This pot of Chicken & Rice Soup is based on both the Chicken Egg Noodle Soup and the Chicken Noodle Soup. Except instead of noodles or pasta, we add white rice. It’s a beautiful, brothy, savory soup filled with vegetables like onion, carrots, celery, and garlic with bits of Chicken. Either diced or shredded for a shredded Chicken & Rice Soup. Either way you make it, it makes about 8-9 C which is enough for about 6–8 bowls. Serve it with some Buttered Bread or Dinner Rolls for a nice comforting bowl of Chicken soup. Add a small amount of Chilies for some heat.
Chicken & Rice Soup Ingredients
Chicken Quarters or Breast, Rice, Fat, Soup Base (water, Maggi chicken bouillon, corn starch, onion powder, butter popcorn seasoning, MSG, garlic powder, savory, thyme, turmeric, cream of tartar, white pepper, bay leaves), Vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, garlic). Optionally, with Red Thai Chilies and/or Green Onions.
Cut of Chicken
Either one or two chicken breasts or one or two chicken quarters can be used. You can certainly add in more chicken too. The Chicken is either diced and tossed in to cook after the vegetables, or boiled in water to shred and add to the soup at the very end.
Chicken Breast
Chicken breasts are pretty straightforward. Just dice and include after frying the vegetables. You can simmer a whole chicken breast in water, Set it aside to cool and strip if you want strips of chicken in the soup. Just add them very last so they don’t break apart when stirring the soup.
Since breasts don’t usually include the skin. Some previously saved chicken skin or trimmings can be used to render for the fat. Otherwise, just use butter for the fat content.
Chicken Quarters
Chicken quarters are the go-to because you can render out the skin for the fat content and even use the bones to extract vital minerals and gelatin, adding richness to the soup. The chicken itself can be diced and cooked after the vegetables, or simmered when making the broth to shred and add to the soup at the very end. Either way you go, remove the skin from the chicken quarters. Clean out the internal organs lodged in the backbone if present. See How to Prepare Chicken for more information.
Shredded Chicken
For a Shredded Chicken & Rice Soup. Place the skinless chicken quarters in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred the meat with 2 forks. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip off the remaining meat. Place the bones back into the pot of water and simmer for 1 hour. Place the shredded chicken in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
Strain out the chicken broth through a fine sieve and use that as the water to add for the soup base. Add the shredded chicken right before covering to remove from heat.
Diced Chicken
For diced chicken quarters. Remove the skin to render out to get the fat and debone the chicken and dice it. It can be tossed into the pot when cooking the vegetables, just the same as diced chicken breast. Optionally, the bones can go into a pot of water to simmer to create a weak broth. Strain it through a fine sieve and use as the water to create the soup base.
Rendered Chicken Fat
Rendered chicken fat will by far give the soup more flavor and is preferred. If using chicken breast with no skin, then use any chicken skin or trimmings you previously stored away. Without that, Butter can be used.
With chicken quarters, remove the skin and chop into small pieces to render out in the soup pot over medium to medium low heat until the crackling is golden and crisp. Discard the crackling and start cooking the vegetables in the rendered fat over medium heat.
Chicken Stock
This step is an extra step that depends on if you want to extract the vital minerals from the bones. While at the same time cooking the chicken quarters for a shredded Chicken & Rice Soup. Otherwise, if it’s Chicken Breast or Boneless Chicken Quarters, just dice and cook it with the vegetables.
Fill a small pot up with water (about 10-12 Cups) and place your boneless Chicken Quarters in to bring to a boil. As it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and skim off the scum. Let it simmer for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken and pull apart the meat with two forks. Once cool enough to handle, strip off all the meat and throw the bones back into the pot of water to simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a fine sieve and use this water as the water to add to the chicken soup base. Top it up with more water if needed.
Chicken & Rice Soup Base
The soup base itself is mixed in a bowl and set aside to add after cooking the vegetables or the diced chicken if using. The soup base is only brought to a boil and simmered for about 20 minutes before being covered and rested for 20 minutes.
