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Our Chicken and Rice Soup is an easy, delicious meal that’ll fill your house with a comforting aroma. Imagine coming home to tender chicken and fresh herbs that have been simmering for hours. Now that’s chicken soup for the soul!
Featured with this recipe
This Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice soup is also great for entertaining guests because you can prepare it ahead of time. It’s perfect for those busy days when you need to make something for dinner but don’t have a lot of time to spend on prep work or cooking meals from scratch. It’s truly a fix it and forget it meal that everyone in the family loves. I serve it with some crusty rolls, breadsticks, or my kids’ favorite, cornbread.
Ingredients in Chicken and Rice Soup
- Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- Chicken broth
- Parboiled rice, long grain rice, brown rice, or make it a chicken wild rice soup by using wild rice (see recipe notes)
- Butter
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Medium carrots
- Celery ribs
- Bay leaf
- Parsley
- Sage
- Rosemary
- Thyme
Seasonings for Chicken and Rice Soup
Isn’t it nostalgic to use fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme all in one recipe? These seasonings complement each other so well. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m a big Simon and Garfunkel fan. My parents listened to their music when I was growing up and I still listen to it today. I love the song Scarborough Fair/Canticle. It was released on their album, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme”. Scarborough is a town in England and in Medieval times, there was a Fair there that lasted for 45 days! Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme represented virtues that are important to the lyrics of the song. Parsley represented comfort, sage represented strength, rosemary represented love, and thyme represented courage. You can read more about it on songfacts.com.
Health Benefits
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Chicken and Rice Soup are so good for the body and soul, especially when you are feeling under the weather. Studies show that Chicken Soup has properties that soothe cold symptoms like coughs, sore throats, and runny noses. The other veggies in the soup — carrots, celery, onions — also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
After learning this, I feel even better knowing the benefits of this meal! It’s a great source of fiber, protein, and calcium. And if you use low sodium broth, you can keep the cholesterol and saturated fat down without sacrificing flavor. So many good things come from the chicken broth itself. And who doesn’t need comfort, strength, love, and courage? I hope all of this comes to you and more when you enjoy this delicious soup!
Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe Tips
- Use fresh seasonings, as mentioned above. Feel free to add more or less depending on your taste. I tend to use a little more because I love the taste of the seasonings in the soup — especially the sage and rosemary. If I have a seasoning that is losing its flavor, I grind it a little between my fingers before adding it to the soup. This will bring out more of the taste and smell.
- If you want the rice to cook at the same rate as the raw chicken breasts, be sure to use parboiled rice (also called converted rice). This is the best rice and cooks beautifully in the Crockpot. If you prefer basmati, brown, white rice, jasmine rice, wild rice, or even quinoa, prepare 1 cup of uncooked rice according to the package directions and stir into the soup just before serving.
- If you are watching fat content, you can totally skip the butter. The butter gives a little more richness to the broth, but it is not necessary. The soup will taste just as good without it.
- Keep the Crockpot lid on while soup is cooking. I know it’s tempting, but each time the lid is removed heat escapes and it add to the cooking time.
- This soup thickens when it cools. I love leftovers of this soup because the flavors really come out after it sits for a day or two, but it will be a thicker soup than when you eat it straight from the Slow Cooker. If you prefer a thinner soup, just add some water to it when reheating to give it the consistency you desire.
- Reheat the soup either on a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Use rotisserie chicken, chicken thighs, chicken breasts, or any chicken you have on hand for this soup.
- Feel free to toss in any extra veggies you have: broccoli, kale, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what kind of rice you want to use in the soup. Parboiled rice, also called converted rice, cooks beautifully along with the other ingredients in the soup in the slow cooker. If you prefer using brown, white, or wild rice, prepare the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top and add to the slow cooker just before serving.
Yes! This is Chicken and Rice Soup can easily be made gluten free! Use a gluten free chicken broth, like Swanson’s Chicken Broth, and you are good to go!
Cook the rice separately and add it to the soup just before serving. If you use parboiled, or converted rice, it won’t get soggy.
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Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut in half
- 1 cup parboiled rice* (also called converted rice)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 teaspoons salt
- pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons parsley
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons butter optional
- 9 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in order in a slow cooker. See recipe notes if using brown rice or wild rice.
