CREAMY CHICKEN AND WILD RICE HOT DISH

• servings: 6 - 8
• total time: 6 to 8 hours on LOW or 3

Ingredients

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter

½ cup (68 g) all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon poultry seasoning

2½ cups (570 ml) low-sodium chicken broth

2 cups (475 ml) half-and-half

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

2 cups (360 g) uncooked wild rice blend

6 ounces (170 g) white button mushrooms, sliced

4 ounces (115 g) jarred pimientos, drained

½ cup (37 g) pecans, finely chopped

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until tender.

2. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, thyme, and poultry seasoning until blended.

3. Slowly stir in the broth and bring to a boil.

4. Boil and stir for 2 minutes, or until bubbly and thickened.

5. Stir in the cream. Set aside.

6. Add the cubed chicken, wild rice blend, mushrooms, and pimentos to the slow cooker.

7. Pour the creamy sauce mixture over everything and gently stir to combine.

8. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with pecans.

9. Cover the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH, until the chicken and rice are cooked through.

Notes

Serves: 6 to 8 | Cook Time: 6 to 8 hours on LOW or 3 to 4 hours on HICH Slow Cooker Size: 3½-quart (3.3-L) casserole OR 6-quart (5.7-L) oval

This recipe is a little bit labor-intensive because you need to sauté onions and then create a roux to thicken a homemade cream sauce. But if you can brown ground beef in a frying pan, then you can easily make the sauce, too. I really wanted to avoid using canned "cream of" whatever soup, so thus the little extra steps I also cooked this casserole in my 3½-quart (3.3-L) casserole slow cooker because I wanted it to look more like a traditional oven-baked casserole. But if you don't have one, a 6-quart (5.7-L) oval slow cooker will work just as well

NOTES: If you really want to skip making your own roux and cream sauce, you can use two cans of your favorite cream soup (cream of mushroom, cream of celery, cream of chicken) and skip the flour and half-and-half.