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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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Loved this soup!!! Even better the next day and tasted like a casserole due to thickening up from the rice. A family favorite.
Wonderful!! Thank you!
This worked out as a base to build off of, but I did feel it needed some other seasonings. I added a bit more Italian seasoning and some dried Marjoram leaves but I bet going with some poultry seasonings such as rosemary and rubbed sage would be delicious too. In the beginning I noticed there wasn’t enough fat for the standard fat to flour roux ratio so I threw in a couple tablespoons of butter and then cooked the rouxed veggies for 2 minutes instead of 1 to keep the soup from tasting floury. It also needed an acid so I did a quick splash of some white wine vinegar at the end which made a nice difference and rounded it off. As someone else mentioned, adding a Lemon Pepper seasoning would work well here too while also adding the acid that this soup needs to finish it off. Plenty of options out there for people to play with and that’s what makes cooking so fun. I personally enjoy seeing what others create from a recipe baseline.
Brilliant, I’m a widower in my late 70’s and must say that I found the soup easy to prepare and absolutely delicious, four good meals from one batch. Highly recommend !
Thank you so much, Ian!! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it. Appreciate you taking the time to write me a review.
I think this is a good base recipe, but as is I do believe it’s pretty plain. This is extra creamy. Next time I’d only add 1/2 cup of cream. I did add an additional 2 cups of broth. I seasoned with the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning like the recipe said but I wanted something more so I added some of Weber’s Zesty Lemon seasoning and that made it very good.
Good soup. Super easy. Way too thick and garlicky though. Trust me, reduce the flour and garlic by half.
Absolutely, positively love this soup! We served it for church and everybody raved about how good it was, needless to say, we ran out! I even increased amounts by 10 for about 100 servings! Thank you!!!
Wow I love that!! I’m thrilled it was a hit, Ellen!
So delicious! It smelled incredible while I was cooking it, and it tasted as good as it smelled. My family of 4 ate it all. I am making it again, one week later. Definitely a keeper!
I love that!! Thanks for your review, Christine! 😀
I thought this was disappointing, no flavour at all.
I’m guessing you didn’t add enough salt. You need quite a bit for a soup like this with rice, cream, and chicken (not the most flavorful meat to begin with).
Making this today! I’m sure you could had some herbs too like thyme or rosemary if you wanted it to have more flavor. No idea, but I’m excited to try!
For sure!
Would I be able to make this in a crockpot?
Hi! I haven’t tested it in the Crockpot, and it could get tricky with knowing when to add the rice so it doesn’t soak up all the liquid.
Very good! I think I might even put in peeled, diced potatoes next time around!