Description
Hearty one pot chicken and rice soup full of nourishing veggies, white rice, and juicy chicken breast. With plenty of garlic, parsley, fresh lemon, and a pinch of turmeric, this really is chicken soup for the soul. Did I mention it's easy? Slurp liberally for healing vibes!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 medium carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch knob of fresh ginger, minced (optional but recommend!)
- 8 cups chicken broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
- 2/3 cup basmati or long grain rice, not rinsed*
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 medium chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pounds)
- 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2 tbsp)
- 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Warm butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add onion, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 7 minutes. Add garlic and ginger (I don't peel it before mincing) and cook for another minute.
- Add broth, rice, oregano, thyme, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and bring back to a simmer. Simmer gently on low heat for 15-20 minutes (mine took 20), covered, or until chicken is fully cooked to 165F.
- Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl. Once cool, shred with two forks (or you hands!).
- Add shredded chicken back to pot along with lemon juice and parsley. Season with salt and pepper (I add another 1/2 tsp salt) to taste. Enjoy hot!
Notes
*Basmati or long grain white rice is ideal because it cooks in 15-20 minutes which works well with the chicken. Jasmine rice only takes 10-15 minutes (shown in photos) so it will break down more in soup, which I actually like! To use brown rice, cook it for 15 minutes before adding chicken.
If you prefer more al dente rice that doesn't melt into the soup, you don't need to cook it for 5 minutes first. Just add chicken in step 2 and cook for 20 minutes total, or until chicken is done.