Recipes › Soups & cozy meals› Creamy chicken and rice soup
Soups & cozy meals · Easy · Serves 6

Creamy chicken and rice soup

The Sunday soup that brought me back to cooking. Pantry-friendly, very forgiving, cozy without feeling heavy, and the kind of leftovers people fight over.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-06
A wide cream-speckled stoneware bowl of creamy chicken and rice soup with shredded chicken, tender rice, soft diced carrots, fresh parsley and dill, and a swirl of cream on top, on a white marble counter beside an open cream enameled Dutch oven, a wooden spoon resting on a striped cream-and-blue linen towel, and a torn piece of crusty sourdough.
Prep
10 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
easy

I make some version of this soup most Sundays in winter. It started a couple years ago, when I was burned out on cooking and just wanted something warm and forgiving on the stove. A pot of broth, a handful of rice, whatever herbs were in the door of the fridge. By Monday the pot was usually empty.

It's the soup that brought me back. Very pantry-friendly, very forgiving, and the leftovers somehow taste better the next day. A small swirl of cream and a squeeze of lemon at the end is the part that ties it all together.

“A pot of broth, a handful of rice, whatever herbs you have. The kind of cooking that earns its leftovers.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01A whole pot of soup that comes together with one cutting board and one Dutch oven.
  • 02Pantry-friendly enough to make on a quiet Sunday without a shopping trip.
  • 03The leftovers somehow get better. Reheat with a splash of broth and they're ready.
  • 04Cozy without being heavy. A little lemon and dill keeps it feeling fresh.
A small cream pitcher pouring a thin stream of cream into a cream enameled Dutch oven full of finished chicken and rice soup, with shredded chicken, tender rice, soft diced carrots, and fresh herbs visible on the surface. A wooden spoon rests in the pot. On a white marble counter beside a small bowl of fresh thyme and a striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel.
Pour the cream in slowly and stir it through. The broth pulls it into a soft swirl.
Ingredients

For the soup base

  • 2 Tbspunsalted butter
  • 1 Tbspolive oil
  • 1yellow onion, diced
  • 2medium carrots, diced
  • 2celery ribs, diced
  • 3garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbspall-purpose flour
  • 6 cupslow-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs
  • ¾ cuplong-grain white rice
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1 tspfresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tspkosher salt, plus more to taste

To finish

  • ¾ cuphalf-and-half
  • 2 Tbspfresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cupfresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tbspfresh dill, chopped
  • to tasteblack pepper
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Sweat the aromatics.
    Melt the butter with the olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery with a small pinch of salt. Cook until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic for the last 30 seconds, until you can smell it.
  2. 02
    Build the base.
    Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to coat. Let it cook for one full minute. This is the bit of insurance that gives the soup its creaminess without much cream.
  3. 03
    Add the broth, chicken, and rice.
    Pour in the chicken broth, scraping up anything sticking to the bottom. Tuck in the chicken thighs, the rice, the bay leaf, the thyme, and the salt. Bring to a low boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover partly and cook for 22 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.
  4. 04
    Shred the chicken.
    Lift the chicken out onto a cutting board. Use two forks to shred it into bite-sized pieces. Stir it back into the pot. Fish out the bay leaf.
    Overhead view of a pair of hands using two stainless steel forks to shred a cooked chicken thigh on a light oak wooden cutting board, with a few already-shredded pieces alongside, the edge of a cream enameled Dutch oven peeking into the upper right corner, and a striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel to the right, on a white marble counter.
    Two forks, a wooden board. Shredding goes faster than you think.
  5. 05
    Finish with cream, lemon, and herbs.
    Pour in the half-and-half. Add the lemon juice and most of the parsley and dill. Taste. It should taste cozy and bright at the same time. Adjust salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and finish with the rest of the herbs and a crack of black pepper.
Close-up of a light oak wooden spoon lifted from a bowl of creamy chicken and rice soup, broth dripping back into the bowl, with visible shredded chicken, tender rice, a soft carrot dice, and fresh parsley and dill.
A note from Anna

Use chicken thighs if you can. They stay tender even if the soup sits on the stove a little long, and they shred into the kind of bite-sized pieces you want in every spoonful. If the soup thickens too much as it sits (the rice keeps drinking the broth), just stir in a splash of broth or water when you reheat. It should always feel like a soup, not a porridge.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    Crusty bread
    Sourdough, rye, anything with a chew, for the broth.
  • ·02
    A simple green salad
    Arugula, olive oil, lemon, flaky salt. Five minutes.
  • ·03
    A wedge of lemon at the table
    So everyone can brighten their own bowl to taste.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Keeps for 4 days in a sealed container. The rice will absorb more broth as it sits, which is fine. Loosen with a splash of broth or water on reheat.

Reheat: Gently in a pot over medium-low heat, stirring every minute or two. Add a splash of broth or water to loosen. Avoid a hard boil so the cream doesn't break.

Make ahead: Cook the whole soup up to step 4, hold the cream and herbs, refrigerate. Finish right before serving.

Freezer: I freeze this without the cream and lemon, then stir those in fresh on reheat. The rice changes texture a bit in the freezer but it's still good for up to 2 months.

Recipe card

Creamy chicken and rice soup

The Sunday soup that brought me back to cooking. Pantry-friendly, very forgiving, cozy without feeling heavy, and the kind of leftovers people fight over.

Prep
10 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
6
Total
45 min
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 2 celery ribs, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • ¾ cup long-grain white rice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ¾ cup half-and-half
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • to taste black pepper
Method (short version)
  1. 01Sweat the aromatics.
  2. 02Build the base.
  3. 03Add the broth, chicken, and rice.
  4. 04Shred the chicken.
  5. 05Finish with cream, lemon, and herbs.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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