Chicken and Rice Soup is a cozy, homemade meal that’s easy to make and always hits the spot. Tender chicken, hearty brown rice, and vegetables simmer together in one pot for a flavorful, comforting soup. Keep it brothy or stir in a little cream for a rich finish.
Serve it with crusty no-knead bread or fluffy dinner rolls and a simple green salad.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Chicken and Rice Soup
- Flavor: Savory, comforting flavor with tender chicken, brown rice, sweet carrots, and subtle notes of garlic, parsley, and thyme.
- Why Make It: Cooking the chicken and rice directly in the broth builds rich flavor while keeping cleanup easy.
- Budget Friendly: Rice and vegetables help stretch two chicken breasts into six hearty servings.
Total Time: 45 Mins Servings: 6 Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Total Time:
- 45 mins
- Serves:
- 6 servings
- Rating:
- 4.9/5
Ingredient Notes
- Vegetables: Cut the carrots and celery into small, even pieces so they cook evenly and you get tender vegetables in every spoonful. Use prechopped vegetables to save prep time, or stir in frozen mixed vegetables towards the end.
- Chicken Broth: Reduced-sodium broth or homemade chicken stock gives you more control over the salt level. Keep extra on hand at the end to add if the soup is too thick.
- Chicken Breasts: Use raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts so they can cook directly in the broth and shred easily. Boneless chicken thighs are another option; just check that they are cooked through before shredding.
- For an easy shortcut, add shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover baked chicken breasts once the rice is tender.
- Brown Rice: Use uncooked long-grain brown rice. Different varieties can have different cooking times. Instant rice is not a direct substitute.
- Evaporated Milk or Cream (Optional): Add evaporated milk for a lighter soup, or heavy cream for a richer, creamier soup. Be sure to use evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup
- Sauté the vegetables and add the seasonings.
- Add broth, chicken, and rice (full recipe below). Simmer.
- Shred the chicken and return it to the pot.
Prefer to use your slow cooker? Try my Crockpot chicken and rice soup.
Save It for Later
- Refrigerate: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Leave out the dairy when possible and add it after reheating.
- Thaw: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Reheat: Warm on the stovetop or in the microwave, stirring and adding broth as needed.
More Chicken Soup Favorites
Did you enjoy this Chicken and Rice Soup? Leave a comment and rating below.
Chicken and Rice Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 5 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts uncooked
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup evaporated milk or cream, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Add garlic, parsley, and thyme, and cook 1 minute.
- Add broth, chicken, rice, salt, and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender and chicken has reached 165℉.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred. Add back to the pot with evaporated milk or cream if using.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Lunch, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
The soup was amazing as is, but since my husband loves a thicker creamy soup, I added a can of cream of chicken soup. For the rice, I added the 90-second microwaveable brown rice/quinoa. Yum
So glad you enjoyed it, Sandy! That addition sounds great.
This soup is absolutely delicious. I hesitated about adding evaporated milk. I tasted soup without milk and it was good. I decided to be bold and add milk. Wow…what a difference! Went from good to outstanding! Definitely will make again!
I am glad it turned out so good, Mary! Thanks for sharing.
Don’t know if this was asked but can this be made with white (Jasmine) rice instead of brown?
Other readers have used jasmine rice and loved the results. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Can I use long grain white rice
Hi Susan, you can use white rice. You’ll likely need to reduce cook time a bit though.
This soup is just wonderful and so easy to make! So glad I happened upon this recipe.
This is the best Chicken and Rice Soup I have ever had! Very flavourful. Didn’t change a thing, other than using a Rotisserie Chicken. Quick, easy, delicious! Doesn’t get better than that!
Actually pretty disappointed in this recipe. I followed it to the T…I shouldn’t have used the milk. It made it taste strange. It needed extra salt. The amount of broth used was definitely not enough, my rice didn’t even cook through all the way. I’m 100% NEVER making this again.
The pictures show that it’s not an overly brothy soup, but you can easily add additional broth to get your desired consistency. Did you use brown rice as in the recipe? If it didn’t cook through, you should cook it longer until it is tender. Sorry that you didn’t enjoy the creamy milk flavor. Thank you for trying the soup.
This is actually a good soup but I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it more to my liking. I added a bit more salt, twice the amount of broth because the rice tends to absorb all the liquid, fresh lemon juice, a couple of bay leaves and red pepper flakes for a little kick. It’s worth a try with these minor changes. :)
Do you think I could you use Orzo instead of rice? Same cook time?
Hi Beth, that substitution should work well without any alterations. Enjoy!
Is chicken stock interchangeable with broth for this recipe? Would it be any different?
Hi Owens, both should work well in this recipe.
This is one of my favorite recipes! I cook it all the time and freeze it too. It’s so warm and wonderful.
I wanted to ask if you’ve ever tried it in the crock pot or if it could be adapted to crock pot?
I don’t have a slow cooker version at this time but it’s on my list and I hope to have one soon!
This soup is great! Would have given the recipe 5 starts but the ratio of liquid is way off on this recipe. I had to add 64 ounces of broth plus 12 ounces of evaporated milk (instead of 8) and even then the soup was a hearty, thick soup. It has great taste. Just have extra liquid on hand when you prepare this for the first time so you are able to make the soup to your liking!
Can I leave out the milk? I have a dairy free son. Could I just add more chicken broth?
You can leave out the dairy in this recipe.
Thanks for your quick reply! I’m going to try it tomorrow for a family lunch.
Is the chicken breast supposed to be cooked or invoked when you add to the broth and boil for 30?
The chicken is added to this recipe uncooked!
I have made this many times. The only change I make is that I add a LOT more broth. At least double. The rice “soaks up” a lot of broth and I prefer a “soupy” soup. Great recipe, thank you!
It looks really good. Want to make in my crockpot, how do I modify? Also husband does not like brown rice, can I use Jasmati? I usually make soups on high power in the crockpot and put pasta or rice in the last hour or so. And that’s always worked before. Thanks!
Hi Jan, that should work well. We have only made this recipe as listed but others readers have made it in the crockpot with good results. You can try following the cooking instructions for our crockpot chicken noodle soup so an idea of how long to cook it for.
I’m sorry if this is a dumb comment but is the chicken cooked or not? I wanna try this recipe and I’m a beginner!
Not a dumb question at all! The chicken is added to the soup raw and will cook with while it simmers in the pot!
This soup is delicious. I had to add more broth.
I also added a couple small pinches of dried Savory. I added some fresh spinach to
Served it with crusty bread and salad.
Is the cup of rice cooked or uncooked?
We used uncooked rice in this recipe!
It has never occurred to me to put evaporated milk in chicken soup. It was delicious!
This soup is delicious. Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great. Will be making this often this winter.
Very nice recipe. I doctored it and used a can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/4 chopped fresh parsley, half cup chopped fresh spinach . I also used canned chicken because I had a lot of it and no cut chicken on hand. And I used Thai jasmine rice cooked separately because I like brothy soup.