Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken and Rice Soup is pure comfort food magic – warm, hearty, and absolutely soul-soothing! This recipe combines tender shredded chicken, perfectly seasoned vegetables, and fluffy rice in a rich, flavorful broth. With simple pantry ingredients and foolproof techniques, you’ll have a pot of golden comfort ready to chase away any chill or cure whatever ails you.

Love More Soup Recipes? Try My Easy Orzo Vegetable Soup or this Hearty Beef Barley Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Pure comfort food – Nothing beats the cozy warmth of homemade chicken soup on a cold day
• Family-friendly favorite – Even picky eaters can’t resist this classic combination
• Make-ahead friendly – Perfect for meal prep and busy weeknight dinners
• One-pot wonder – Minimal cleanup with maximum flavor

Ingredients You’ll Need

Seasonings & Spices

• 1 teaspoon dried basil (the good stuff, not the dusty jar from 2019)
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder (sounds weird, tastes amazing)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Soup Base

• 2 tablespoons butter (real butter, not that fake spread)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (cry now, thank me later)
• ½ cup diced carrots
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 4 if you’re feeling dangerous)
• 5 cups chicken broth (splurge on the good stuff)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce (yes really, don’t argue)
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (whatever’s in your fridge)
• 1¼ lbs bone-in chicken breast (worth the extra work)

Rice

• 1½ cups chicken broth (for cooking separately like a smart person)
• ¾ cup long grain white rice, uncooked
  • Got leftover rice? Use 2¼ cups cooked and skip the drama

Garnish

• Fresh parsley, chopped (makes it look like you tried)

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Why These Ingredients Work

Butter makes everything better than oil – it creates this silky base that coats your spoon differently. Those boring vegetables aren’t just filler; they’re doing the heavy lifting flavor-wise, especially if you take time to actually sauté them instead of just dumping everything together.

Bone-in chicken is worth the extra five minutes of work because boneless chicken tastes like cardboard in soup. I learned this after serving my family what basically amounted to chicken-flavored water one too many times. That weird little bit of soy sauce sounds crazy, but my Korean neighbor swears by it, and now I do too.

The mustard powder is my mom’s old trick – you can’t taste it, but somehow everything tastes more like itself when it’s there. And cooking rice separately prevents that mushy disaster that happens when rice sits in hot liquid too long. Nobody wants rice soup when they ordered chicken soup.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Your biggest soup pot (the one you curse when washing)
• Another pot for rice (yes, I’m making you dirty two pots)
• Sharp knife that doesn’t make you want to cry
• Wooden spoon (or whatever stirring device survives your kitchen)
• Ladle (or just use a big spoon, nobody’s judging)
• Fine-mesh strainer if you’re feeling fancy

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Build Your Flavor Base

Melt that butter in your biggest soup pot over medium heat. Toss in your diced onion, carrots, and celery, then let them hang out for about 4 minutes until they smell incredible and look slightly soft. Don’t rush this part – it’s where all the magic starts.

Step 2: Add the Aromatics

Chuck in that minced garlic and stir it around for another minute. Your kitchen should now smell like heaven, and if it doesn’t, your garlic might be dead.

Step 3: Season and Simmer

Dump in all your dried herbs, that sneaky soy sauce, hot sauce, the chicken, and pour in all 5 cups of broth. Bring everything up to a gentle bubble – not a crazy rolling boil that’ll make your chicken tough as shoe leather. Cover it mostly (leave a little gap) and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until the chicken’s done.

Pro Tip: I cannot stress this enough – keep it at a lazy simmer. Aggressive boiling turns chicken into rubber, and nobody wants to chew their soup.

Step 4: Cook the Rice Separately

While your soup’s doing its thing, grab another pot and bring 1½ cups of broth to a boil. Add your rice, cover it up tight, turn the heat down low, and cook for 15 minutes. Then let it sit covered for 10 more minutes. This step separates the pros from the amateurs, trust me.

Step 5: Shred and Return

Fish out that chicken (it’ll be falling apart by now), shred it with two forks, toss any bones, and put all that beautiful meat back in the pot. This is oddly satisfying work.

Step 6: Bring It All Together

Stir in your perfectly cooked rice, or keep it separate if you’re planning leftovers. Taste it and fix whatever needs fixing – more salt, more pepper, whatever makes you happy.

Step 7: Serve with Love

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle some fresh parsley on top, and prepare for compliments. Seriously, people will think you’re a soup wizard.

You Must Know

Here’s the deal – cooking rice separately is non-negotiable if you want soup that doesn’t turn into chicken-flavored porridge overnight. I learned this the hard way when I ruined three batches in a row trying to be lazy. The rice will soak up every drop of broth if you cook it together, leaving you with sad, thick glop instead of proper soup.

