This chicken and rice soup recipe is the perfect recipe for a chilly day. Chicken, vegetables, and brown rice are simmered in a flavorful broth and finished with a touch of creaminess.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Classic and savory, this homemade soup is packed with fresh and flavorful goodness.
- Skill Level: Made in just one pot, it’s easy to prep, and cleanup is a breeze.
- Budget Tip: It’s budget-friendly; stretch it even further with extra veggies, rice, or broth.
- Swaps: It’s versatile, feel free to add in your favorite veggies or even leftovers.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve it with a salad and some crusty bread for a perfect meal.
What You’ll Need For Chicken and Rice Soup
- Chicken Broth: I prefer low-sodium chicken broth as the base of this soup, so it isn’t too salty. You can also make a homemade chicken broth. While it’s optional, heavy cream or evaporated milk adds a touch of creaminess.
- Seasoning: The seasonings are simple with parsley and thyme, but feel free to add other dried or fresh herbs or bay leaves. Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Vegetables: Celery, onion, and carrot add both flavor and nutrition to this soup.
- Chicken: Use raw boneless skinless chicken breasts; simmering them in the soup adds flavor to the broth. Bone-in or boneless chicken thighs can be used. Or add bacon for a chicken bacon soup!
- Rice: Brown rice is a hearty boost of fiber and holds its texture well. You can replace it with long-grain white rice, wild rice, or basmati. Adjust the cooking time as needed.
Shortcuts
- Use leftover cooked rice; it can be added about 5 minutes before serving.
- Use rotisserie chicken, leftovers, or cooked chicken in place of chicken breasts. Add it once the rice is cooked.
- Avoid standing at the stove and make this soup in the crockpot.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup
- In a pot or Dutch oven, sauté the vegetables in oil (full recipe below).
- Add broth, uncooked chicken breasts, and rice, then simmer until the rice is tender.
- Shred cooked chicken, stir it back into the pot, and finish with cream or evaporated milk.
Serve with dinner rolls or a chunk of crusty bread for dipping.
Storing Leftovers
- This chicken rice soup is perfect for meal prep because it freezes well. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To freeze leftovers, cool the soup to room temperature, then place it in freezer bags. Seal completely and lay flat to freeze in a thin layer. This will help the soup thaw quickly when you need it for dinner.
- The rice can absorb liquid as the soup sits; if needed, add additional broth or water to reach the desired consistency.
More Cozy Chicken Soup Recipes
Did you enjoy this Chicken Rice Soup? Leave a comment and rating below!
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 3-4 minutes, until 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
Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Chicken breasts can be replaced with chicken thighs. Add it to the soup 10 minutes later.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 332 | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 607mg | Potassium: 803mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5250IU | Vitamin C: 5.2mg | Calcium: 150mg | Iron: 1.6mg
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.
Entered!Made this so comforting and delicious
Made this delicious Chicken Rice soup just in time for our cold snap. I added wild rice and some fat free half and half. This is definitely comfort soup!!! The family loved every spoonful!!!
This delicious chicken and rice soup brings back fond childhood memories and couldn’t be easier. We topped ours with whipped lemon ricotta and used fresh herbs — will definitely be on repeat during the next few winter months.
My family said this is the best chicken soup they’ve ever had! Excellent, easy recipe!
Thank you!
Loves this recipe! I live alone but still make big batches of everything so I can put in individual portions in my deep freezer so I have something to grab instead of fast food. I like to read everyone’s comments so I can see everyone’s responses. I chose not to add the cream or evaporated milk after reading the comments but did add more broth.
Delicious and easy! I cooked a whole chicken for this ahead of time, and made broth with its bones. It worked easily to put the cooked chicken in with the cream at the end. I also did not have celery available, but threw in a bunch of spinach a few minutes before eating to let it cook and it was a great addition.
very easy to make and it was delicious.
I did substitute dried marjoram for the thyme and veggie stock instead of cchicken stock on hand hicken stock. only because I didn’t have any other stock.
Thank you for a satisfying recipe!
This recipe was very easy. My family devoured it.
The Chicken and Rice soup was well loved by my family. Easy to make and delicious! I try to make a new recipe from this site nearly every week and we have enjoyed them all!
This soup has become a staple in our meal rotation. It’s simple to make and is a good, quick meal for a week day. I don’t add the cream due to a milk allergy and find I do need to add more broth as the rice quickly soaks up some of the liquid. I usually serve it with biscuits or pigs in a blanket.
this was delicious
lovely soup. I made my broth by using bone broth powder mixed with hot water.
I doubled the recipe. We love soup here, especially in the cold months. Will definitely make again
Delicious.
I made the soup per the recipe, but I substituted bowties for the rice. I used half of a whole chicken cut into pieces and I doubled the chicken broth because the pasta really soaks up the liquid (especially when leftover) and our family likes a heavy amount of broth in our bowls when we have soup. I also included the optional evaporated milk (which we all REALLY liked!). I served it with a small pinch of both shredded parmesan and gruyere and the flavors were just SO GOOD.
So comforting and perfect for a cold night! I added some extra stock later as the rice absorbed more of the liquid. Served with ham, cheese and scallion biscuits…yummy! Thanks for the inspiration!
Easy and a hearty, delicious soup. I used white rice and no cream
Uggh, usually love your recipes but really did not like the addition of the evaporated milk. It didn’t make it rich or creamy. We’re a family of soup eaters and it was a no from all of us
Can I use brown jasmine rice?
You can use brown jasmine rice, you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.
Yum! This soup was a hit with my whole family (and that’s a rare occurrence!). I used homemade turkey broth for the liquid.
Good. My brown rice took considerably longer to cook, so I had to add 1-2 more cups of broth (and salt and seasonings).
This recipe has become a favorite at our house. We are doing a potluck at work next week and decided to do a soup theme. I volunteered to make this. Wondering if it would work to do this in a slow cooker or if I should make ahead the daily before and then use the slow cooker just to warm it up (and maybe wait to throw the rice in at that time too?)
I have not tried this recipe in the slow cooker so I can’t say for sure how the rice would cook in the crock pot.