A creamy, comforting and filling dinner. This chicken and rice soup, with lemon and parmesan, is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. A small amount of rice goes a long way!
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Probably the soup that warms the winter the most. This soup is lovely and thick and leaves you completely satisfied!
This is also the first recipe video we filmed in our new kitchen!
We moved to Devon at the end of 2020, and immediately asked for planning permission to expand the kitchen and knock out some walls.
It took about 18 months to get the permits and builders in place, and we were finally able to start using the kitchen in December.
I am so excited and grateful how everything turned out. Although the builders did the main construction work, Chris installed the kitchen, including painting every cabinet by hand.
There are still a few pieces left to do in the kitchen (I haven’t finished filling the cupboards and drawers yet), and we still have to start with the pantry, but we couldn’t wait to start using it for photos.
I’m hoping we can have a little kitchen tour once it’s complete. We will put it on ours YouTube channel soon.
So, back to the soup:
📋 What do we need?
- Boiled chicken, shredded – You can use breast or thigh meat for this (shredded turkey works just as well)
- Rice – For this I use long rice, but basmati or wild-mixed basmati also work well. If you would like to use brown rice or pure wild rice, this will take longer to cook (usually 15-20 minutes longer) and will require an additional cup (240 ml) of stock.
- the stock – Water plus stock cubes is fine, or you can use Home hinge If you have some on hand.
- cream and milk – Use full fat for best flavor, especially if you intend to freeze any leftovers (skim milk has a tendency to split when freezing/reheating).
📺 Watch how it is prepared
Full recipe with detailed steps on the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳Professional tip This is a thick and hearty soup. If you wanted it a little thinner, add more stock or milk towards the end of cooking, to get the consistency you want.
🍽️ with what to serve
This soup is quite filling, so it doesn’t really need bread or toppings, unless you’re particularly hungry. if you…
Look how charming and pampering it is 😋
I’ve included some instructions in the notes section of the recipe card for variations to this recipe – including substituting ingredients, reducing or increasing the amount, making ahead, freezing, and slow-cooking.
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Chicken and rice soup
A creamy, comforting and filling dinner. This chicken and rice soup, with lemon and parmesan, is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. A small amount of rice goes a long way!
Instructions
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Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
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Add the onion, celery and carrot to the pan and fry for 4-5 minutes, until it starts to soften.
1 onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 medium carrots
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Add the flour to the pan and mix together with a whisk to coat the vegetables in flour.
2 regular tablespoons
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Pour in the milk, slowly, while mixing with the whisk, until the milk is completely mixed.
120 ml (half a cup) milk (full fat or semi-skimmed)
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Add the stock and dry thyme and mix again.
1.2 liters (5 cups) hot chicken stock, 1 teaspoon dried thyme
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Add the rice, bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for 25 minutes – stirring occasionally, until the rice is soft.
105 grams (½ cup) uncooked long rice
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Add in the chicken, lemon juice, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper.
250 grams (2 cups) leftover cooked chicken, shredded, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 80 ml (half a cup) double cream (heavy), 50 grams (½ cup) grated parmesan cheese, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
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Mix together and heat for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is heated through.
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Serve with fresh parsley.
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
✎ Notes
Can I be early?
You can make it in advance, but the soup will thicken as it cools, and the rice will absorb more liquid, so it will become softer.
- Prepare the soup, then cool, cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to two days.
- Heat in a pan, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is hot all the way through.
- If you wanted to loosen the soup, add a little stock or water while you heat the soup.
Can I freeze it?
Yes (be sure to use full cream and milk in the recipe, as lower fat versions may split when thawed/reheated).
- Prepare the soup, then cool, cover and freeze in portions. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat according to the heating instructions above.
Substitution of ingredients
- Replace the chicken To Turkey
- Replace the carrot and celery with other vegetables that can take a long cooking time (25 minutes+), without getting hot. Mushrooms, butternut squash, broad beans, Brussels sprouts and fresh corn They are good options.
- For softer vegetables – add them closer to the end of the cooking time:
- small pieces of Broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, sweet potato chunks – Add them about 10-15 minutes before the end of cooking.
- Spinach, kale, frozen peas – Add them about 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
How to increase and decrease this recipe
You can cross or double this recipe, keeping the same ingredient ratios.
If doubled, it may take a few minutes longer to bring everything to a boil, but the boiling time is the same.
Slow cooking
I found that the rice becomes too mushy and unwieldy when you make it in a slow cooker. So if I make it in a slow cooker, I reduce the amount of inventory I use about 950 ml/4 cups), and I add cooked rice at the endto simply warm it up.
So, for slow cooking:
- Prepare the recipe up to (including) the point where you add the stock (Using 950 ml/4 cups of stock instead of the amount indicated in the recipee) and thyme.
- Then add the shredded chicken (Or you can replace the cooked chicken with raw chicken – using 2 chicken breasts, 3-4 chicken thighs or 4-6 chicken sticks).
- Cook for 4-5 hours on low.
- If you used raw chicken, then at this point remove the chicken and shred the meat, then add the meat back in (discard the bones/skin).
- Add in the salt, pepper, lemon juice, cream and parmesan plus 300 grams/10.50 g/1.75 cups of cooked Long rice and heat for another 10 minutes or so, until it is hot.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving. This recipe serves 4.
diet
Calories: 458KKLCarbohydrates: 35Gprotein: 25GOil: 24GSaturated fat: 10GPolyunsaturated fat: 3GUnsaturated fat: 10GCholesterol: 85mgsodium: 1663mgpotassium: 490mgfiber: 2GSugar: 6Gvitamin: 5844IUVitamin C: 9mgcalcium: 219mgiron: 2mg
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