Personal Secret: That soy sauce trick came from my neighbor who makes the most incredible Korean dishes. She watched me struggle with bland soup one day and was like, “Girl, you need umami.” One teaspoon changed my entire soup game. Don’t question it, just do it.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Bone-in chicken is worth the hassle because it makes soup that actually tastes like chicken instead of warm water with stuff floating in it. But if you’re rushed or just lazy (no judgment), rotisserie chicken works – just add it at the end so it doesn’t turn to mush.

Never let this soup go crazy boiling once the chicken goes in. I’ve watched too many people turn perfectly good chicken into rubber balls because they couldn’t control their heat. Low and gentle wins every time.

Want restaurant-clear broth? Strain everything through a fine mesh strainer before adding the chicken back. It’s extra work, but some people care about that stuff. I usually don’t bother unless I’m trying to impress someone.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

My kids are obsessed with the spinach version – just throw in a handful of baby spinach during the last few minutes and watch it wilt down. Suddenly they’re eating vegetables without complaining, which feels like winning the parenting lottery.

Wild rice instead of white rice makes this taste way fancier and more grown-up. It takes longer to cook, but the nutty flavor is worth it when you want to feel sophisticated. Brown rice works too, though my husband claims it’s “health food trying to ruin perfectly good soup.”

Some people add cream to make it rich and restaurant-y. I think it’s overkill, but my mother-in-law swears by it. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice over individual bowls is my favorite finish – it brightens everything up without changing the whole recipe.

Make-Ahead Options

This soup is basically designed for meal prep because it tastes better the next day anyway. The flavors get all cozy together overnight, and honestly, Day Two soup is superior to fresh soup. Fight me on this.

Store the soup base and rice in separate containers unless you enjoy rice-flavored cement. The whole thing keeps for about three days in the fridge, or you can freeze the base without rice for up to three months. I portion it into freezer bags and label them because Future Me always forgets what’s in unmarked containers.

When I’m feeling really organized (rare), I make double batches and freeze half. Then on crazy Wednesday nights when everyone’s hungry and I have zero brain cells left, I just thaw and reheat while cooking fresh rice. Boom – homemade dinner that everyone thinks took hours.

What to Serve With Chicken and Rice Soup

Honestly, this soup is pretty much a complete meal, but crusty bread for dunking makes everything better. My kids insist on grilled cheese sandwiches cut into strips because apparently regular spoons aren’t fun enough.

I keep a bag of those little oyster crackers around because they make me feel like I’m eating at a proper diner from the 1950s. Cornbread is excellent if you want to go full Southern comfort mode. Sometimes I throw together a simple salad just so I can pretend I’m being healthy while eating carbs in liquid form.

Allergy Information

This has gluten if your soy sauce isn’t the fancy tamari kind. There’s dairy from the butter, obviously. No nuts unless you go rogue and add some for reasons I can’t understand.

If you need dairy-free, just use olive oil instead of butter. For gluten issues, get tamari instead of regular soy sauce – it’s in the same aisle, costs twice as much, and tastes exactly the same. Skip the hot sauce if nightshades are your enemy, but honestly, you probably won’t miss it.

Storage & Reheating

Soup and rice live in separate containers in your fridge for up to 4 days. This is not optional. Reheat the soup gently on the stove – don’t microwave it to death. Add rice to bowls first, then pour hot soup over it like you’re at a fancy restaurant.

If it gets too thick after sitting in the fridge (which it will), just add more broth until it looks right again. Frozen soup needs to thaw overnight, then reheat slowly. Never refreeze previously frozen soup unless you enjoy food poisoning, which I assume you don’t.

FAQs

Can I use brown rice instead of white rice?

Sure, but it’s going to take forever to cook – like 45 minutes instead of 15. Use more broth too, maybe 2 cups instead of 1½. My husband calls it “hippie rice,” but it does add nice nutty flavor if you’re into that sort of thing.

My soup turned out too salty – how can I fix it?

Throw in some diced potatoes and let them cook until soft – they’ll soak up the excess salt. Cream also helps balance things out. Next time, taste your broth before adding that soy sauce because some brands are saltier than others.

Can I make this in my slow cooker?

Yeah, but sauté those vegetables first in a regular pan or your soup will taste flat. Then dump everything into the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4. Still cook the rice separately though – crock pot rice is usually disappointing.

What if I don’t have bone-in chicken?

Boneless works fine, just cook it for less time, maybe 12-15 minutes. Chicken thighs taste better than breasts, in my opinion. Store-bought rotisserie chicken is actually perfect for this – just shred it and add it at the very end to warm through.

How do I prevent the rice from getting mushy in leftovers?

Keep the soup and rice in different containers! I know it seems like extra work, but mushy rice soup is a crime against humanity. Mix them only when you’re actually eating it. This is the hill I will die on.

💬 Made this recipe? Tell me how it went! Did you try the soy sauce trick? Drop a comment below because I love hearing about other people’s soup victories!