pkg. Long Grain Wild Rice (any brand)
• 1 cup diced or chopped carrots
• 1 cup diced or chopped celery
• 1/2 onion diced
• ½ tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups cooked and shredded turkey or chicken

Instructions

1. In a slow cooker, add the broth, water, rice mix along with seasonings from seasoning packet, carrots, and celery. Stir to combine.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. When soup is almost ready, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour, salt, and pepper, to the butter and whisk together. Cook for a minute or two until the mixture begins to turn golden brown.
4. Slowly whisk the milk into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined. Stir the mixture into the soup in the slow cooker until well combined.
5. Add the turkey or chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5-10 more minutes until the turkey or chicken is heated through. Serves 8.

Notes

For a broth type soup, you can skip making the cream mixture and just and the turkey or chicken.   Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen.

For my version, I totally forgot to add in the 2 cups water.  Still came out wonderful.  And I accidentally bought beef stock and not turkey or chicken...still was great.  I also cooked mine for only 5 hours since I'm not fond of mushy veggies in my soups (started it at noonish - chopped up veggies and started the cooker after going shopping in the morning with the hubby.  And, unfortunately, it wasn't for Christmas presents...our dishwasher went kaput just before Thanksgiving Dinner started...nice timing, huh?)

All in all, very good.  It made plenty for my family of four, so I will freeze the leftovers and reheat again for another cold night.  Should keep very well in the freezer, even with the milk in it.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!