Chicken and Rice Soup
Posted Sep 19, 2020, Updated Mar 21, 2024
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This Chicken and Rice Soup is flavorful, hearty, healthy and it’s made in one pot in under an hour! Chicken and wild rice soup is a perfect meal for busy, chilly nights, it makes great leftovers & freezes well too!
Sometimes you just need a cozy bowl of soup on a chilly fall day. This Chicken and Rice Soup is one of our favorites, along with this tortellini soup, vegetable soup and sausage kale soup. It’s flavorful, hearty, healthy and it’s made in one pot in under an hour.
I love this chicken and wild rice soup because it’s light but filling. It’s dairy-free and gluten-free, so people with even strict dietary needs can enjoy it! It’s a great meal to make if anyone in your household is feeling under the weather too!
Chicken Rice Soup Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
Let’s chat about the ingredients in this chicken and rice soup, as well as possible substitutions.
- Olive Oil. Any neutral oil works well in this chicken and rice soup. Suggested substitutes are avocado oil, canola oil, and butter.
- Onion. Yellow, white, red, sweet, any onion variety works well in this recipe.
- Minced Garlic. Garlic powder can be used in place of minced garlic, just add it with the broth.
- Chicken Broth. Homemade or store-bought chicken broth works well in this recipe.
- Better than Bouillon. This is my secret ingredient in my soup recipes (as well as my chicken pot pie). It gives the soup such a great flavor. You can use a different chicken base, but I have had the best results with this brand.
- Raw Chicken Breasts. If you have precooked, leftover chicken you can use that instead. Just make the soup according to the instructions and add the chicken once the rice is cooked.
- Fresh thyme, bay leaves, and parsley. You can use dried spices, however I don’t recommend it. Fresh is best.
- Wild Rice. Brown rice or white rice both work well in this chicken rice soup recipe. Brown rice takes about the same amount of time to cook as wild rice, but white rice takes only about 25-30 minutes, so keep that in mind.
How to Make Chicken and Rice Soup
This chicken wild rice soup recipe is easy to make in one pot in less than an hour. As always, we’ll walk through the process step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video!
In a large stockpot, combine olive oil, onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
Once the vegetables are cooked, add the chicken broth and better than bouillon to the stockpot with the vegetables and whisk to combine.
Next, add chicken breasts, parsley, thyme sprigs, bay leaves salt, pepper and rice to the stockpot and stir to combine.
Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. After it reaches a boil reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 45 minutes, covered (25 if using white rice).
The goal here is to cook both the rice and the chicken – until it’s easily shredded with a fork. If you use white rice the rice may finish cooking before the chicken, so keep that in mind. Otherwise, 45 minutes is the perfect amount of time to cook both wild or brown rice and the chicken.
Once the rice and chicken are cooked, remove and discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Then, remove the chicken from pot and transfer it to a large bowl or cutting board to shred.
Return the shredded chicken to the stockpot and simmer for at least 15 minutes, then serve warm with extra chopped fresh herbs, crackers, etc.
Serve
Serve this chicken and rice soup with your favorite crusty bread, like this homemade french bread, no-knead bread, pretzel bread or the best homemade dinner rolls.
Store
Store any leftover chicken wild rice soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze
Let soup cool to room temperature, then transfer it to a freezer-friendly, airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
Reheat
Remove frozen soup from the freezer and let thaw in the fridge overnight, or on the counter (faster). You can also let it thaw slightly then transfer the mostly-frozen soup to a pot and thaw it over low heat, stirring often.
Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe FAQs
In this recipe the rice cooks with the chicken – so it is added uncooked and then cooked with the rest of the ingredients.
Refrain from over-cooking it. Follow the cooking instructions in the recipe.
This soup lasts for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and 2 months in the freezer.
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Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup carrots peeled & diced
- 1 cup celery finely diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 quarts chicken broth (8 cups)
- 1 Tablespoon “better than bouillon” chicken base
- 2 pounds chicken breasts raw
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup wild rice or brown rice or white rice*
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, combine olive oil, onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until onions are translucent (about 5-7 minutes).
- Add chicken broth and better than bouillon to the stockpot and whisk to combine.
- Add chicken breasts, parsley, thyme sprigs, bay leaves salt, pepper and rice and stir to combine.
- Cover and bring mixture to a boil.
- After it reaches a boil reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 45 minutes, covered (25 if using white rice).
- Remove and discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred, return it back to the pot.
- Simmer for 15 minutes, then serve.
Video
Notes
- Olive Oil. Suggested substitutes are avocado oil, canola oil, and butter.
- Onion. Yellow, white, red, sweet, any onion variety works well in this recipe.
- Minced Garlic. Garlic powder can be used in place of minced garlic, just add it with the broth.
- Chicken Broth. Homemade or store-bought chicken broth works well in this recipe.
- Better than Bouillon Chicken Base. You can use a different chicken base, but I have had the best results with this brand.
- Raw Chicken Breasts. If you have precooked, leftover chicken you can use that instead. Just make the soup according to the instructions and add the chicken once the rice is cooked.
- Fresh thyme, bay leaves, and parsley. You can use dried spices, however I don’t recommend it. Fresh is best.
- Wild Rice. Brown rice or white rice both work well in this chicken rice soup recipe. Brown rice takes about the same amount of time to cook as wild rice, but white rice takes only about 25-30 minutes, so keep that in mind.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FYI for the 2x recipe you show 4 quarts as 8 cups which is incorrect. Otherwise great recipe
I’ve made this twice so far. It’s a keeper! I made broth from chicken carcass/bones and went right to this recipe next. Very flavorful!
Thank you so much, Chris!
Made this today. Used a rotisserie chicken instead of breast. It was good.
Easy 1 pot soup. Absolutely delicious. It’s considered one of my meals in rotation.
Made this for dinner tonight! This recipe is a good one to prep some veggies in advance. I cut the onion, carrots and celery yesterday so I’d be ready to throw everything in tonight. When making this soup tonight I actually forgot to add the garlic (bummer!), and used chicken I mad previously made in the crock-pot (failure to read recipe ahead of time!), and yet still had a good ending product. Can’t wait to make it again and follow the directions to see the result! I’m always impressed with how simple the recipes on this site are and will continue to try more.