Chicken, Mushroom, and Wild Rice Soup
There’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup to warm you up after a cold day out on the mountain. Packed full of vegetables and aromatic thyme, this dish will leave you feeling satisfied and probably ready for a nap.
Last week I did a little poll on Instagram asking for your opinions on recipe ideas, and there was a strong response in favour of more backpacking recipes. I also had some people specifically suggesting soups soooo here you are! A tasty, hearty soup ready for your next backpacking adventure! If you’re in the middle of winter like I am and don’t have backpacking in any near future plans, you gotta try this at home! Just skip the dehydrating part. Trust me, delish!
At first glance, this recipe may look a little intimidating, just with the amount of ingredients, but trust me, it’s really not that complicated! Cut up all the vegetables raw and throw them onto a dehydrator tray. Cook the chicken, dice or shred, and place in the dehydrator as well. That’s most of the prep right there! Dehydrate at 135F for 5-8 hours until dry.
TIP: try to keep vegetables small and uniform in size. This will help keep the dehydrating time consistent.
Once dehydrated, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl along with the chicken and vegetables. Store in a resealable bag or container (I love my Stasher Bag).
Claudio and I decided to go on a little afternoon adventure within the city and brought this along for dinner to test it out! We have a great little ravine by our place that has tons of fun trails to explore. We actually had a guy on a fat bike ride by while we were cooking up the food and I’m pretty sure he was very confused about why we were going to all this effort to cook outside when a perfectly functional kitchen was not so far away. Haha. Honestly, it’s so good to get outside, even if you can’t make it all the way into the mountains or somewhere picturesque. I think so often we get fixated on the big crazy adventures but forget that it’s really the small not-so-crazy-freaking-cool ones that actually give us joy and perspective in every day life. All that to say, don’t just chase after those big adventures, but rather create them in your daily life!
Once you’re ready to cook, add your soup mix and 4 cups water to a large cooking pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the rice is cooked and the chicken and veg are rehydrated. Enjoy topped with a little parmesan cheese!
So friends, where’s the next adventure for you? Big or small, they all count! Let me know below!
More Backpacking Recipes
Chicken, mushroom and wild rice soup
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
- 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup wild rice (instant or minute rice is best)
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2-3 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 tsp chicken bouillon base powder (or 2 bouillon cubes)
- 1/3 cup milk powder
- 1 cup parmigiano reggiano (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook chicken on medium heat. Let cool and dice into small, uniform pieces.
- Cut up mushrooms, onion, carrots, and celery into small, uniform pieces.
- Dehydration: Spread chicken pieces and vegetables on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate for 5-8 hours at 135F until dry.
- Assembly: In large bowl, mix together garlic powder, dried thyme, milk powder, and chicken bouillon powder. Add wild rice, dehydrated chicken and vegetables. Transfer into large resealable bag or portion into individual bags.
- Optional: Grate 1 cup parmigiano reggiano into separate container.
- Rehydration: Place soup mixture into large pot. Add 4 cups water and bring to boil over camp stove. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables and chicken are rehydrated (no longer chewy or crunchy). Serve with parmesan on top.
