Creamy Chicken & Cauliflower Rice Soup
A cozy, creamy chicken soup in the style of chicken wild rice soup — browned mushrooms, celery, thyme and tender shredded thighs, with riced cauliflower in place of the rice.
Nutrition per serving
1½ cups- Net carbs
- 6.6g
- Calories
- 371kcal
- Protein
- 28g
- Fat
- 26g
- Total carbs
- 9 g
- Fiber
- 2.3 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient (optional ingredients excluded). Brands vary — check your labels if you track closely.
Ingredients
Dairy-free: Olive oil and coconut milk replace the butter and cream; the mushrooms and thyme keep the coconut in the background.
- Brown the mushrooms and soften the vegetables in olive oil, and stir in the coconut milk in place of the cream. Keep it at a gentle simmer so the coconut milk stays smooth.
Leftover turkey: The day-after-the-holiday version: shredded roast turkey stirred in at the end instead of simmering raw chicken.
- Simmer the broth and vegetables for 10 minutes instead of cooking chicken in it, then add the riced cauliflower and continue.
- Stir in the turkey with the cream and heat until steaming throughout (165°F/74°C).
- Nice to have (optional)
- Nice to have (optional)
- Nice to have (optional)
Estimated cost $17.73 for 6 servings ($2.95 each) · how we estimate
Instructions
-
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook without stirring for 3 minutes, then stir and cook 3–4 minutes more, until browned and their liquid has evaporated.
-
Add the remaining butter with the onion, celery and carrot and cook over medium heat for 5–6 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
-
Pour in the broth, add the bay leaf, whole chicken thighs, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer 20–25 minutes, until the chicken is tender and reaches 165°F (74°C).
-
Lift out the chicken and shred it with two forks. Discard the bay leaf, add the riced cauliflower and simmer 4–5 minutes, until just tender.
-
Stir in the cream and return to a gentle simmer. Sprinkle the xanthan gum over the surface while whisking and simmer 2 minutes, until the soup lightly coats a spoon.
-
Return the chicken, heat through and taste for salt. Serve topped with parsley.
Tips for success
-
Add the riced cauliflower only for the last few minutes — it turns mushy if it simmers as long as wild rice would. - Xanthan gum stands in for the flour roux; ¼ teaspoon is plenty, and whisking as you sprinkle prevents clumps. Skip it for a thinner, brothier soup.
- Rotisserie chicken works too: simmer the broth and vegetables for 10 minutes, then add about 4 cups of shredded chicken with the cream.
Nice to have, not needed
- A splash of dry sherry stirred in at the end is a classic finishing touch — the soup is rich and savory without it.
Storage & meal prepMeal-prep friendly
- Keeps 4 days in the fridge
- Freezes up to 3 months
Reheat: Reheat over medium-low heat, stirring, without letting it boil.
Prep tip: To freeze, stop before the cauliflower and cream: freeze the base, then simmer in fresh riced cauliflower, add the cream and thicken as it reheats.
Refrigerate up to 4 days. For the freezer, stop before adding the cauliflower and cream and freeze the base (with the chicken) up to 3 months; add both as you reheat.
Variations
2 variations, each with its own ingredients and macrosDairy-free
DietOlive oil and coconut milk replace the butter and cream; the mushrooms and thyme keep the coconut in the background.
- butter → olive oil
- heavy cream → canned coconut milk
6.6 g net · 324 kcal · 27 g protein · 21 g fat · ≈$2.89 per serving (same net carbs as the original)
Leftover turkey
ProteinThe day-after-the-holiday version: shredded roast turkey stirred in at the end instead of simmering raw chicken.
- boneless, skinless chicken thighs → cooked turkey
6.7 g net · 340 kcal · 27 g protein · 22 g fat · ≈$3.40 per serving (+0.1 g net carbs vs the original)
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