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This delicious and creamy chicken soup recipe is packed with vegetables, tender chicken and rice, and a creamy broth. It’s an easy one-pot meal that comes together quickly and is full of protein and flavor. Plus, it’s easy to make gluten-free and/or dairy-free with simple substitutions.
What Makes This Recipe Great
I absolutely love a simple and hearty soup that comes together in one pot. It feels like the ultimate comfort food; my whole family gobbles it up, and it’s full of veggies, protein, and all the good stuff. This Creamy Chicken Soup Recipe is no exception!
Easily customizable to lifestyle and dietary needs, this easy, homemade soup can be made gluten-free, dairy-free, packed with rice or pasta, leftover chicken or fresh. It’s a great opportunity to clean out your produce drawers and fridge and make an easy, satisfying meal to serve for dinner or lunch.
Ingredient Notes
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Garlic cloves
- Gluten-Free all-purpose flour: Or regular flour, depending on your preference.
- Italian seasoning
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- Bone broth: During cold and flu season, I like to use bone broth when making this soup for immune boosting nutrients that my entire family loves. However, plain chicken broth will work just fine.
- Basmati rice: You can also use jasmine rice.
- Full-fat coconut milk: Or heavy cream if you’re not dairy-free.
- Chicken breasts: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Chopped fresh parsley: For garnish.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot or large Dutch oven over the stove top on medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots and sauté, stirring for 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add garlic, flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in broth and scrape the bottom of the soup pot.
- Increase the heat to high and cook until everything comes to a boil, then add rice and coconut milk. Bring back to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.
- Cover the pot and simmer for 8 minutes while stirring every few minutes to keep the rice from sticking.
- Add chopped chicken and cook for another 8-10 minutes until the rice and the chicken are both cooked and tender. You can add more broth or water if the rice soaks up too much liquid.
- Taste to add more salt and/or pepper, and serve warm in bowls with your favorite crusty bread. Sprinkle with fresh herbs if using.
Expert Tips
- You can use any kind of pasta or egg noodles instead of rice or another type of rice if you prefer. However, keep in mind that the cooking time will vary depending on what you use. Check the package instructions for how long to cook.
- To cut down on time, you can substitute raw chicken breasts or thighs with leftover rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked chicken as well. Just shred and add in after the rice is cooked and simmer together on medium heat for a minute or 2.
Storage Tips
Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. However, the rice will absorb more liquid the longer it sits. Reheat on the stovetop and add more broth or water until the right consistency is reached. You can also stir in more seasoning to make up for the added liquid.
I don’t recommend freezing this creamy soup. Rice and cream do not freeze and defrost well.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup
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Easy Creamy Chicken Soup Recipe (with Rice)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, or your favorite cooking oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tbsp gluten free all-purpose flour, or regular all purpose flour
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 4 cups bone broth, or chicken broth
- 3/4 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained – jasmine rice works too
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk, or heavy cream
- 1 lb chicken breasts, or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Optional: chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook stirring for 5 minutes until softened.1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots
- Add garlic, flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute.4 garlic cloves, 3 tbsp gluten free all-purpose flour, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- Pour in broth and scrape the bottom of the pan.4 cups bone broth
- Increase the heat to high and cook until everything comes to a boil, then add rice and coconut milk. (If using heavy cream, don't add it in yet). Bring back to boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.3/4 cup basmati rice, 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- Cover the pot and simmer for 8 minutes while stirring every few minutes to keep the rice from sticking.
- Add chopped chicken and cook for another 8-10 minutes until the rice and the chicken are both cooked. Add heavy cream now if that's what you are using. You can add more broth or water if the rice soaks up too much liquid.1 lb chicken breasts
- Taste to add more salt and/or pepper, and serve warm. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if using.Optional: chopped parsley
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was so good!! The broth was so flavorful and it makes plenty to have enough for leftovers. #TasteAndTell
Thank you so much!
I just made this a few hours ago. Had most ingredients on hand so that was a plus it’s been windy and chilly here so soup was perfect for the weather. Easy to follow directions. We ate this for dinner and my dinner companion went back for seconds. Great tasting soup hearty and flavorful for us.
Super easy and delicious recipe! I’m saving it in my recipe binder and will make a few batches to freeze for postpartum. It’s a recipe where you’ll always have all the ingredients on hand! Except in my case, my coconut milk expired, so I used almond milk instead, which does change the taste, but obviously still delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This soup is so filling and flavorful and it honestly tastes really indulgent despite being pretty healthy! I loved how similar it is to your standard chicken noodle soup, but with all sorts of little tricks to make it better. Making this one again for sure!
This soup is so comforting! The only tweaks I made were to use coconut milk to make it dairy free, and I added in some frozen cauliflower rice when adding the chopped chicken back in. I like to sneak cauliflower rice into any soup or stew that involves regular rice or ground meat (put it in your chili and no one will be the wiser). It hides out, very sneaky extra veggies! Make this, so so good.
This soup turned out delicious. Rich in flavor and very thick. I used the coconut milk instead of heavy cream. After it sat for awhile I ended up putting 2 more cups of broth due to the fact the rice soaked up most of the liquid.
Yes, that’s what I recommend doing under Storage Tips when you reheat leftovers!
Wonderful! My family loved this! Will be making it again. Thank you !
This soup is so delicious! I’m keto so I swapped the rice for palmini rice and it was just as tasty. The bone broth also adds extra protein which I love.