Vegetables
The typical vegetables added is a diced mirepoix of Onion, Carrots, Celery, with minced Garlic and Chilies if some heat is desired.
Other vegetables can certainly be added, and depending on the type will dictate when they are added. Some ideas are Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, canned Waxed Beans, Corn, Green Peas, Green Onions, Mushrooms. All of which are added and mixed in before taking it off the heat to rest. For firmer Bok Choy or Napa, you can boil separately until the desired doneness and add them into the individual bowls or to the soup after it has rested and ready to serve. Ginger or hard Vegetables like Parsnips, Turnip or Rutabaga are included in the mirepoix.
Rice
White Rice is used to fill the soup out. Use either Calrose, Jasmine, or American White Rice. Basmati can also be used. The rice is added and simmered uncovered for a final 10 minutes before the whole pot is removed from heat and covered to rest for 20 minutes. It is during this 20-minute rest, that the rice will continue to cook and soften.
Chicken & Rice Soup Variations
This is a solid soup base to which additional ingredients can be added as you see fit. Have fun with it to create numerous variations of chicken & rice soup. You can even just make the soup as is and add the additional ingredients into individual bowls. This way, everyone can customize their very own bowl of chicken & rice soup. Some ideas are below.
- A small amount of miso either to the pot or to the individual bowl can be added for chicken & rice soup with miso.
- Just a small amount of gochujang can be added for chicken & rice soup with gochujang.
- Spice it up with added chilies or cayenne pepper for a spicy chicken & rice soup. I usually include Red Thai chilies with the seeds removed. It adds such a beautiful speckling of red throughout the soup and a nice heat to hit the back of the throat.
- Chicken & Rice Soup with Bok Choy: Perhaps a favourite of mine, it really is so good. Boil baby bok choy or Napa cabbage in another pot of water until done to your liking. Then transfer to a serving bowl and ladle the rested soup over.
Sides
Absolutely love it with buttered bread or dinner rolls dipped in the soup so that it soaks the broth up and lightly melts the butter, giving this hot and cold contrast, just delicious! Other sides can include saltine crackers, biscuit or a nice sandwich.
Serving Size
This recipe makes about 8–9 Cups in total. For a decent size, use 1 Cup or 2 hotel ladles for a bowl of Soup. Which will yield about 8–9 bowls. For a bigger portion, use 1 1/2 C, about 3 hotel ladles per serving. This will yield about 6 bowls.
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Quarters - Or Breast
- 3-4 Tbl Fat - Preferably rendered chicken fat; can use butter.
- 1/2 C Rice - Jasmine, Calrose, White American, or Basmati
- 3 Cloves Garlic - Minced
- 1 Med Onion - Diced
- 1-2 Med Carrot - Diced
- 1-2 Stalk Celery - Diced
- 1-3 Chilies - Optional: minced. Such as Red Thai, jalapeño, Serrano, or long green peppers, seeds removed.
Soup Base
- 8 C Water
- 4 Cubes Maggi Chicken Bouillon - Or 3 Tbl Knorr Chicken Powder
- 2 Tbl Corn Starch
- 1/2 Tbl Onion Powder, Butter Popcorn Seasoning, MSG - each
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Savory & Thyme - each
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric, Cream of Tartar & White Pepper - each
- 1-2 Bay Leaves
Instructions
- Soup Base: Place all the ingredients together in a bowl for the soup base, mix, and set aside until needed.
- Rendered Chicken Fat: Heat a soup pot up over medium to medium-low heat and add the trimmings and skin. Cook until crispy brown and the fat has rendered out. Discard the crackling. Turn the heat up to medium.
- Vegetables & Chicken: Add the vegetables and cook while mixing for about 3–5 minutes. Add the diced chicken and cook until no longer pink.
- Simmer: Add the soup base and bring to a boil over max heat while mixing. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Rice: Add the rice and continue to mix and cook for 8–10 minutes. Cover the pot and remove it from the heat to rest for 20 minutes. Give it a stir and serve.