I feel like I’m always confessing I never have anything planned for dinner and, well, it’s true. Do as I say and not as I do, because truthfully, I suck at meal planning. There, I said it! Just like the handyman’s home is always in need of repair, 2-3 days a week I can usually be found rummaging around the fridge and pantry at 4pm trying to come up with something for dinner (thank goodness for permanent spaghetti and pizza nights!) Luckily since I’ve created a well stocked kitchen, and pick up fresh produce and meat at the grocery store each week, it’s not difficult to come up with something quick, healthy and balanced, but there’s definitely room to grow.
Until that time, I’ll keep on creating fridge and pantry suppers like Easy Chicken and Rice Soup that my family has been DEVOURING lately.
ICYMI, Lincoln absolutely adores soup, and Easy Chicken and Rice Soup is at the top of his list! (This face…I can’t!)
This healthy soup recipe was the result of a 5pm fridge and pantry raid and it was on the table by 5:30 – BOOM! We always have chicken breasts and carrots in the refrigerator, onions and shallots on the counter, and quarts of chicken broth and bags of rice in the pantry. Put ’em together and what’ve you got? Easy Chicken and Rice Soup. Unbelievably soul satisfying. Brothy but thickened ever so slightly by simmered rice. A simple ingredient list but tons of flavor thanks to seasoning everything with my homemade gluten-free seasoning salt. It’s honestly one of my Top 3 favorite soups for flavor, being family friendly (Ben, who is usually “meh” on soups, loves this one,) and for being so quick and easy. I’ve made it countless times over the past month.
Tips for Making Chicken and Rice Soup:
- What rice to use. Use a high quality rice for this recipe. I love Lundberg Farms Jasmine Rice which always has a great consistency in the final dish. You don’t need to pre-cook the rice before adding to the soup as it will cook in the broth. I would avoid short grain rice.
- Can you freeze this soup? Yes and no! Cooked rice in soup has a tendency to turn to mush once thawed from frozen, BUT you can make the soup up to the point of adding rice then freeze. Bring back to a boil, add the rice, then cook according to recipe directions.
How To Make This Recipe:
Start by heating 1-1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add 2-3 medium-sized carrots that have been peeled then thinly sliced, and 1/2 chopped onion. Season with homemade gluten-free seasoned salt and pepper then place a lid on top and saute until the vegetables are very tender, 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next add 8 cups (64oz) gluten-free chicken broth then turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil.
Pour in 1 cup long grain white rice then stir to combine. Again, I like Lundberg Farms Jasmine Rice but you can use whatever you have on hand – that’s the beauty of this easy, fridge and pantry-staple soup supper! Just make sure it’s not a short grain rice like arborio or sushi rice. Next add 2 chopped chicken breasts that have been seasoned with seasoned salt and pepper then stir to combine (the chicken will cook while the rice is cooking.)
Turn the heat down to medium then simmer until the rice is tender, 15-20 minutes, then pop the lid back on top and let the soup rest off the heat for 5 minutes to ensure the rice is really soft. Ladle into bowls then serve! I hope you love this super simple, super scrumptious Easy Chicken and Rice Soup recipe – enjoy!
Recipes Similar to Easy Chicken and Rice Soup:
- One Pot Chicken and Rice >
- Gluten Free Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup >
- Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup >
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup >
- Gluten Free Homestyle Chicken and Noodles >
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Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
Description
Easy Chicken and Rice Soup is a quick and simple gluten-free soup recipe that the entire family will love. Healthy comfort food in a bowl!
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 2-3 medium-sized carrots, peeled then thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- homemade gluten-free seasoned salt (see notes for recipe) and pepper
- 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 64oz (8 cups) gluten-free chicken broth
- 1 cup long grain white rice
Directions
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrots, season with seasoned salt and pepper, then stir to combine. Cover the pot with a lid then saute until vegetables are very tender, 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic then saute without the lid on for 30 seconds.
- Turn heat up to high then add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add rice then stir to combine. Season chicken with seasoning salt and pepper then add to the broth and stir to combine. Turn heat down to medium then simmer uncovered until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat then place a lid on top and let sit for 5 minutes. Taste then add more seasoned salt and/or pepper to taste, then ladle into bowls and serve.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
What a great idea to fool your parents like that: I’m sure if I tried anything like it they would pay me back BIG TIME! Soup is definitely not a joke: I love them in any form.
And I pinned that seasoning, what a smart idea!
This definitely looks like something I would make! I love hearty chicken soup. Pinning this for later!
Looks like something my family would love! The chicken is uncooked?
Yep! It cooks in the broth.
Hi! I absolutely love your blog and your writing! You are awesome!! Quick question on this recipe – is the chicken breast cooked or uncooked when you add it? Thanks so much!
Do you cook the chicken or add it to the pot raw?
I am curious about this as well. I’m assuming raw because it’s chopped small and would cook in the broth easily?
Yep, add it raw!