- Cook on low for 4 hours.
- A few minutes before serving, remove the chicken from slow cooker and shred or cut into cubes.
- Return chicken to the slow cooker, and let it cook for 5-10 more minutes before serving.
- Remove bay leaf and serve soup in individual bowls.
Notes
Alternate method for brown or wild rice:
- If you prefer brown rice or wild rice, leave the parboiled rice out of the slow cooker when adding the other ingredients.
- While the soup is cooking in the slow cooker, prepare 1 cup uncooked brown or wild rice according to package directions. Once cooked, this will yield approximately 3 cups of rice.
- Stir the cooked rice into the soup just before serving.
Any idea what the weight is on the chicken breasts? Chicken breast size can vary so substantially. I’m just trying to get a ballpark about the amount of chicken I need. Thank you!
Chicken breasts are 4-6 oz on average depending on the size.
The ONLY chicken and rice soup I’ll make from now on! Absolutely delicious and comforting. As you stated, I added extras (chickpeas and spinach), which just add to the flavor and bulk. I add an extra cup of liquid to make up for that. I, too, was worried about the sodium content, so I just use unsalted broth, unsalted butter, and add the amount of salt in the recipe. It comes out perfect! You could probably even reduce that as the herbs and veggies add so much flavor. I didn’t have an issue with the veggies being undercooked. As long as they’re chopped small enough, they’re cooked to slightly Al dente, as they should be. Very good soup, very easy to make!
Needs more cooking time, veggies were still crunchy, 5-6 hours cooking time. Take chicken out at 3 hours, then shred. Return chicken once veggies are cooked to preference, so that it is not over cooked. If brown rice, place cooked rice in serving dish before adding the cooked veggies, chicken and broth.
Can you use instant rice instead of the paroled rice?
No, instant rice has the outer husk removed so it will cook very fast and become mushy in the crockpot.
So, I’m using brown rice. Since one cup of brown rice yields 3 cups cooked. Should I just put in one cup of cooked brown rice in the soup?
This recipe uses parboiled rice, which doesn’t take as long to cook. Brown rice takes a long time to cook. I would cook it separately and add it at the end. Hope this helps!
I’m I make the soup exactly as the recipe states except I use 2 teaspoons of salt and low sodium chicken broth. I have made this at least 50 times. My family absolutely loves it. It’s a regular in the fall and winter and I’ve made it many times for sick friends and family. I freeze it in plastic, deli containers and pull it out when needed. So tasty and flavorful. Absolutely wonderful recipe.
Can you use frozen chicken?
Technically, the FDA doesn’t recommend putting frozen chicken in the crockpot. However, we have used thin frozen chicken pieces and as long as you cook the soup on high it is okay.
why is the sodium so high in the chick w rice soup??
how can that be lowered?
You can use low sodium chicken broth!
How would this soup freeze? Thanks for any thoughts!
Thanks for the recipe. We’re currently living in our Airstream (in between homes in this crazy housing market). Anyway, I don’t have a slow cooker with me, so made this on the stove top. I only had a few of the spices mentioned (thyme and sage), added a bit more rice (from the comments someone mentioned this), used a rotisserie chicken, didn’t have celery – but did add leftover peas from another dinner, and only had about 1 1/2 cups of. broth, so used water for the rest. I sauteed the carrots, then onion and garlic. Then added the rest of the ingredients and cooked for 20 minutes. Now I wish I had not added more rice, it was too much. But overall taste was very good!
We make this all the time! It is packed with flavor and always works. Thank you!
I am new at soup recipes. Is the parboiled rice, rice I cook before adding it to the crock pot?
No, parboiled rice is a type of rice you buy that has been partially boiled and then dried again.
I really like this recipe as I needed to have soup cooking while I’m busy.
I made a couple of modifications – I put my Jasmine rice and wild rice in at the beginning, bumped the cooking time up to 8 hours and left out the parsley (have someone allergic to it).
The soup taste just as wonderful as the one I make in my stock pot…
I have made this recipe numerous times and it’s so good! However I replace one cup of chicken broth with one cup of white wine and the flavour is amazing! I also omit the celery and add zucchini instead or just extra carrots. Not a fan of celery.
