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.
It’s my 5th time coming on this page to make this soup! I freakin LOVE it!
Stop reading the comments and just cook it now haha!!
(I skipped the milk part)
I’m making this tonight… I don’t have low sodium chicken broth. Only bullion cubes. Do you think it will be too salty?
I would suggest omitting the salt from the recipe, and adding to taste. Enjoy Amie!
Made tonight, trying to get vegetables in my 4, 6 and 8 year olds, so we put it in a homemade bread bowl- they loved it!!
I used normal full fat milk and it was awesome very good winter soup
Lovely until I added the milk and then it was absolutely disgusting! Very very weird soup.
Do not add milk.
All went to waste.
Yes agree. Do not add milk. It destroy the soup.
I was looking for a soup that would go easy on my husband’s stomach and this did the trick. The whole family enjoyed it and it’s pretty easy to make. I didn’t have evaporated milk so I just used 2% and it was delicious. Thank you for a great recipe
Delicious and healthy soup. It’s very easy and needs no changes at all! I will be making this a lot.
Made this tonight with turkey leftover from the freezer. I made it with 2 celery stalks and 4 carrots as my family likes thick soup. Didn’t add the milk for dairy free. Normally I am not a fan of brown rice but this recipe makes it perfect. Perfect texture on the rice. Holds up perfect. Making it with dark meat turkey gives it a great meaty flavor. Restaurant quality. I am now a brown rice believer thanks to this recipe. Made this 3 times since Thanksgiving as requested by my daughter. Twice with Turkey, once with Chicken.Thank you for the keeper recipe!
Can you use white rice instead of brown
You can use white rice. You’ll likely need to reduce cook time a bit.
Thank you for the great recipe. It was a hit at my house. I have made this recipe twice. Once with chicken and once with leftover turkey from the freezer. Both times it was excellent. My daughter is not eating dairy so I didn’t add the milk and it was still delicious. Using the brown rice is the key to no mushy rice.
I have celiac so I can’t make chicken noodle soup. I came across this chicken rice soup. It’s been my go to soup recipe. It’s sooo good! The only thing I change is I add a small amount of heavy cream or lite cream. Whatever I have on hand, instead of evaporated milk. It makes it a creamy chicken rice soup. I also add an extra onion, celery and carrot and another cup of water. And a small amount extra of the seasonings. Just cause I added more water and veggies. But this recipe HITS!
How much does each serving give you?
Approximately 1.5 cups, this can vary a bit based on the size of your veggies.
perfect for a chilly November night Easy to make and delicious~
Prepared as shown, but substituted jasmine rice for brown and excluded evaporated milk. Flavor was good, but consistency was too thick. Recommend either reducing rice to 1/2 cup, or preparing the rice separately and adding at the end (probably still reduce rice quantity).
Is the nutritional content for the entire recipe?
Nutritional information on Spend With Pennies is for one serving. Enjoy the recipe Jess!
Made this today with out the milk and it was delicious. Was wondering if it would work with leftover Turkey from Thanks giving next week?
That’d be great D!
Awesome and easy recipe!
Should the chicken be cooked before it’s added?
The chicken is not cooked before it is added.
Really good. I just made the rice separate, because I’m not practiced with rice lol. I also used two 900ml tetras of chicken stock. Comes together quick. Sooo yummy. Yummy leftovers too. Used pilsbury biscuits to go with it. Yummy! Thank you!
Hi! Do you use raw chicken for this recipe or is it cooked first? Do you leave the breasts whole?
Thanks!
The chicken goes in raw and cooks in the broth (it goes in whole and is shredded in step 5). Enjoy!