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A piping hot bowl of this creamy chicken and rice soup recipe is such a comfort on a cold day! It’s simple to make with no fancy ingredients, and the rich broth is irresistible.
If you’re craving a non-creamy version of this recipe, try my Easy Chicken and Rice Soup.
Why you’ll love it
Hello comfort food! This cozy chicken and rice soup is straightforward to make and basically a hug in a bowl. The chicken and rice cook right in the soup, making it super convenient and so that cleanup is pretty minimal. That’s an important factor for feeding hungry mouths after work.
I’m a big fan of jazzing up chicken soup while still using everyday ingredients you’ve probably already got in your pantry and fridge, so that’s what we’ve got going on in this soup. While a classic Chicken Noodle Soup is always appreciated, sometimes changing it up with rice and a creamy broth just hits the spot. It makes a filling and easy meal.
What you’ll need
- Celery, onion, carrots, and garlic – the base for many soups. I like using sweet (Vidalia) onions best.
- Olive oil – for sautéing
- Flour – it’s a thickener
- Chicken broth – for another layer of flavor
- Italian seasoning – it’s a delicious dried herb blend that comes in a single jar. I use it in tons of my recipes, so it’s a staple in my pantry.
- Rice – for this one I like jasmine rice. It’s a flavorful long grain white rice.
- Heavy cream – it adds a rich, luxurious touch to the broth
- Chicken – we’re using uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- This is the ladle I use for my soups. It doesn’t spill all over the place when serving.
- For all my soups I like to use a Dutch oven. It’s sturdy and conducts heat great.
- I mince the garlic cloves with this garlic press. One squeeze and no sticky fingers!
How to make creamy chicken and rice soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Sauté the carrots, celery, and onion in a Dutch oven or soup pot with the olive oil until softened, followed by adding in the garlic and flour.
Slowly pour in the chicken broth and stir until the flour dissolves, and then scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the Italian seasoning, rice, and cream.
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the chicken, and cook until both it and the rice are cooked through. Season generously with salt & pepper.
Pro tip
If you do need to make this soup ahead of time, I suggest cooking the rice separately and adding it to each bowl just prior to serving so that it doesn’t soak up a lot of broth before it’s time to serve it. It absorbs it pretty fast!
Substitutions and variations
- You can use rotisserie or leftover Baked Chicken. Just be sure to add it in towards the end of the cooking time, around the last 5 minutes, so it doesn’t overcook.
- Swap for chicken thighs if you prefer. I would leave them intact and add them in at the same time as the rice. They’re a lot harder to overcook than chicken breasts and become more tender the longer you cook them. Just shred them with two forks, and add the meat back to the soup once it’s done cooking.
- I wouldn’t sub the heavy cream for something lower fat. It could lead to curdling since we’re cooking at a fairly high heat, and the soup won’t taste as good.
- I don’t recommend swapping the white rice for brown rice or wild rice directly because it takes much longer to cook and wouldn’t work as written. However, you can cook a different variety of rice separately and add it into the soup at the end if you wish.
What to serve with chicken and rice soup
- This soup is a hearty meal as-is, but you can definitely serve it with a slice of crusty French bread, sourdough, or Garlic Bread.
- I also enjoy pairing it with a side salad. Try mixed greens with my Classic Homemade Ranch Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftover chicken and rice soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Keep in mind that the longer it is, the more the rice will absorb the broth.
- Reheat this chicken soup in a saucepan over a low heat, giving it a splash of broth to thin it out if needed.
- This is not one of those soups that freezes well due to the cream and rice.
Questions about this creamy chicken soup, or want to write a review a star rating? Talk to me in the comments below! You can also find me on Instagram.
Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 stick celery chopped finely
- 2 medium carrots peeled & chopped finely
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup uncooked white jasmine rice
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 pound uncooked chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces/strips
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, celery, carrots, and onion to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the garlic and flour and cook for about a minute.
- Slowly pour in the broth and stir/scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot until the flour has dissolved.
- Stir in the Italian seasoning, rice, and cream. Increase the heat to high, and once the soup comes to a gentle boil, give it a good stir, then reduce the heat so it's simmering and cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar. Simmer the soup for 10 minutes. I stir it every now and then to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add in the chicken and cook for another 7-10 minutes or until the chicken and rice are both cooked. Season with salt & pepper as needed (I am generous with both). This soup will soak up the broth FAST. You may need to add more chicken broth if you prefer a less thick soup, and you'll definitely have to add broth to leftovers. Cook the rice separately if you don't plan on eating it right away (add rice to individual portions just before serving).