Great recipe though! ❤️
Love this soup! I always replace one cup of broth with one cup of white wine and it makes a huuuuge difference! So much more flavour!!!
How do you double the recipe?
If you have a large enough crock pot, you should just be able to double all the ingredients and cook for the same amount of time. I haven’t tried that though, so I can’t say for sure.
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My daughter made this and it was really good . It had great flavor and a nice soup on a cold winters night !
Wow, this chicken and rice soup is amazing! The process is so easy and the ingredients are all easy to get. I will try making a gluten-free version next time. We definitely love it!
So glad it’s soup season so I can make this recipe again! We love it!
The weather’s getting colder, it just started pouring rain….this is the soup I need for dinner!
Flavor is good but needed a boost, we added Chahuli hot sauce. Also, the celery and carrots did not cook enough. Would saute the veggies first then add to the cooker.
Do you put the parboiled rice in uncooked with the other stuff in the beginning? The video shows it at the end putting it in already cooked
If you are using parboiled rice you put it in at the beginning. In the video they are using regular rice. Hope this helps!
Need a simple, vibrant midweek meal the family will love? Put together these easy chicken fajitas and people can serve up their own DIY masterpieces
I’ve been using this recipe for over a year and it’s still a family favorite! I follow your directions except that I skip the butter. I also leave out the rice and make instant white rice a few minutes before it’s ready. Then I just add it to the soup and let it sit for about 10 minutes to soak up some of the flavor. This soup is so good!!!
The first time I made this I used white rice, the 2nd time I used parboiled rice (which I found at Wal-mart) WHAT A DIFFERENCE! This is a great recipe!
Made this with all fresh ingredients used 1/2 chicken breast and 1/2 boneless skinless thighs. Made my rice separately (wild rice) in instapot! This recipe is a keeper for sure and the house smells amazing❣️
After reading the comments I did NOT use rice. I used egg noodles instead. I put them in with about 20 minutes left to cook and my family loved it. This is now a favorite soup in my house that has very picky eaters.
Oh I love the idea of using noodles! I bet that was delicious! Definitely going to try that now, thanks for sharing!
Does this work well with jasmine rice, cooked separately?
Yes, I love Jasmine rice. It will work great when added right before serving. Hope this helps!
This recipe was extremely salty and the thyme was overwhelmingly strong! We ended up draining all the liquid and made a cream base liquid to help balance the herb taste to try to salvage it.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you!
I’m sorry this didn’t turn out for you. I’m surprised your vegetables weren’t cooked. I’ve never had that problem.
Can you use chicken drumsticks instead of chicken breast?
I guess you could if you wanted to remove the drumsticks once they are cooked, and then shred the chicken off of the bone and put the chicken only back in the soup. Be careful not to leave any bone in the soup. Thanks for asking!
Thank you. Would it be still the same cooking time though?
I was craving for soup and I have come across this on Pinterest. It looked easy to make and viola! I have a soup now! Tastes great!
I’ve made this recipe before and it was a huge hit! Last time I used rubbed sage, but it ran out. My husband accidentally bought ground sage. Should I still do the 1/2 tsp or do I use less? I tried to google it, but every cite had different suggestions. Since it’s your recipe what do you suggest? Thanks for sharing your story and this delicious soup.
You can use the same amount (1/2 tsp) and it should be fine! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for the 5-star rating!!
The song by Simon and Garfield is Scarborough Fair/Canticle. It isn’t Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. That is a phrase from the song. Just saying.
Right, the name of the song is Scarborough Fair/Canticle, but the album title is Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme!
We really loved the flavours in this recipe. Planned to add rice separately at the end of cooking time but forgot to set the clock for the timer on the rice cooker. For a quick solution, I made some penne and added that instead. I also didn’t have chicken on hand so I dumped in some frozen ground turkey. Cooked on low for almost 9 hours, stirring half way through (to break up the ground turkey). I will definitely make this again. I might try using boneless, skinless chicken thighs next time.
Thank you so much for sharing how you made this recipe a success! Sounds like delicious substitutions! Good to know that pasta will work well in it also. Thanks for the 5-stars!
