Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut in half
• 1 1/4 cups brown rice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp butter (optional)
• 9 cups chicken broth

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in order in a slow cooker.
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Check the rice to see if it is done after about 4 hours. It will continue to absorb the liquid from the broth if you leave it in the slow cooker for too long, and every slow cooker (Crock-Pot) is different.
• Thirty minutes before serving, remove the chicken from slow cooker and shred or cut into cubes.
• Return chicken to the slow cooker, cook for thirty more minutes, and serve.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe Tips

1.  Use fresh seasonings, as mentioned above.  Feel free to add more or less depending on your taste.  I tend to use a little more because I love the taste of the seasonings in the soup – especially the sage and rosemary!
2. If you are watching fat content, you can totally skip the butter.  The butter gives a little more richness to the broth, but it is not necessary.  The soup will taste just as good without it.
3. This soup thickens when it cools.  I love leftovers of this soup because the flavors really come out after it sits for a day or two, but it will be a thicker soup than when you eat it straight from the Slow Cooker.  If you prefer a thinner soup, just add some water to it when re-heating to give it the consistency you desire.
4. Serve this soup with a crusty bread or dinner roll.

Source ; allrecipeS.Com