This easy Classic Chicken Rice Soup recipe is a healthy soup that’s perfect for chilly days! It’s loaded with vegetables and brown rice, simmered in chicken broth and finished with a touch of creaminess.
Classic Chicken Rice Soup. This is one of our favorite homemade Chicken and Rice Soup recipes and has unbelievable flavor and is easy to meal prep and make ahead for a busy week!
I am a big time soup lover, and I love it all!
Minestrone Soup, Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Soup, Hot and Sour Soup or a Cheeseburger Soup!! — they are all favorites around our place!
The problem is, it’s pretty rare that I can find a soup that my kids will enjoy. But something hearty and creamy and loaded with chicken and rice like this one? It always goes down easy! Especially if you have Dinner Rolls or a chunk of crusty bread for dipping ;)
Classic Chicken Rice Soup:
How Do You Make Chicken Soup With Rice From Scratch?
How do you make healthy chicken rice soup from scratch you wonder? This creamy chicken and rice soup is so easy to make. Just stir together, cover, and simmer until the vegetables and the rice are tender. While I love chicken wild rice soup too, I like to use brown rice in this easy chicken and rice soup recipe. Brown rice packs a bit more fiber than white, and it’s not quite as labor intensive as wild rice. I think it’s the best of both worlds!
Can I Freeze Chicken Rice Soup?
Homemade Chicken Rice Soup freezes perfectly if you follow a few important steps.
Low-fat milk does not freeze well and will separate. Regular evaporated milk would fare better over low fat or skim evaporated milk in this creamy chicken rice soup recipe. If you know you plan to freeze, for an even better result, I recommend using whole milk or even cream as the higher fat content does better when frozen and thawed.
Cool to room temperature, then place in a large freezer bag, seal completely, and lay flat to freeze in a thin layer. This will help the soup to thaw quickly when you need it for dinner!
To thaw, you can submerge the bag in lukewarm water until thawed, then reheat to the desired temperature in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Can I Use Leftover Cooked Chicken?
You can definitely use leftover cooked chicken in this chicken soup recipe. Simply swap it for the fresh chicken breasts and away you go!
Can I Use Leftover Cooked Rice?
You can also use leftover cooked rice to make chicken rice soup if you’re looking to clean out the fridge.
You will simply continue with the recipe as written but leave out the rice. Then, at the end when you are thickening the soup, stir in your precooked rice and it will be warmed through in no time.
Soup Ingredients
Vegetables: I used yellow onion, carrots, and celery in the soup.
Herbs: I love herbs! because add that unequaled flavor parsley thyme and you can never miss garlic!
Chicken Broth: You could use low sodium chicken broth or homemade chicken stock
Rice: I love brown rice, it is very tasty and nutritious, but you can use your favorite rice.
Chicken: I used funcooked, but you can use rotisserie chicken too!
Evaporated Milk: for a creamy touch
Chicken Rice Soup
This Chicken Rice Soup is an easy, healthy soup recipe that’s perfect for chilly days! It’s loaded with vegetables and brown rice, simmered in chicken broth and finished with a touch of creaminess.
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion minced
- 3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 chicken breasts uncooked
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and cook and stir for 3-4 minutes, until onion begins to turn golden.
- Add garlic, parsley and thyme and cook 1 minute.
- Add salt and pepper, broth, chicken. Add rice. Stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-low (a simmer), cover, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until vegetables and rice are tender.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred. Add back to the pot with evaporated milk.
- Serve.