Our family really loved the flavours in this recipe. Planned to add rice separately at the end of cooking time but forgot to set the clock for the timer on the rice cooker. For a quick solution, I made some penne and added that instead. I also didn’t have chicken on hand so I dumped in some frozen ground turkey. Cooked on low for almost 9 hours, stirring half way through (to break up the ground turkey). I will definitely make this again. I might try using boneless, skinless chicken thighs next time.
I loved how easy this recipe was! I did some of my own modification per my preference, but otherwise followed the recipe provided. I just wish that there was nutrition facts listed. Thanks for the great idea!
Hi Haylie– So glad you liked this recipe! We are working on getting nutrition facts on our recipes but with over 1,000 recipes it might take a little while. Hopefully all of our recipes are easy to plug into recipe nutrition calculators. You should be able to get the nutrition facts right away using a tool like Livestrong or any other recipe calculator. Hope this helps!
This recipe doesn’t make any sense because in the “traditional” method it says to add everything except the rice. There is no instruction to cook rice separately, it’s just assumed or you have to read the comments. People that aren’t specific in their recipes and instructions cause other people to waste their time and money trying to make said recipe. I was excited to try this until I saw how lacking the instructions are.
Beth, thank you for pointing out the confusion with this recipe. I have made some revisions to the instructions, and hopefully it is more clear now. I appreciate your willingness to share your frustration so that we could correct the problem. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this caused you.
This is the first time I have ever made a homemade soup,the wife and I really loved it so much that I have made it twice in two weeks, it so delicious thanks-Frederick
Thank you so much for your kind review! I’m so glad that you liked it!!
Does this freeze well?
We have never frozen this before so we can’t say for sure. If you try it, let us know how it turns out for you!
If using the rice that the recipe calls for when do you add it to the crockpot? The directions say place everything in crockpot except rice then never specifies when to add the rice? If using the parboiled rice do you cook it separately before or cook in the crockpot?
If you use the parboiled rice, you can add it at the beginning with all of the other ingredients. If you are using brown or white rice, Cook it separately and add it just before serving. I’ll try to make it more clear on the recipe. Thank you for asking!
Thank you!!
Perhaps I’m techie challenged, but how do I go about printing only this recipe; not the intro or comments?
On the recipe card itself there is a grey “print” button. That should print it without printing the whole blog post. Email us if you can’t find it and I will try to help you through it better if I can! – Erica
I’ve been making this recipe for at least 2 years now and love it. I put uncooked basmati rice in from the beginning because I like mushy rice in my soup but it doesn’t even get that mushy. The next days for leftovers yes it does but I like it that way. I also sauté the onion and garlic on the stovetop because I find it doesn’t cook enough in the slow cooker without doing that first. I add in the 3 chicken breasts whole and don’t trim the fat. I cook it anywhere from 4-5 hours on low depending on my day. It’s a hit all the time. I’ve even added zucchini to it once and it was good.
Trying out this recipe today:) didn’t have time for the crockpot so everything is being done stovetop. Boiling the rice separately while chopping the veggies to get it started! Wish me luck! 🤞🙃
Made this recipe over the weekend and just had tonight for dinner – very good! Based in some of the comments of it being too salty I only put in 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and thought that was enough. I used the parboiled rice and put it in from start and didn’t find it to be mushy at all. After 4 hours the chicken was done but the veggies were still a little hard so I just let it cook a little longer. Will definitely make again!
If I have to only make half the servings do i cut all the ingredient amounts in half and cooking time in half? Will this freeze well?
You can cut the recipe in half but the cooking time should be close to the same, maybe only slightly less. We haven’t tried freezing this recipe before but you should be able to without any issues. Hope this helps!
I don’t know if it is the difference in slow cookers or the type of rice used. I would recommend making the rice separately and adding it to the slow cooker before serving. I’ve never had a problem with the chicken becoming dry when cooking it in the slow cooker. If your slow cooker cooks on the hotter side, reduce cooking time to 3 hours.
ty will try again tomorrow
just made this today. based on the reviews I added my cooked rice at the end. it is a family hit. i think i will try the cauliflower rice next time. and i will use low sodium chicken broth next time too.
Very disapointed. This was my first time making chicken soup and embarrassed to serve it to my husband. When you see the pic, the broth looks yellow. I followed the exact directions and mine is clear.
