A creamy, comforting and filling dinner. This Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon and Parmesan is a great way to use up cooked chicken. A small amount of rice goes a long way!
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Probably the most wintry soup there is. This soup is wonderfully thick and leaves you feeling completely satisfied!
It’s also the first recipe video we shot in our new kitchen!
We moved to Devon at the end of 2020 and immediately applied for planning permission to extend the kitchen and knock down some walls.
It took about 18 months to get the permits and builders in place and in December we were finally able to start using the kitchen.
I’m so excited and grateful for how everything turned out. Although the builders did the main building work, Chris installed the kitchen, including hand-painting every single cabinet.
There’s still work to be done in the kitchen (I haven’t even finished stocking the cupboards and drawers yet) and we have yet to start on the pantry, but we couldn’t wait to use it for filming.
Hopefully we can do a little kitchen tour once it’s finished. We’ll get it on ours Youtube channel soon.
So back to the soup:
📋 What do we need?
- Cooked shredded chicken – You can use breast or thigh meat for this (leftover turkey works just as well)
- rice – I use long grain rice for this, but basmati or basmati wild rice mix works well too. If you plan to use brown rice or pure wild rice, it will take longer to cook (usually 15-20 minutes longer) and require an additional cup (240 mL) of broth.
- warehouse – Water plus bouillon cube is fine, or you could use it homemade broth if you have something on hand
- cream and milk – Use full fat for the best flavor, ESPECIALLY if you plan to freeze leftovers (low-fat dairy tends to split during freezing/reheating).
📺 Check out how to do it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP This is a thick, hearty soup. If you’d like it a little thinner, add more broth or milk towards the end of cooking to bring it to the consistency you want.
🍽️ What to serve with it
This soup is quite filling, so it doesn’t really need bread or sides unless you’re particularly hungry. If you are…
Look how beautiful and luscious this is 😋
I’ve included some directions for variations on this recipe in the notes section of the recipe card – including swapping 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 Rice Soup with Lemon and Parmesan is a great way to use up cooked chicken. A small amount of rice goes a long way!
INSTRUCTIONS
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Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2 tbsp olive oil
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Add onion, celery and carrots to skillet and sauté until just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.
1 onion, 2 sticks of celery, 2 medium carrots
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Add the flour to the pan and mix with a whisk to coat the vegetables in the flour.
2 tbsp easy
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Slowly pour in the milk, stirring with the whisk until the milk is fully incorporated.
120 ml (½ cup) milk (full-fat or semi-skimmed)
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Add the broth and dried thyme and stir again.
1.2 liters (5 cups) hot chicken broth, 1 tsp dried thyme
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Add the rice, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes – stirring occasionally until rice is tender.
105 g (½ cup) uncooked long grain rice
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Add chicken, lemon juice, heavy cream, parmesan, salt and pepper.
2 cups (250 g) leftover cooked shredded chicken 1 tbsp lemon juice, 80 ml (⅓ cup) double (heavy) cream, 50 g (½ cup) grated parmesan cheese, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper
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Stir together and heat until chicken is warmed through, 2-3 minutes.
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Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.
2 tbsp fresh parsley
✎ Notes
Can I advance it?
You can make ahead, but the soup will thicken as it cools and the rice will absorb more liquid, so it will soften.
- Prepare the soup, cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Heat in a skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, until hot throughout.
- If you want to fluff up the soup, add a splash of broth or water while reheating the soup.
can i freeze it
Yes (make sure to use full fat cream and milk in the recipe as lower fat versions may burst during thawing/reheating).
- Prepare soup, let cool, cover and freeze in portions. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat according to the reheating instructions above.
ingredient swap
- Swap them out chicken Per Turkey
- Replace the carrots and celery with other veggies that can take a long cook time (25 minutes+) without getting mushy. Mushrooms, Butternut Squash, Broad Beans, Brussels Sprouts and fresh corn are good options.
- For more tender vegetables – add closer to the end of the cooking time:
- Smaller pieces of Broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, sweet potato chunks – Add them about 10-15 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
- Spinach, kale, frozen peas – Add them about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Here’s how to zoom in and out of this recipe
You can halve or double this recipe and stick to the same ingredient ratios.
When doubling, it may take a few minutes longer for everything to come to a boil, but the cooking time is the same.
slow cooker
I have found that the rice gets too mushy and lumpy when I cook it in the slow cooker. So when I make it in the slow cooker, I reduce inventory I use about 950ml/4 cups) and I Add cooked rice at the endto just heat it up.
So for the slow cooker:
- Make the recipe up to (including) the point where you add the broth (Use 950ml/4 cups broth instead of the amount listed in the recipee) and thyme.
- Then add the shredded chicken (OR you can substitute raw chicken for the cooked chicken – use either 2 chicken breasts, 3-4 chicken thighs or 4-6 chicken drumsticks).
- Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
- If you used raw chicken, remove the chicken at this point and shred the meat. Then add the meat back in (remove the bones/skin).
- Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, heavy cream and Parmesan PLUS 300g/10.50z/1.75 cups COOKED Add long grain rice and heat until hot, about 10 minutes more.
Nutritional information is approximate per serving. This recipe makes enough for 4 people.
nutrition
Calories: 458kcalCarbohydrates: 35GProtein: 25GFat: 24GSaturated Fatty Acids: 10GPolyunsaturated fat: 3GMonounsaturated fatty acids: 10GCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1663mgPotassium: 490mgFiber: 2GSugar: 6GVitamin A: 5844ieVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 219mgIron: 2mg
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