This easy 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.
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, Stuffed Pepper Soup, Italian Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup or a simple Roasted Tomato 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 30 Minute Dinner Rolls or a chunk of crusty bread for dipping ;)
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.
More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup – a family favorite
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup – set it and forget it!
- Easy Chicken Taco Soup – simple and satisfying
- Chicken Barley Soup – an old fave!!
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.
Chicken Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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INSTEAD OF USING BROWN RICE CAN YOU USE WHITE BASMATI OR WILD RICE
If using wild rice, I would cook the wild rice blend, and add near the end. Other readers have used Jasmine and loved the soup. I love brown, so probably would pick the wild rice blend! Enjoy Marion!
Could you use cooked chicken in the chicken and rice soup?
You can definitely use leftover cooked chicken in this chicken soup recipe. Simply swap it for the fresh chicken breasts and away you go!
Do you cook the rice before adding to soup? Is it 1 cup cooked rice or add it uncooked?
I add 1 cup of uncooked rice in step 3 and then cook until tender. I hope this helps Kathy!
Hi Holly!
I love your recipes & this one’s another winner! They are ALWAYS easy to read AND prepare, & I especially like that even I – not a great cook but a good cook can make them. My husband loves them…& we know how wonderful it is to please & have a happy husband! Did you know you can make a difference in people’s lives sharing creative recipes?!! Thank you so kindly!!
This made my day! Thank you so much for the kind words. I am so happy to hear you are enjoying the recipes ❤️
I have not yet but was wondering if could use soy milk instead of evoprated milk
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. You could also leave the milk out if you’d like.
Adore this recipe! I sometimes have part of a BBQ supermarket chicken, and cooked brown rice left in the fridge at the end of the week. I make this, dump in the shredded leftover chicken and rice, and voila – fast dinner, leftovers for the freezer, and nothing going to waste. Easy and delish, thank you!
Great tip on the leftover chicken Alli, thank you for sharing!
Amazingly yummy! Love it. I prefer a little less cream and a squeeze of lemon at the end for some acidity. YUM! Thanks for the recipe❣️
Ashley, you didn’t include how to prepare the 2 main ingredients of the dish: the chicken and rice. You’re better than this Ashley.
You add the chicken and rice to the pot in step 3. You don’t need to do anything to prepare them aside from add them to the pot.
Hi Mark,
I’m not a great but a good cook. Holly’s recipes are always clear for me & easy step by step. In this one, simply add the chicken (specified uncooked) & rice (not specified to be cooked so uncooked into the liquid to be cooked for 30 min. explains it naturally.) Perfect! (Also, recipes like this, such as a soup, aren’t precise like baking, so alterations such as leftover chicken, rice, etc. can be made easily.)
Can the milk be left out completely??
It sure can!
can heavy cream be used instead of evaporated milk?
Christine, you can use heavy cream in place of evaporated milk. Enjoy!
The pictures shown sure dont look like it does at the end when you add the evaporated milk. Wish I had just left the milk out, now my husband thinks it looks like some kinda of cream soup and isnt interested.
Hi Nova,
Hmmm – my husband is a cream or no cream guy, so I being a “cream & butter lover” made the recipe as instructed & we loved it. Nice thing about these recipes is that often you may adjust it per your taste. She definitely helps simple cooks like me with her creativity!
Easy hearty delicious soup!
yum
When do you put chicken breast in pot? From the beginning when veggies are cooking?
The chicken is added in step 3 along with the broth. Enjoy!
Too much evaporated milk, I’d probably do half a cup. Also, brown rice took significantly too long to cook I think white rice is the faster option. Ends up with a very thick consistency I’d definitely go for less rice next time. Overall, it was delicious I made it to my taste step by step I didn’t take the recipe too literally except for measurements.
I am looking forward to making this.. I do have a question can half and half be substituted for the the evaporated milk.. It is not something I keep stocked in my pantry.
Thanks
Lee
That should work just fine Lee. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!