We are so sorry this didn’t work out for you. What kind of rice did you use?
I followed the recipe, i used long grain rice added in the beginning….. rice never absorbed any liquid…..broth is clear, the chicken was dry but it had flavor….. what can i do, i have had chicken and rice soup before and i love it and would love to be able to make it…..
Can u freeze the soup with the rice in it?
We haven’t tried freezing it before. My only concern is that the rice will get mushy. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
I freeze chicken/rice soup all the time. Never mushy
Cooked the rice separate to avoid the mushy issue people apparently had and added cayenne, all spice, cumin and seasoned salt along with regular salt to the broth mixture. Came out super good!
I don’t have thyme or sage. Should I still just use the rosemary and parsley?
Yes, you may want to add extra of the rosemary and parsley to give it more flavor. The soup will still taste great!
I tried this receipe last night for lunch throughout the week. It’s delicious! I got really nervous adding the rice while it was cooking. So I cooked the rice separately and just stirred it in after the the soup was done cooking. Awesome recipe! Thanks!
This soup is absolutely fantastic!! My whole family loved it!! The only change I made was omitting the rosemary and celery (personal preference) I followed the directions and had no issues at all!!!
This looks fabulous .. I am going to use cauliflower rice in place of the regular rice… Can’t wait to make it…
Great idea! I think the cauliflower rice will work really well in this recipe. Enjoy!
Can I use frozen chicken and let it cook more like 8 hours while I’m at work?
Yes! Frozen chicken will work just fine in this recipe.
I think the age of the crockpot might have something to do with how well the soup turns out. I just got a new crockpot and it seems to not be as hot as my old ones. After four hours, the carrots were still hard and the brown rice (which I had added at two hours) was uncooked. We still ate it and despite crunchy carrots and hard rice my not-overly-picky family loved the soup! Next time I will probably cook it on high for the first 2 hours and add cooked rice at the end as others have noted. I do think that some of the problems others have experienced probably have more to do with the crockpot than the recipe. I thought the seasoning was perfect!
This was my first time making chicken soup and it was delicious!!! I made the wild rice separately and stored my leftover soup and rice in separate containers. I will definetly make this again! So so yummy!!!
So glad you liked it! 😀
The link for the vegetable beef soup takes me to the chicken recipe. Could share a link for the beef soup? Thank you! ????
Whoops! Good catch! Got it fixed. It will now send you to the correct recipe 🙂 Sorry about that!
What about using dried herbs. Use the amount you say in the recipe? Want to make this today. Thank you for sharing..
All of the measurements are actually for dried herbs. So exact measurements would be perfect. Hope this helps!
LOVE made it a few times, making it again today
Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you love it! 🙂
Hello! I’m excited to try this recipe. I’m thinking about using cooked quinoa at the end. Do you think this will work as I have a rice sensitivity? Thank you!
That should work just fine– would probably be delicious! Let us know how it turns out!
This is not a soup by conventional standards. The recipe as-is will be very thick, more closely resembling stew. But it is very good!
We just made this on the stovetop, 1 1/2 x the recipe to feed our hungry crew and to have leftovers. Cooked the rice separately. It was delicious–loved the herbs!
I’m wondering if the problem folks are having with the rice is that they’re using minutes rice instead of long cooking rice as some say it’s mushy and some say it’s perfect. Haven’t tried this yet but definitely going to…love soups for the fall and winter months.
I am making this recipe today. I hope it all comes out nicely. dumb me went by the picture and added the rice with all ingredients. dumped and wasted all my chicken broth dummy once again! removed all rice i could and put ingredients back in crockpot to cook. reseasoned and all. i made a terrible mess! Thank you for the recipe. I will give review once done!
I made this tonight and I’m guessing, crockpots are different. I followed the recipe to the letter, but when I got home, the carrots were still a little hard and the rice was not cooked at all. I put it on high for another 2 hours, since I have to leave to go to Bible Study. I’m hoping when I return, it will be ready.
Let us know how it turned out! Hope it turned out well for you!
my rice never cooked up either, the broth had a lot of flavor, was looking for a soup recipe that be made in the crock pot…. May have to cook the rice separately…
I put the rice in at the very beginning but found it way too firm so I cooked it one and a half hours longer. Still too firm. I followed the recipe exactly. I will have to cook it longer yet in a stock pot. The flavour was good though.
