Best Creamy Chicken And Mushroom Soup

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 onion diced
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup half and half or more as needed*
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 sprig rosemary
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Melt butter in the stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic mushrooms onion carrots and celery. Cook stirring occasionally until tender about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned about 1 minute. Whisk in chicken stock bay leaf and chicken thighs and cook whisking constantly until slightly thickened about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in half and half until heated through about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick add more half and half as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately garnished with parsley and rosemary if desired.
This article and recipe adapted from this site