Chicken Cauliflower Rice Soup |Cooking With Amanda

This creamy chicken and cauliflower rice soup is a soul-warming comfort food that's perfect for rainy spring days. I dreamed it up earlier this year when I was doing Whole 30, but it's remained a favorite ever since.

It all started when I was making Thai red curry chicken over cauliflower rice. Cauliflower rice – essentially just finely grated cauliflower – is a little shorter than regular white rice and it reminded me of the pastina pasta that's used in chicken and stars soup. Even though I hadn't had chicken and stars or chicken and rice soup in years, I immediately started craving it.

This creamy chicken and cauliflower rice soup was the answer to my craving. Plus. it was a nice change of pace from the Whole 30 roast vegetable soup that I had been relying on for an easy snack. The cauliflower rice amps up the nutrition, and adds more flavor to the soup than plain white rice does.

Adding coconut milk to the broth makes the soup rich and creamy while keeping it Whole 30/paleo friendly. The coconut milk does add a slight Thai vibe to the soup (a tablespoon of curry paste would feel right at home stirred into the broth) but it's nothing too out there.

To make the soup, start by sautéing some onion, celery, and carrot in ghee or olive oil. You might be tempted to just throw everything in the pot, but this step is actually really important. It helps the vegetables soften (otherwise it takes for-ev-er) and helps develop their flavor.

Once the vegetables start to soften, it's time to add the broth or stock. Since this soup is so simple, I like to use a good quality, flavorful stock like this browned chicken stock that's rich in color and flavor. Quality store-bought broth also works – look for one that's roasted or browned if possible. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it down to a simmer and add the chicken.

For this soup, I poach the chicken in the broth, then shred it and return it to the pot along with the riced cauliflower. I really like the contrasting texture of the long pieces of shredded chicken with the smaller pieces of cauliflower.

Add some canned coconut milk at the end to make the soup nice and creamy. If you aren't concerned with keeping the recipe paleo, you can also go the more traditional route of stirring a tablespoon of flour into the vegetables before adding the broth and swapping the coconut milk out for dairy milk.

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Chicken Cauliflower Rice Soup Recipe

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons Ghee, or olive oil
1 small Onion, chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks Celery, diced
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme
4 cups Chicken Stock, or broth
1 Bay Leaf
1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
2 cups Cauliflower Rice
2 cups Canned Coconut Milk, full fat
1/4 cup Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley

Directions

Melt the ghee in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the thyme.
Pour in the chicken stock and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Add the whole chicken breast. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pot and use two forks to separate it into shreds. Discard the bay leaf.
Return the shredded chicken to the pot, along with the cauliflower rice. Simmer 5 minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked. Stir in the coconut milk and parsley and cook until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Cauliflower rice can be found in the produce or frozen section of stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market, and is becoming easier to find in traditional grocery stores, too. You can also make your own by using a food processor or large knife to cut a head of cauliflower into small, grain-sized pieces.