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
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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.