Description
This light chicken rice soup is a simple chicken recipe perfect for an easy dinner or weeknight meal. It’s a comforting soup the whole family will enjoy, made with fresh ingredients and flavorful rice.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon EACH dried parsley or oregano or thyme or mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- ½ cup diced carrots
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 ¼ lb. bone-in chicken breast see notes
- fresh parsley to garnish
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ¾ cups white long grain rice uncooked. (Or 2 ¼ cups cooked rice.)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat then add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté for about 4 minutes until softened before stirring in the garlic and cooking for an additional minute.
- Pour in the seasonings along with soy sauce, hot sauce, chicken, and chicken broth. Bring the mixture just to a gentle simmer, partially cover, and let the chicken cook thoroughly for 15-20 minutes to keep it tender.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and shred it with forks, discarding the bones, then return the shredded chicken back to the soup. Meanwhile, prepare the rice separately by boiling 1 ½ cups chicken broth in a saucepan, adding rice, covering tightly, and simmering for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let rice rest for 10 minutes.
- Taste the soup and salt it if needed. To serve, place the cooked rice in bowls then ladle the soup over it, garnish with fresh parsley, and enjoy.
Notes
- Cuts of Chicken: Bone-in chicken breast or chicken thighs will add the most flavor to the broth
- (I usually have boneless on hand and that works fine as well if needed!) Cooking the chicken: You can let the chicken simmer over very low heat for a longer period of time
- This makes the chicken extra juicy and the broth extra flavorful
- Using rotisserie or leftover chicken: 2 cups cooked chicken can also be used
- You can add it at the same point as the chicken breast is added in the recipe and simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors blend, but no need to bring it to a boil
- You can’t taste the hot sauce, soy sauce, or mustard powder in this recipe, they are used as flavor enhancers
- I use Frank’s hot sauce
- Top this soup with Ranch Oyster Crackers for even more flavor! This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 39! Be sure to try my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe next! Crock Pot Method Melt the butter in the Crock Pot
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and toss to coat
- Add the basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, mustard powder, pepper, soy sauce, hot sauce, chicken, and chicken broth
- Cook on low for 6 hours
- (I recommend low heat to keep the chicken juicy and tender
- Cooking it over higher heat makes it tougher
- If necessary, it can be cooked for 4 hours on high
- ) Shred it at the end of cooking and return it to the soup
- Cook rice separately as outlined in stovetop procedure
- Add rice to serving bowls and ladle soup on top
- Store any leftover rice and soup in separate containers and refrigerate or freeze
- Storage Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months
- Be sure to freeze the rice in a separate container from the soup
- They both freeze well
- Nutritional information is an estimate and is per cup
- This recipe makes approximately 8 cups
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 121kcal