Copycat Recipe Week: Day 2-"Panera" Chicken & Wild Rice Soup with "Olive Garden" Breadsticks

I'm doing Day 2 as a Double Header for two reasons. 
1. I made these recipes on the same day
2. They were already a copycat recipe to begin with


It started out one day the week before last when I told my daughter that I was going to make soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner that night. When she asked what kind of soup, I had told her I wasn't exactly sure yet but was leaning towards Creamy Tomato and Basil (which I still have to make one of these days!). She asked me if I could make Panera's version of their Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice (her other favorite besides their NE Clam Chowder). I said I would look online to see what I could find. I did a little research and found this recipe, that was posted on Allrecipes.com by Stephanie G. and used that as my guide. I made the soup and was about to write a post on it when I saw that another food blog I follow, Rachel Cooks , created the soup, almost the exact same way I did (measurements were a little different but all of the same ingredients). So, I have to give her credit where credit is due also but no matter which recipe you follow, the end result was FANTASTIC and tasted just like the Panera version of this soup. 


Here are the measurements and ingredients I used. 

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
4 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
3 c. Water
1 pkg. Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice with Flavor Packet
2 Stalks Celery, thinly sliced
1/4 c. Red  Onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c. Carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. Dried Majoram
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
3/4 c. Heavy Cream
1/4 c. 2% Milk
Kosher Salt, to taste
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
1 c. Cooked Chicken


In a large saucepan, drizzle olive oil on the bottom and add your carrots, celery, onion, marjoram and seasoned flavor packet and saute for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir; then add the flour. Add the chicken broth and water, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. While this is simmering, heat the heavy cream and milk in a small saucepan until hot. Add to the soup mixture along with the cooked chicken and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 8 cups. 

And now you can't have soup without bread!  My family just loves the Olive Garden Breadsticks (along with that delicious salad!). So when Joan, from Chocolate, Chocolate and More, posted this recipe I knew I had to make it~especially when my daughter saw it come off the printer! I used Joan's recipe to a tee, except for the fact that I poured all of my ingredients into my food processor (minus the warm water), pulsed it, then very SLOWLY, added the warm water until it formed a ball. Then pulsed it for another 30 seconds until well mixed, removed the dough and put it in a bowl covered with a clean towel. I also made them a little smaller so I got about 2 dozen breadsticks out of this recipe. 


The best part about this meal was that when our power went out the next night, I threw the soup in an old pot and heated it up over the fire in our fireplace...Laura Ingalls I'm not but you have to improvise when needed! 


Enjoy!