I think rice is really hard to cook in the slow cooker. Slow cookers cook at different temperatures and it’s hard to judge. We’ve had comments like yours saying the rice doesn’t cook and others say it overcooks. I think the safest bet with this recipe, unless you have used your slow cooker for rice in the past and know it will cook it, is to mix in already cooked rice at the end. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out in time.
My rice also came out firm. I put it back on for a while. My son is eating it. Smells great. I will try it once it cooks a little while longer
I MADE THIS TONIGHT FOR TOMORROW FOR DINNER IN MY 6 QT CROCKPOT AND WITH ALL THE INGREDIENTS; EXCEPT FOR THYME IT FILLED MY CROCK TO THE TOP. I ADDED MY WHITE RICE AT THE VERY END OF COOKING AND IT TURNED OUT PERFECT. IT NEEDED A TAD BIT MORE SALT BUT THAT’S IT. NO BUTTER OR MARGARINE ADDED. SIMPLY DELICIOUS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE, I WILL DEFINITELY MAKE THIS AGAIN.
I ALSO USED KNORRS TOMATO BOUILLON W/CHICKEN FLAVOR…..9 TSP TO 9 CUPS OF WATER, INSTEAD OF CHICKEN BROTH/STOCK.
Can I add potatoes to this recipe and it still taste great? I’m craving a chicken and potato soup but saw this and fell right in love!
Sure! When you should add the potatoes would depend on how big you cut them. I am sure it would still be great. Give it s try and let us know how it turns out!
If I’m going to use white rice, how should I adapt the recipe?
You can add cooked white rice at the very end. You can also add uncooked the white rice an hour or two so before serving.
I want to make this as a freezer prep meal to save for later. Should I make it in the crock pot first then throw it in the freezer, or throw all uncooked ingredients into a freezer bag, freeze, then pull it out at a later date to put into the crock pot to cook??
Hmmm we have never made it that way before. I am guessing you could throw it all in uncooked. I think if it were me, I would add all the ingredients EXCEPT the rice into the freezer and then when ready to cook, thaw, and put the rice in last. Does that make sense? Hope this helps!
Would this recipe work with some sort of pasta noodle too?
Absolutely! It would work great with pasta. Stir the pasta into the soup 1 hour before serving. It will cook and be ready the same time the rest of the soup is ready. Thanks for asking!
We didn’t have issues with mushy rice. Our rice and vegetables were completely uncooked! So, now we’re having to find something else for dinner at 6:00 in the evening… We’ve changed the setting to high, will let it continue to cook, and maybe eat it tomorrow.
Loved this recipe! My rice was def mushy, but you warned us! May I site you in a post I’m doing for http://www.the-playground-chronicles.com?
Yes, of course! We appreciate you asking!
I made this soup today and added white rice at the two hour mark, by the four hour mark the rice was still completely uncooked. Wondering if the rice would’ve cooked faster if I changed the settings to high?
I Made this soup today, followed recipe, but added cooked rice in at the end. It was delicious. My husband loved it. Thumbs up 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
I made this soup on the weekend, boy is it good. I never comment on a recipe however for this one I thought I should give you guys a 10/10 from Australia.
Hi Deb– thank you so much for your comment! Glad you liked this soup– a 10/10! That is a huge compliment, thank you!!
Thanks for the great recipe! Made it and loved it! I cooked on low for just over 5 hours. Shredded the chicken at 4. I should have chopped the carrots smaller as they weren’t as soft as I’d like. I sautéed 3/4 of the onion and 2 garlic cloves prior to adding to crockpot. I used basmati rice and you’re supposed to soak it prior to cooking so that helps take off starch. I didn’t have issues with the rice getting overly soft. But I like it soft too so I did add it at the beginning. Great flavour too! Will make again by I think I’ll do chicken things and breasts.
Thank you for sharing, Sarah. I’m so glad you liked it!
I want to add frozen corn to recipe. Do you think I should add from the start or towards the end?
Great idea! I would add it the last hour of cooking. Thanks for asking!
