Chicken And Rice Soup

On days when you or your family is feeling under the weather, you honestly can’t do better than this nourishing chicken soup with rice. As a quick, one-pot meal that comes together in under an hour, making it perfect for busy weekdays too. It also freezes beautifully, so you can stock yourself up with cozy homemade goodness for the future. For more chicken soup recipes, try my chicken stew, chicken noodle soup recipe, or chicken tortilla soup recipe next!

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Mirepoix — also known as the French trinity, this aromatic mixture of celery, onions, and carrots adds tons of flavor. If you’re short on time, you can often find it pre-prepped in the refrigerated section of the produce department. Garlic cloves — I prefer the flavor of fresh garlic, but you can swap in ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for every clove of fresh if needed. Chicken stock or chicken broth — starting with a flavorful stock or broth is a surefire way to end up with a stellar bowl of soup. If you’re using store-bought, I recommend using a low-sodium variety and adding your own salt to taste. Boneless, skinless chicken breast — this cut is the easiest to shred, plus it doesn’t require any butchering before adding to the soup. That said, you can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if needed. Just make sure to trim off any excess fat first, then cube the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces since it doesn’t shred as well. Long-grain white rice — feel free to use an aromatic variety like basmati or jasmine rice, or keep it simple with plain long-grain rice. You can swap it for heartier brown rice or wild rice, just keep in mind it’ll take longer to cook and may require a bit of additional broth. Fresh thyme — I like adding thyme to both the soup base and as a garnish. If you don’t have fresh, use ⅓ as much dried thyme, then omit it as your garnish. Fresh parsley — for a bright green, lemony-flavored garnish. You’re welcome to experiment with other fresh herbs if you like- basil and tarragon are great options.

How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup

1. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, and onion, and sauté, stirring often, until the onion is translucent and carrots start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Stir the chicken stock into the pot, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Once boiling, add the raw chicken breasts.
4. Stir in the uncooked rice, thyme, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Remove the chicken from the soup, and place it in a bowl. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken.
6. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup. Serve garnished with additional parsley and thyme.

Pro Tips for Making This Recipe

Use leftover chicken. Leftover roasted chicken or rotisserie chicken works well in this soup! Just add the shredded chicken after the rice is already cooked and continue cooking until the chicken is warmed through. I love cooking raw chicken in the soup, as it adds richness and a deeper flavor to the broth, but this is a great way use up leftovers! Switch up the long grain rice. Go extra rustic by making chicken wild rice soup. Wild rice provides less creaminess than white rice, but the nutty flavor and firm texture are a lovely departure. Same with brown rice or any other type of whole grain rice. Just note that these varieties usually take longer to cook than white rice and may need additional broth. Make creamy chicken and rice soup. Add a bit of richness to the soup by replacing up to ½ cup of the chicken broth with evaporated milk or heavy cream. Wwait to add it until the end of cooking when stirring the shredded chicken into the pot. For an extra touch of bright, fresh flavor, squeeze fresh lemon juice into the pot of soup just before serving. However, skip this step if you’re making a creamy soup variation, as the lemon can curdle the milk. Feel free to add additional vegetables to the soup, such as zucchini, diced sweet butternut squash, green peas, spinach, and kale. Add heartier vegetables like squashes with the rice, and leave the more tender peas and leafy greens to the last step as they only need a couple of minutes to wilt and become tender. To easily shred the chicken: Use two forks to shred the chicken breasts in a bowl, or add the cooked chicken breasts to a mixer with a paddle attachment and let the stand mixer shred the meat on low speed.

If you’ve tried this recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!