This Chicken Rice Soup is made by cooking chicken pieces in the broth which yields a beautiful savoury, golden, flavour infused broth without having to man handle a whole chicken. Skip the rotisserie chicken – this is better!
Chicken and Rice Soup
I know there are plenty of quick and easy Chicken soups “out there” that will have you using pre cooked chicken or poaching chicken breast quickly then stirring it into the soup. And if that’s what your time constraints require, please see Note 1 in the recipe because I’ve given the shortcut steps for this, and you’ll have this soup on the table in 30 minutes. (And it will still be totally slurp worthy). But for a smidge of extra effort and 30 minutes of hands off cook time simmering chicken pieces, you can have this Chicken and Rice soup with an incredible savoury, golden soup broth with flavour that money can’t buy.
Best rice for soup
Most types of rice is great for soup. White, brown, wild rice, black rice, sushi rice, basmati and jasmine rice are all great. Even risotto rice and paella rice work! For brown and wild rice, these take longer to cook than the simmer time for the soup. So they will need to be cooked separately before adding into the soup. Yes – uncooked rice is best to add into soup because it soaks up the flavour of the broth, making it extra tasty!
How to store Leftover Chicken and Rice Soup
Leave the rice in the soup, and you’ll be horrified by the block of jelly-like sludge that you’re faced with the next morning, caused by the rice absorbing all the liquid. To avoid this, there’s no option other than to use a slotted spoon or colander to separate the broth from the rice, chicken and vegetables and to refrigerate or freeze them separately. If you’re making the Chicken and Rice Soup to take elsewhere, please see the recipe notes for the best way to do this (it involves using some of the broth + water to cook the rice separately, after which it’s added into the soup when ready to serve 🙂 ).
Add a soup dunker!
Adaptable recipe – make it your own!
This Chicken and Rice Soup recipe is a terrific base for adding your own touch. It’s slurp-worthy delicious as it is, but can take more veggies, more herbs, a squeeze of fresh lemon, or even other cooked proteins. Here are some ideas:
Zest and squeeze of fresh lemon is a beautiful touch of freshness More veggies (chopped zucchini, stir in chopped kale or spinach, bell peppers) Sub chicken with other cooked protein (500g/1lb cooked weight) Add 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs, or a touch of other dried herbs Try adding a can or two of crushed tomato for a light tomato based soup For low carb, skip the rice and load up on more veggies. I like to fill it out with meaty veggies like broccoli and cauliflower.
If you’ve made this recipe your own, share what you did in the comments below. Tell us, tell us! We wanna know! 🙂 – Nagi x
Chicken and Rice Soup recipe
Watch how to make it
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Life of Dozer
Nowhere in sight while I was chopping carrots and sautéing onion, then he thunders inside the minute chicken makes an appearance. Thunders. Not loping or trotting. Thunders. 🙄