Awesome recipe. Yes the rice soaks up the liquid but we like it thicker. MY only advice is make sure to use low sodium stock if your using store bought. I forgot to take that into account when adding salt to the soup and mine came out very salty. But I’m just going to add more water which will hopefully help with the salt and thickness from the rice. Love the spices and simplicity of this crockpot recipe. Thank you for sharing. FYI, my crockpot took 4 hrs on high 🙂
So interesting that other had issues with mushy rice. I put the rice in right at the beginning and after 4 hours on high the rice is mostly uncooked. Maybe a rice issue or maybe my crock pot is on the cooler side. I’m going to leave it on high for another 2 hours but will need to find something else for dinner tonight.
In the crockpot as I speak followed the recipe as written gonna add cooked rice at the end of cook time ,will let you know how it turns out.
Loved your recipe! I too am a BIG fan of the P-S-R-T combo. I used wild rice as that is what We prefer and added it during the last two hours because we like our wild rice in the chewy side. I did start with a couple extra cups of broth because wild rice is so absorbent and we like our soup in the brothy side. Added in a couple twigs of rosemary and thyme from my herb garden an hour before serving. Was expecting leftovers- there weren’t any… Thankyou for the great recipe!
Thank you for your comment Ruthie! Using wild rice is a great idea – and using fresh herbs always adds so much flavor. I love it!
I tried this recipe out last week for the first time.. so delicious!! Thank you for sharing! I’m making it again tonight, my family loved it! New staple! After reading the comments I made a couple tweaks to the original recipe.
6 bone in thighs.. first browning the skin on medium high on stove, then adding them into the cockpot then removing them the last half hour and shredding then adding back into soup to cook the last 30 mins..
4 carrots and 4 celery stocks, chopped.
Used 1tbsp fresh rosemary and 1tbsp fresh sage, with 1/2 tsp ground thyme.
Half vegetable and half chicken stock (equaling 9 cups total), not broth.
Added 1 cup long grain brown rice two hours into cooking.
And a little bit extra minced garlic 🙂
Cooked on high for 4 hrs.. I have a newer crockpot..
Great success.. thank you again!! <3
Thank you, Crystal! I like your adaptations to this recipe, especially using bone in thighs. The meat is more tender and it gives more chicken flavor to the soup. Great idea!
Made this last night & it turned out wonderfully. Doubled the recipe, but only used 5 large chicken breasts and 16 cups of chicken broth. Had some salted butter, and threw that in a saute pan with the onions and garlic and sweated those down for a bit before adding to the crockpot. Added some fresh springs of thyme, rosemary and sage as well, since I had them in my garden. In addition, I added a ginger root about the size of my pinky (hey, I have a cold). Started out on the Low setting on my crockpot, but a little over 2 hours in it didn’t seem to be coming along at the pace I would have liked (I think my crock pot cooks on the cool side), so bumped it up to the high setting for the last 3 hours. 2 hours prior to serving, I threw the brown rice in. It turned out perfect. One of my friends even said it was the best chicken soup she had ever had! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for you kind comment! So glad you liked it!!
I don’t know why there are so many complaints about the rice. I followed the directions exactly. Put the rice in at the beginning and cooked on low for 6 hours. Rice was perfect consistency. Enjoyable recipe!
Hi Randy, Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m so glad this recipe was a success for you!
Trying this tomorrow. I’ll be adding my rice 45 min before that rest is complete. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.
I’m confused on the amount of rice to put in – the ingredient list says 1 cup but then it also later says 2-3 cups? If I am putting my rice directly in the crockpot to cook, which amount do I use?
Please help! I am cooking this as we speak!
Carleigh, if you are cooking the rice with the soup, you add 1 cup uncooked brown rice. If you add the rice already cooked, you will add 2-3 cups depending on how much rice you want in the soup. Please let me know how it turned out for you.
I cooked it on low for 4 hours and the carrots were not at all cooked through… are you sure it shouldn’t be cook on high 4 hours?
Thank you for your question, Terry. I am going to revisit this recipe. I use an older crock pot when I make this soup and it may be cooking on the hot side. I’m going to try it in a newer crock pot to see if I need to make some adjustments.