This looks delish. I’ll save it for next winter as we’re officially out of homemade soup season at my house. :-)
[…] Easy Chicken and Rice Soup. Easy Chicken and Rice Soup is a quick and simple gluten-free soup recipe that the entire family will love. Healthy comfort food in a bowl! I know, I know, a soup recipe on April 1? This is no April fools joke – I just couldn’t bear the thought of waiting another six or seven months to share the recipe for Easy Chicken and Rice Soup with you! […]
Kristin! Your blog is the first place I stop when I am meal planning. I wrote a blog post about my two-week menu and referenced IGE as a great place to gather recipes. So let’s be real, you may not be a good meal planner, but you inspire others to do it, so I think you can relax and drink a mojito about it. You’ve done enough!
I feel you on the meal planning, or lack thereof. I love to eat. But I also love variety. And how can I commit to tacos on Tuesday if I feel like spaghetti instead. But if I don’t use the leftover beef by Thursday it will go and, and so on…
So we usually end up winging it too. But I need to work on the stocked pantry thing. I went to make soup the other day and didn’t have chicken broth. WHAT?! Who doesn’t have chicken broth?? Me, apparently.
Oops. It will go *bad*.
I am curious do you not feed your son gluten either? I worry about this because he could become intolerant when he actually isn’t allergic. It would be terrible for him to grow up with this if isn’t an actual problem. Can you imagine being 21 again and not being able to enjoy a sip of beer? Just food for thought…
Gluten intolerance isn’t caused by not eating gluten, but he does eat it – just not at home. I kept getting horribly sick from cross contamination so we have to keep a GF home!
This soup looks amazing and so much easier than a lot of other soup recipes. Can’t wait to try it!
Our house has been sick all week. This soup was a perfect feel better meal :) Our two year old LOVED it!
Oh I’m so glad to hear it – hope you are all feeling better this week!
I made your soup today and it is so easy and delicious! Thank you! The next time I make it I would love to freeze some to have on hand. Do you think it would freeze well?
I’m so glad you loved it!! I would hesitate to freeze only because I think the rice would turn into mush, unfortunately!
I still need me some soup. I could honestly eat soup all summer long. It is still cold in New England. We are getting snow as we speak. Soup is good.
This soup looks absolutely delicious! It looks so healthy! It doesn’t matter it is April as a good soup is always good for your stomach compared to all the fried stuff we eat! Keep those soup recipes coming :-)
This looks yummy!
This was DELICIOUS! It made about six servings. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
ps – I love carrots in soup, so doubled the carrots and next time would triple them. I used four carrots total (1 cup after chopped)
I’m so glad you loved it! Sometimes I double the carrots too because Lincoln loves them so much. :)
I just made this soup tonight. It was so easy to make and it is delicious! Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
You bet, Jessica, I’m so glad you liked the soup!
This was really good! I added celery because I love celery in soup but otherwise, spot on!
I can’t believe how big Lincoln is. He is such a doll.
I am going to make this soup tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.
Carol emailed me about your surgery. We will be thinking about you tomorrow and add our prayers to those of so many others. Keep up your good spirits.Love,Janet & Michael
Thank you for this recipe! Tomorrow I am taking a meal to a friend who is undergoing chemo. She commented that she can really tell that healthy food gives her more energy. I was short of time and needed a quick healthy meal. I opened your blog and this jumped out at me. I threw it together tonight and will deliver it tomorrow. I love your recipes and lately whenever I try a new recipe and my hubby likes it, it’s from your blog.
I hope this boosted your friend’s spirits, Luanne. I can’t imagine what she must be going through – I am sure she is grateful for a friend like you!
I am known for my chicken noodle soup. I’ve been making it for 20 + years. I’ve never found one that is as good as mine. I make my own chicken broth and I don’t honestly know a single person who hasn’t said it’s the best chicken noodle soup. I believe my homemade broth is the reason. I was skeptical when I saw this recipe, because it was just too easy. I love rice so I decided to give this a go. I used store bought chicken broth because I wanted to follow the recipe exactly as written (picture shows store bought broth). I did add some diced celery and cut the rice back to 3/4 cup and added 1/3 cup instant wild rice. I even made the seasoned salt recipe and used that as well. So celery and wild rice are the only modifications I made to this recipe. Having said that, it was very tasty and hubby said he really really liked it! I was surprised at how good it was with store bought chicken broth (I did add a little bouillon). This is an incredibly easy recipe and is really delicious. I served it with tuna salad sandwiches. Next time I will try it with my homemade chicken broth and some panini sandwiches. It’s good to know that if I don’t have the time or feel like making my own broth this is an easy go to recipe that will definitely go into my Favorite Recipe Book with Iowa Girl Eats logo pasted to it! Thank you Kristin. I only subscribe to like 3-4 food blogs for the last several years,even though I get several though sites like Yummly etc. After checking out your recipe index I now added yours. This is the 3rd recipe from your blog that I’ve tried in the past week and they were all big hits!
I’m so glad to hear it, Gywn!! Your recipe sounds incredible!
Made this the day you posted it – was fighting off the last dredges of a head cold and this was perfect! Simple and delicious and the seasoning salt really does make a difference. Being GF+, it’s been a long time since I had anything resembling chicken noodle soup. Thanks!