Notes
- Recipes serves 4-6 depending how much people eat/what it’s served with.
- 1 pound of chicken breasts usually works out to 2 medium chicken breasts (a bit less or more than a pound is fine).
- This recipe is best enjoyed right after it’s made. Soups with rice and cream typically don’t freeze too well.
- I don’t recommend subbing the cream for something lower fat in case it curdles (the cream is cooked over a fairly high heat).
- This recipe is also in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I’m fairly new to cooking, but this was super easy to make and SO delicious!!! My entire family loved it. I did have one question for you: I can get confused with simmering/boiling, and I was worried that I would undercook the chicken and rice because I don’t know what the simmering should look like. Should there be a lot of small bubbles rising to the surface during the simmering part of this recipe? Or is the soup already hot enough that only a few bubbles is okay? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Madeleine!! I am so glad it worked out. 😀 It sounds like you followed the recipe perfectly. Re: simmering, it’s basically just below the boiling point, so it should be bubbling gently but steadily. If it’s bubbling like crazy, I will turn down the heat. If the bubbles seem to be dying down a lot (like it doesn’t really seem to be doing anything), I will up the heat a little bit. It’s normal to have to adjust the temperature a few times while cooking. Hope this helps!
Made this tonight and it was a hit! Would I be able to reduce the amount of heavy cream? Or, add it later ? I’d like to eat the soup myself without the cream but offer it with cream to my family.
Hi! I think that should be fine. I’ve only tested it as written, though, but I imagine it’s pretty flexible. 🙂
Made this tonight following the recipe exactly as written and it was DELISH. Thank you for all of your recipes! Stay you.
You are very welcome!! 🙂 Thank you!!
I can’t wait to try this. It’s sounds really good and easy. I’ll be experimenting with the spices since we like spicy. I still put out other seasonings like hot sauces since my husband and daughter like really spicy.
This is the best soup for Fall! Even my picky husband eats it and even eats it out of the pot. It’s the perfect flavor and very easy to make. Can’t wait to make more soups on your page.
I’m so happy to hear it!! 😀 Let me know what else you try.
Amazing recipe that is simple to make, cozy to eat and packs a lot of flavor. My family devoured it so fast! Thank you for always having dependable recipes that are perfect for week nights!
Aww you’re very welcome, Christine!! Appreciate your review! 😀
I followed the recipe step-by-step and found it did not have nearly enough flavor for me. I added Tony C’s creole and that really helped. That said, I do like the heartiness, but if you’re someone that likes a kick to your food, you may have to add extra spice.
Hi Kim! I think it’s pretty clear from the ingredients list that this is not going to be a spicy soup. It truly baffles me when people make recipes that they know won’t taste a certain way and then give them a low rating. Adding Tony’s is a great idea and I also add it to a lot of my meals, so it sounds like it was an easy enough fix to give it to the flavor you were looking for.
Made this tonight for the first time and we all loved it. My husband stood at the stove eating it out of the pot! Definitely keep extra chicken broth on hand because the rice soaks up so much of the liquid. I thinned it out some more while the chicken was cooking. And I’ll add more broth when I heat up the leftovers tomorrow.
You won’t regret making this one. I’ll be making it again for sure!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it, Beth!! 😀 Thank you!
Can you substitute cauliflower rice to make it more low carb. I’m diabetic and follow a low carb diet.
Hi Carla! Cauliflower rice is just finely chopped cauliflower. So it won’t have any of the same thickening properties as rice. I’m worried it’ll make the soup watery. If you’ve made a sub like this before, you could give it a try, though. I’m just a bit apprehensive to give advice on a tweak to the soup like this that I have never tried in case it doesn’t work. Let me know!
Try rising the rice and cooking it the day before and reheating it in the soup, it turns into a resistant carb. Also a diabetic here.
It was a 10/10! So good and comforting as well as simple 😍
Wonderful!! 😀 Thanks, Laura!
Can this be made in a crockpot?
Hi! I haven’t tested it in a slow cooker – sorry. It wouldn’t be a simple adaptation so I can’t guess on it.
This was soooo good! No actually this was excellent! Our first pot of soup of the season did not disappoint! Only changes I made was adding a heaping teaspoon of the Italian seasoning and added boneless skinless chicken thighs with the broth and cream. Let that come to a boil and then added the rice and cooked on simmer for 25 minutes. Removed chicken and cut/shred and then added back to the soup. Divine!
I’m thrilled it was a hit!!