Recipe says 6 hours cook time but instructions say cook on low 4 hours. Could you clarify, please. Thanks! 🙂
Thank you for catching that! I’ll correct it. You can cook on low for 4-6 hours. The chicken will be cooked after 4 hours, the rice may take longer depending on how you like it cooked. If you want it to be softer, you will want to cook it longer.
Chicken isn’t cooked after 4 hours, it won’t shred. Also carrots are still very hard. How disappointing.
I’ve make this often and I have not had this problem. The only thing I can think of is the low setting on your crock pot is not heating up to 200 degrees. Crock pot temperatures do vary. I’m so sorry this did not turn out for you.
We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I added the cooked rice near the end and it didn’t get mushy. My kids actually had seconds and said it tasted great!
Do you think that it would work if I added the rice during the last 2 hours?
Yes, that should probably be just fine. 🙂
After reading some of the comments I’ve decided to add the rice maybe during the last 2 hours. Do you think that would work?
Yes, that would probably be just fine. If you try it let us know how it turns out!
I just made this and it really hit the spot since both me and my husband have a cold. Started it on high at 2, and around 6 added the rice. Another 45 minutes and the rice was done to perfection. I added a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden and it was amazing. Perfect amount of spices.
So glad this worked out for you! Great idea adding the rice later on. We will have to add this to the recipe, thanks!
This is my recipe and I love it!! The only thing different is I add a couple of potatoes, cubed, if I have on hand and I usually add a can of diced tomatoes, undrained, for color.Perfect soup and thanks for posting, it will be dinner tomorrow night!!!
(I read the reviews and kept them in mind while making).
Making this for dinner tonight. I used chicken breast tenders so they will cook faster than breasts. Hopefully, it will be done closer to the 4 hr mark and the rice will not be too mushy. I used white rice because it’s what I have on hand. If it is not seasoned enough I will just add more seasoning. Everyone has different tastes but I think this is a wonderful start for the soup. If it’s too thick i will add more water or broth. I feeling good about this! THANK YOU!
How was it?
Followed the recipe exactly, but found the soup to be far too peppery, or perhaps it was the sage, because of the it was so thick added more broth,was disappointed as this was the first time I have every made chicken soup.
I’m sorry you didn’t like the seasonings in this soup. The broth of this soup does thicken as it cools and adding more was the right thing to do.
Tasted good but rice was mushy and soaked up every ounce of liquid. Probably would been better IMO if I added cooked rice at the end.
The rice does soak up the liquid as it cooks. Every slow cooker cooks differently, next time you can try cooking the rice for less time. I will make a note on the recipe. Thank you for letting me know!
I just made the same mistake. Maybe add “set aside” by the parboiled rice on the ingredient list. Or purchase it last and indicate to prepare ITV in the meantime, while the soup is cooking.
I used a mix of white rice (cooked it first then added to pot) and orzo (also cooked first). It came out pretty good! The only thing is, I did not have sage or thyme in my home; and I thought that my soup was missing something. It still had good flavor though!
I made this soup twice and always added the rice 30 min before it was done. I agree with you… it soaked up all the broth and had to keep adding more broth. Next time I will cook the rice separate and then add it in!
Disappointed, followed recipe exactly. Rice was just mush, not much flavour and too thick????
Shirleen, with ANY soup/stew that calls for rice or pasta, I cook it separately and NEVER had it into the soup/stew. I even store the leftovers separately. I’ll reheat enough of the soup/stew and rice/pasta for that meal. I don’t like the mushy, puffy texture of rice/pasta when it’s been sitting in broth too long. I’m going to try this but I’ll leave out the rice.
I added the rice the last thirty minutes and it was perfect. Absolutely delicious. Actually the only other change I made was instead of regular butter I used Kerrygold Garlic and herb butter. The soup had a very earthy flavor. Even better the next day. I could have just drank the soup part and been good lol. It was delicious
Just to clarify, you added uncooked rice or cooked rice for the last 30 minutes? I don’t want mush, but I also don’t want to go through the trouble of cooking the rice seperately. Thanks in advance!
I had to cook it for 5 hours on low. I took the chicken out at 4 hours to shred. I put the brown rice on two hours before it was done, then added the chicken back in. I also added extra onion, garlic, carrots & celery. The rice was perfectly cooked and it was very good.
I add uncooked instant rice 30 minutes before eating and it is always perfect.