This homestyle chicken rice soup recipe warms you from the inside out. It's simply seasoned with thyme, salt and pepper, and made easy with leftover chicken and pantry items in around 30 minutes. Get ready to wrap your hands around a warm bowl of homemade goodness!
- 8 cups chicken broth, ready-to-use or homemade If store-bought, choose a lower-sodium variety
- 3 medium carrots, peeled andchopped about 1 cup
- 3 medium celery stocks, chopped about 1 cup
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste
- 2 10 ounce pkgs frozen brown rice about 4 cups total
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Add broth, carrots, celery, chicken, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to large soup pot. Cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until vegetables are softened, 8-10 minutes.
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While soup is simmering, cook frozen rice according to package directions.
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Add rice at the end of the simmering time. Taste, and adjust seasonings.
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Cornbread is a perfect side for this soup!
I like my soups THICK. The 4 cups of rice adds plenty of heft to this soup. The second day some of the broth will have been soaked up by the rice. If you prefer your soup brothy, cut the rice down to 3 cups, and/or increase the broth quantity.
I like to start with lower-sodium store bought broth so I can control the salt content. If you are using a higher-sodium broth, wait to add any additional salt until the end, when you've had a chance to taste the soup.
Frozen brown rice is the key to quick and easy prep. I have not tried simply cooking the frozen brown rice directly in the broth (rather than microwaving it according to package directions). It's possible it could work, but it may absorb more of the broth than you would want. If you try this method let me know how it goes!
I also love using a brown rice blend from Trader Joe's (pictured in the post) which includes black barley and red rice in addition to the brown rice. *not gluten free*