Totally feel you, Jamie! If you’re looking to change things up, here are a few other “chicken noodly” soups you might like! http://iowagirleats.com/2015/02/25/gluten-free-homestyle-chicken-and-noodles/ and http://iowagirleats.com/2014/10/22/homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/
This was super easy and is just delicious. I made it on the weekend and have been enjoying it for lunch at work. Thanks Kristin
Going to try this soup this weekend! What gluten free chicken broth do you like?
I bounce between Costco’s Kirkland brand and my store brand (HyVee!)
Thank you so much for this recipe! I used leftover smoked chicken thighs and my husband said that this was the best chicken and rice soup he’s ever had!
I’m so glad to hear it – I bet those smoked thighs tasted delicious in this soup!
My family (including a baby and 3 year old) loved this! It was simple in the best of ways – definitely not boring, but just classic flavors that made for a great basic soup. As another reviewer said, I did double the carrots.
I actually prefer this to chicken noodle soup, and this will now be my go-to recipe for cold days, sick days, or soup-just-sounds-good days. Thanks for the great recipe!
about how much of your seasoning did you add? Looks delicious!
I really like this recipe – super easy and comforting! If I want to make it vegetarian, what alternate protein would you recommend? Or just omit the chicken? Would love to hear your thoughts!
I would omit the chicken – just did it the other night when I didn’t feel like chopping a few chicken breasts up and it was just as delicious!
Do you think it would be OK using brown rice? I’m thinking I would just have to cook it longer.
Sure! I’d have an extra cup or two of chicken broth on hand since brown rice always seems to want more liquids than white.
Wow! This soup is fantastic!
Do you know if this will work in a crackpot? It’s so hot here in CA desert & I’m looking for a ckn & rice soup I cam make in crackpot… this looks like a great recipe!
I’m sure it could, Katie! Here’s another similar option for you to try! http://iowagirleats.com/2015/10/07/crock-pot-chicken-and-wild-rice-soup/
I’m trying the original recipe on this feed in crackpot right now… fingers crossed!
I’m trying the original recipe on this feed in crackpot right now… fingers crossed!
I’ve had this cooking for about 4 hrs on high, but rice (long grain white rice) is definitely NOT ready…
Well, unfortunately, the rice exploded… not good (textural speaking)… I’ll eat it tonight but will throw the rest out; it’s all mush ?
[…] image via Iowa Girl Eats […]
I love this soup and made it for the 3rd time this weekend. I found it easier to cut the chicken into small cubes while it was still mostly frozen so that I could cut them really small. I only had medium grain rice and it still turned out great. I will be making this all winter I’m sure. Thanks!
So glad you loved it, Rebecca! Thanks for the feedback!
This was really easy and really good. We are a mixed vegetarian and nonvegetarian family, so on Monday soup night I usually make two soups. It is always great when they are simple to make. Thanks for a great recipe!
You bet, Vivian! So glad the entire family could enjoy it!
Trying this tonight! I already have chicken and rice cooked and came here looking for an easy, yummy soup to use it up. :) LOVE those bibs your son has on. I keep one at home and one in my purse/diaper bag at all times!
I made this tonight and the rice absorbed almost all the broth. I added 1 more cup of water and 2 cups of broth. It still tastes off to me. I used homemade chicken broth from my instapot. First time I have used it in a soup, not sure if that is the problem.
[…] Image credit: Iowa Girl Eats […]
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you loved it, Lidia, thanks for the feedback!
I made this for supper tonite .my husband loved this .being we were both sick and I had no taste buds .it was awesome .I made the home made spice as well .thank u
Aww, I’m so glad it helped, Tracy! Feel better soon!
Thank you for this recipe. I needed a gluten free soup recipe for a friend whose husband is dying of cancer. I’m sure it will give them comfort as they eat it. It’s very soothing n so good.
I’m so sorry to hear about your friend and her husband, Janet – I hope this soup brings them some comfort.
[…] easy chicken and rice soup recipe from Iowa Girl Eats looks pretty simple to throw together and is such a good choice if you need a gluten-free recipe […]
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I added celery but, besides that, followed the recipe exactly. It was the perfect comfort food for a cold day.
So glad you loved it, Rachael!
Can I use brown rice instead?
Sure! You’ll probably need to add more broth to account for the longer cooking time.
I’m so glad you linked to this in your year-end “best of” round-up because I forgot that I had pinned it when you originally posted it! It turned out great! Simple comfort food that is not boring. I doubled the carrots, added about 1/4 c chopped celery, and used Lowry’s seasoned salt. Thanks for another good one!
Made a very close version of this recipe, except I cooked and shredded the chicken before adding it. Thank you this turned out great!!! Oh I added chopped kale as well.
Can you use cooked chicken and rice in the recipie if so is the time still the same?
Being from Iowa also we eat soup all year around! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for a long time! So glad I found it on Pinterest ! Go Hawkeyes
I love this soup and have made it several times. I have found to cut the chicken in a small pieces like you show it your pictures, it helps to cut the chicken while it is still partially frozen. I had a hard time cutting the raw chicken in such small pieces.
Can you tell me approximately how many cups of soup this makes? I need to make 5 gallons (80 cups) of soup for an event! 😮
It probably makes 10-12 cups!