Oh, hi! I’ve temporarily resurfaced from the depths of my soup pot to share a must-try recipe for Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup with you!
I started cooking today with every intention of making a big pot of my Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup to have on hand for lunches all week, but started craving something a bit creamier…and made with rice instead of noodles…and cheese. There had to be cheese!
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup is what I came up with, and it is so hearty, creamy, and delicious that I literally had to override control of my right hand with my left to stop eating it spoonful by steamy spoonful straight from the soup pot, and pour myself a dang bowl already. That’s how good this soup is!
I’m not sure what I like best – the creamy rice, tender vegetables, flavor-packed broth, or the cheese. Probably the cheese.
How to Make Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup:
Start by prepping the vegetable base. I pretty much use 1 stalk celery, 1 large carrot, and 1/4 small onion as the base of all of my soups, and this one is no different.
Add the vegetables to a large soup pot over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon each butter and extra virgin olive oil then saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add 2 minced garlic cloves then cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly.
After the vegetables are soft, add 3/4lbs cooked diced or shredded chicken.
To the chicken and vegetables add 6 cups chicken broth, and 1/3-4 cups skim milk.
Followed by 1 bay leaf and a 2×2″ parmesan cheese rind. The cheese rind is optional, btw, but it adds SO. MUCH. FLAVOR. I get a big package of them from Whole Foods for super cheap and keep on hand in the freezer to pull out when I’m making soups.
Bring the soup to a boil then stir in 1 cup long grain white rice, place a lid on the pot, then cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is just barely tender.
Finally, whisk together 1/4 cup milk with 1/4 cup gluten-free or all-purpose flour in a small bowl, then stream into the soup and cook for 5 more minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. The addition of this milk/flour slurry makes the soup wonderfully thick and creamy, without having to add any heavy cream.
Right now the soup is absolutely delicious on its own. You could serve as-is and have one of the best bowls of soup ever – BUT – the addition of 8oz shredded cheese takes this soup straight over the top.
I use a mixture of both smoked and sharp cheddar cheeses, and parmesan cheese, which I stirred into the soup until smooth, then served. Whatever you use, just make sure it’s freshly shredded/grated – it will make all the difference in the world!
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Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup
Description
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup is hearty, creamy, and delicious. The ultimate in comfort food!
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 small onion, minced
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- salt & pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4lb cooked chicken, shredded or chopped
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups skim milk, divided
- 1 bay leaf
- 2x2" parmesan cheese rind (optional)
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1/4 cup gluten-free or all-purpose flour (I like Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour)
- 8oz shredded cheese (I used a mix of smoked cheddar, sharp cheddar, and fresh grated parmesan)
Directions
- Melt butter and oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, season with salt and pepper, then saute for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add garlic cloves then cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken, season with more salt and pepper (if chicken is unseasoned) then stir to combine.
- Add chicken broth, 1-3/4 cups milk, bay leaf, and parmesan cheese rind, if using, to the pot. Turn heat up to bring to a boil then add rice and stir to combine. Place a lid on top then turn heat down to medium-low and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender.
- In a small bowl whisk together remaining 1/4 cup milk with flour. Stream into soup, stir to combine, then cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Turn off heat and remove pot from burner then add cheese and stir until smooth. Let soup sit and thicken for 10 minutes then serve.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
See how thick and creamy this soup is?! All from a little skim milk and flour, and a modest amount of cheese – especially when you consider how many servings a big pot of Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup makes. Such a winner, this one. I hope you love it!
This looks awesome – I love that it’s gluten-free, too! Soup is my favorite winter meal, I’ll need to add this to the to-do list.
This reminds me of a soup I used to eat growing up – sounds delicious! =)
that sounds delicious!
Id love to exchange those dvds for some chocolate cake!!!
send me an email!
I love Panera’s creamy chicken and wild rice soup… so I can only imagine this additive/preservative free soup is delicious! PLUS, there’s cheese!
My husband is getting sick and I think this will be perfect to brighten his immune system back up!
this looks so yummy and EASY! definitely making this for a cozy night :)
This looks amazing, times like these I wish I wasn’t lactose intolerant! I can eat in moderation, maybe I should save up a weeks worth of avoidance in order to make this soup! Season 4 of BBT is the best, I was laughing so hard I was crying 5 minutes into the first episode of season 4. I’m getting the boyfriend the Bazinga PJ pant’s from Amazon.com for Christmas. Sorry, I won’t trade, not even for sheet cake ;)
Yummo….this looks super comforting! Too bad it’s still in the 80’s here in Texas.
This looks great! I think that I may try to make a vegetarian version of this soup. :)
this looks wonderful, thanks!
xo julesinflats.com
I would trade for Chocolate cake, but I don’t have the DVD’s (& I’m in Fl !) This looks wonderful and I am going to try it! I told my husband how tiny you are and what wonderful recipes you come up with and he said you cook and Ben eats! Must be it! Going to make the Lava Cakes tomorrow and if they come out good I will take some with my fudge, Ham & Stuffing to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Ben, and your entire family!
Looks like the ideal “winter cold” soup. I think snow is just around the corner for us so this will absolutely be made soon.
This looks wonderful! Love that it doesn’t have added creamed soup in it!
I would TOTALLY trade you DVDs for a sheet cake! Let me know! And I can’t wait to make this soup – it looks amazing.
AWESOME!!!
I love that it is so thick a spoon can stand in it! This looks creamy and delicious and it will definately be added my list of comfort foods – yum!
