Chicken Rice Soup (Stove Top or Slow Cooker)

This Chicken Rice Soup is a hearty, healthy soup recipe that’s perfect for fall! Loaded with vegetables, lean chicken and brown rice it can be made stove top or slow cooker.

Soup season continues here on The Recipe Rebel and I’m back with this easy Chicken Rice Soup! It’s hearty, healthy, and creamy so it ticks pretty much all of my boxes 😉

Soup is pretty much my favorite way to get loaded up an all kinds of healthy stuff, and this one is no exception (this Chicken Pot Pie Soup and this Cabbage Soup are more favorites!).

I’ve used onions, garlic, carrots and celery but you could add all kinds of vegetables here. Mushrooms would be great (if you’re into that sort of thing), peppers, spinach, kale, or even frozen peas stirred in at the end. I often do this to cool down the soup for my kids and it works like a charm (plus, extra veggies!).

I know that a lot of Chicken Rice Soup recipes use wild rice, but with the long cook time I just didn’t think I wanted to go that route. You can, if you like, but keep in mind that it requires an even longer cook time that brown rice.

We use brown rice because it packs more fiber and protein, but still cooks in a reasonable amount of time. And we always have a giant bag around!

Variations of this Chicken Rice Soup:

• As mentioned above, feel free to swap out the vegetables or add more in! You do need to keep cook time in mind though and may want to add them at the end if they are quick cooking (like broccoli for example, unless you like it very tender).
• I use brown rice, but you could also use wild rice (a much longer cook time) or white rice (a lesser cook time). Again, keep in mind for the swaps you make you may need to adjust the liquid and cook time.
• If you really want this to be quick, you can use instant rice, but you may want to leave it out of the soup until the carrots are cooked because they can take a while to become tender and you don’t want mushy rice!
• This soup is naturally gluten-free, but double check all of your packages to be sure.
• This soup can easily be made dairy-free, by omitting the milk or cream.

How to make ahead Chicken and Rice Soup ahead:

This soup is great refrigerated and reheated, so feel free to make a large batch on the weekend for quick, easy meals during the week.

How to freeze soup:

Low fat milk does not freeze well and will separate. If you know you plan to freeze, 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 desired temperature in the microwave or on the stovetop.

To make Slow Cooker Chicken Rice Soup:

You will follow many of the same steps, but the cook time will be considerably longer:

• Add the veggies, broth, chicken and rice to the slow cooker and cook on low for 3-6 hours or until the rice is tender — brown rice will cook considerably longer than white rice.
• Remove chicken and shred. Add back to the slow cooker with the evaporated milk.

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Chicken Rice Soup

written by Ashley Fehr

4.90 from 58 votes

This Chicken Rice Soup is a hearty, healthy soup recipe that’s perfect for fall! Loaded with vegetables, lean chicken and brown rice it can be made stove top or slow cooker.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Cuisine American

Course Soup

Servings 6 servings

Calories 332cal

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil
• ▢ 1 onion minced
• ▢ 3 large carrots peeled and diced
• ▢ 1 rib celery diced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 2 chicken breasts raw
• ▢ 1 cup long grain brown rice rinsed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1/2 cup evaporated milk (more or less as you prefer)

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.
• Rinse rice under cold water. Add broth, chicken, rice, salt and pepper. 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.

Notes

*NOTE: carrots will be very tender by the time the rice is cooked. If you prefer your carrots with more bite to them, add them after the first 10 minutes when stirring the soup.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 332cal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 607mg | Potassium: 803mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5250IU | Vitamin C: 5.4mg | Calcium: 150mg | Iron: 1.6mg

Keywords chicken and rice soup, chicken soup, slow cooker soup

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