Chicken and Rice Soup that’s good for your soul (and when you have a cold!) Minimal effort, maximum taste.
My Chicken and Rice Soup is simply made using skinless bone-in chicken thighs or roast chicken carcasses with some leftover meat attached. It gets a boost of flavor by using additional chicken stock and spices that deliver a beautiful golden color.
This is the time of year when someone in the house gets a cold. What’s the first thing you think of when someone has a cold? Chicken soup! This one is easy to make using either skinless bone-in chicken thighs or chicken carcasses left over from roasting. When we have roast chicken for dinner, save those carcasses! Use them to make this delicious chicken and rice soup or freeze them making them available whenever you crave chicken and rice soup.
The soup gets a flavor boost from chicken stock. The vegetables used are simply onions, carrots, and celery. You may be thinking this sounds a little bland. Do you really think I would do that to you? The spices used deliver flavor and some color to the soup. It’s the turmeric that gives it a golden color.
Preparation is quick and easy and it’s all done without sauteing. Throw all the ingredients except the rice in a pot and cook. How simple is that? Once the chicken is cooked and the bones have done their job, the chicken is removed, deboned, and shredded while the rice is added and cooked. Stir the chicken back in, stir, and you have yourself a heck of a soup!
This soup uses ½ cup long grain rice. You make think that’s not enough, but the rice absorbs the liquid and continues to thicken as it sits. If you add a full cup, you’ll have chicken stew.
This freezes well. Simply place in freezer safe containers and it’s there when you need it.
Want more? Try my other soups:
Be happy, eat well.
Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of skinless bone-in chicken thighs OR 1 - 2 roast chicken carcasses with some chicken attached*
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups chicken stock preferably homemade, otherwise low sodium
- 3 carrots chopped ½” pieces or ½ pound baby carrots sliced in half
- 3 ribs of celery chopped in ½” slices, including leafy tops
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated onion powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ cup long grain rice
Instructions
- If using chicken thighs, use 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1.5 pounds)
- Place all but rice into a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir, and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Remove chicken from soup and place into a big bowl.
- Add rice to the soup, stir, bring back to a boil, cover, then lower heat to a low simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, remove the meat from the chicken thighs using two forks to shred. Discard the cartilage and bones. If using chicken carcasses, remove the chicken carcass and pull off the remaining meat. Discard the carcass.
- After the rice is cooked, add the meat back into the soup and stir to heat it through. Taste and add salt if needed.
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