YUMMY! Any ideas of how to make this vegetarian friendly? I was thinking of adding broccoli and taking out the chicken??
You could definitely do that, or just leave the chicken out all together!
You’re my hero. And this is going to be my dinner on Sunday night. Thanks!
I am thinking Thanksgiving turkey leftover: Cheesy Turkey & Rice Soup!
I love how deceivingly creamy this looks! I love adding a parm rind. I prefer rice to noodles when it comes to soup…this sounds PERFECT!
Question: do you take the parm rind out? I love the flavor it gives but it’s so yucky by the time it melts down, haha. So I usually take it out after a bit.
Haha I agree it is very limp and weird by the end, but I leave it in the whole time!
Thank you for sharing!
The last picture you posted is my favorite – very artsy.
I made this with leftover turkey tonight…delicious! My boys ate it up and my husband wants more to take for lunch on Monday!
I made this tonight with leftover turkey tonight and it was SO GOOD!! My husband said it was the best soup he ever ate!! Loved it! Thank you!
This soup is fantastic! The only thing I did differently was use brown rice instead of white and I used 3 large frozen chicken breasts that I had cooked before and just shredded. Definitely my new favorite comfort food! I have tried so many chicken soup recipes in search of the perfect one and this is it!
This was so amazing, thank you so much! My family all loves your recipes and I get to cook! My husband has always been the cook so I think he is enjoying me cooking :). Also, I believe when you print out the recipe, it says use chicken broth and flour and in your blog, it says to use flour and milk. I did the flour and milk and it was awesome! Thanks again!
Made this soup the other day. DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the great recipe.
Made this for dinner tonight, Awesome!!!! Big hit at my house!
I totally tried to make this tonight and it didn’t thicken up!! What did I do wrong? :(
Oh no! Is it possible you left out the flour?
No I definitely did do the flour and milk thing but I eyeballed the 1/4 cup of milk and flour. Maybe I didn’t let it cook long enough? I also didn’t cook the rice, I just used the brown rice from Trader Joes that you find already cooked in their freezer section. I also left out the chicken. I can’t imagine that would have a huge effect?
The rice starch released during cooking helps thicken the soup, so that’s probably what it was.
This could be sacrilege, but this soup is great with 6 to 8 oz of Velveeta. . . .
[…] first, Cheesy Chicken & Rice Soup’s brother from a less-cheesy mother, Chicken & Wild Rice […]
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I skimmed the comments to see if my question was there… is it 3/4 of a chicken or 3/4 CUP shredded chicken? Just clarifying! :)
GREAT question – I totally left off the “lb” in the recipe. It’s 3/4lb chicken!
Approximately how many cups of shredded chicken is 3/4 of a lb.? I don’t have a kitchen scale! Thanks:)
1-1/2 – 2 cups!
This soup is delicious! Will this freeze well? Not that it will stay around that long, but I’d love to make some in advance. Thanks!
I’ve never tried with this particular soup, but sometimes “creamy” soups don’t thaw very well. Let us know if you try it though!
Do you thnk it would freeze well if you make it up to the flour addition step and freeze, then go from the flour addition step for final prep after thawing the frozen soup?
This recipe looks amazing…I’ll be making it on my next soup day!!!
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you post…some of them are now family favorites!
It could work! The rice would probably get a little gummy from freezing/reheating. Otherwise, I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t work!
[…] one of my Top 3 soup recipes, Cheesy Chicken & Rice Soup is, you guessed it, cheesy, creamy, and thick. Total comfort food. You will go back for bowl after […]
Maybe I missed something but I believe this recipe uses flour so how is it gluten free???
This recipe is not gluten free. I’m not sure where you saw that?
I’ll be using my gluten free flour and then it’s Gluten Free. Easy Peasy!
Delicious recipe!
[…] down with something resembling food poisoning on Friday evening. To aide in his recovery, I made soup and stocked up on rice cakes and Gatorade. Oh, and while Jordan rested, I finally put away our […]
Whoa, this was good, and you weren’t kidding about it being thick! I used brown rice so I simmered for 45-50 minutes. Also, I added the shredded chicken at the end so it wouldn’t get dry.
Thanks!!
[…] Cheesy Chicken & Rice Soup […]
This is my go-to recipe. Love it! It is perfect to use when I have a little left-over chicken.
[…] few items I don’t have so that I can make this yummy soup tonight from Iowa Girl Eats. This cheesy version sounds pretty dang delicious too though so I might do a mash up of the […]
Holy moly! Really wish we had left overs! This soup was so good that my family downed it in an hour.
This soup was so good! My daughter started feeling under the weather this morning so I bought one of the roasted chickens from our local grocery store and made this soup. chock full of veggies and full of flavor as I added a parmesan rind and fresh rosemary, thyme and sage. I made it GF as well! Thanks for another amazing recipe, Kristin!
So glad to hear, Angie, I hope she starts feeling better soon!
[…] keep your family happy and all the more thankful for that turkey bird. 1) Turkey Reubens 2) Cheesy Chicken Soup (substitute with turkey) 3) Turkey Hash with Fried Eggs 4) Turkey Pot Pie 5) Turkey […]
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[…] Cheesy Chicken And Rice Soup from iowagirleats.com […]
Could you leftover rice? If so, when would you add it?
Sure! I’d just add it in at the end for a couple minutes to warm up/soften.
Made as written tonight for husband and picky teenager. They snarfed it down – proclaimed as a keeper. :)
Love it!! Thank you so much for your feedback, Jill! :)