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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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.
I only have two people in my family and I wanted to maybe half this recipe. is it okay to literally half all ingredients or is there any other suggestion you would have for that?
This recipe should work fine if you would like to half it.
Can I use some sweetie condensed milk?
I’ve never tried that but I don’t think that sweetened condensed milk would work in this recipe Kim.
This was a hit in my house! I cut up a whole chicken and rubbed it down with a poultery seasoning, chicken rub, garlic, salt & pepper. Then added a small amount of oil and cooked it on the stovetop in a Dutch oven. I had a few other items that needed used up so I added shiitake mushrooms, tarragon leaves, baby potatoes, colorful carrots and boy was it good!! (with and without the cream). Thank you… we have leftovers and we can’t wait to have it again!!
Just made this for the first time today and it turned out amazingly delicious! Added some smoked paprika, cilantro, avocado, and broccoli at the end and it gave it a great crunch and freshness. Followed the directions exactly and chicken and rice came out perfect. I’m just a novice in the kitchen so really appreciated how easy to follow this recipe was. Seems failproof! Will definitely be making this again. :)
Hi Emily, awesome additions! Glad you liked it!
CAN I USE INSTANT BROWN RICE
Yes but if you use instant rice it should only be added during the last 7-10 minutes of cook time so it doesn’t overcook.
One thing that might help the mushy rice factor is to cook the rice separately and then add it to your bowl just before you serve the soup, saw that tip on another site and it works nicely b/c everyone gets the amount of rice they want and no mush! Rice swells the longer it’s in the liquid. Just a thought. Great recipe.
Does the rice go into the soup uncooked? Or cooked?
Uncooked. Enjoy!
This was a huge hit with my family for dinner the other night…it was so loved we made it a second time so that we could have it for lunch for a couple of days. The only thing we changed was to use half and half and it worked wonderfully.
Delicious! Substituted the evaporated milk for equal parts coconut milk and it turned out amazing!!
Can I use regular milk instead of evaporate?
I would suggest heavy cream in place of evaporated milk.
This was great. I didn’t use the evaporated milk, mostly because I don’t have any and because I want to freeze a good portion of the soup, but it was still really tasty and easy to make.
Can you use white rice instead? If so would anything in the recipe change?
You can use white rice but might have to adjust the cook times accordingly. Let us know how it turns out for you, Hannah!
I made two versions of this soup and they came out delicious! One creamy and one not! My only wish is that it was a cooler day out that would have made a hot bowl of delicious soup even better! Thanks
I’m family loves chicken rice soup… always looking for hints to make better!
Hope I can ask a question…but boiling chicken breasts for soup….now finished…..can I use the cooking liquid in my soup ? Thanks, Barbara
Sure you can! If boiling the chicken in water, it may not have as much flavor as broth so you might like to add some bouillon.
Delicious! And very simple.
Looking for a good recipe for Chix and Rice Soup
Very disappointed to see this SAME recipe, with the same photos published by Ashley Fehr on The Recipe Rebel. Is this actually considered acceptable?
It sure is! :) Ashley is the author of this lovely recipe (as you can see at the top as well as in the recipe itself). Ashley shares recipes here on occasion and she shared the same delicious recipe on her own site too! I hope you enjoy it.
Hi! Made it 1st time with the dairy and felt it didn’t really need it to be good. 2nd time made it without the dairy and cut back on the amount of rice. Added some bay leaves, dried dill and just a small amount of poultry seasoning and the flavor was great! I really like cooking the chicken right in the broth and then shredding. So,so easy!
Tried this tonight and we loved it! Super hearty and thick. I didn’t end up with the beautiful soup color from the pic, mine was also much more white but was deeelicious nonetheless! Hubs even asked if there was more before finishing his first bowl! I substituted dried parsley for fresh, which we sprinkled on after serving, it gave the soup an extra kick of freshness. Thanks for sharing this keeper of a recipe :)
I followed this recipe and it tastes good BUT I agree with some previous comments that the result does not look like the photo. The soup looked great up until I added the evaporated milk. It made the soup a very white color and I ended up with a texture I was not aiming for. The only thing that made me okay with it was that it still tasted great (my boyfriend loved it). If you’re like me and you want to achieve a soup similar to the photo rather than a thick white chowder look, I’d skip out on the evaporated milk. Hope this helps someone!