Hen Rice Soup – Rachel Cooks®

In case your solely expertise with hen rice soup is out of the can, it’s time to don an apron and make it your self! This basic consolation meals soup is even higher while you make it from scratch—and the additional effort to prep the veggies and measure the components is completely price it. That is the quintessential soup-that-will-cure-what-ails-you. (Effectively, it ranks proper up there home made hen noodle soup with at the very least!)

Mainly, this soup is hen noodle soup, with rice as a substitute of noodles. I discover that rice makes the soup really feel extra hearty and substantive than noodles, and it provides a little bit of earthy taste, which I admire. And, as a substitute of soppy noodles, the rice is barely chewy for a pleasant change of texture from the same old hen soup.

With its cozy, warming qualities, this hen rice soup is ideal for cold days or any time you are feeling such as you want a heat hug.

Simple Do-it-yourself Hen Rice Soup

Consolation meals goodness. With a wealthy broth, tender hen, hearty rice, and uncomplicated flavors, hen rice soup is consolation meals in a bowl. Your entire household will find it irresistible and you may really feel good figuring out you’re serving them a wholesome meal.

Meal in a bowl. Some soups don’t have a number of endurance, however this hen rice soup will maintain you full and happy. It has hen, veggies, and a starch—a balanced meal in soup type! (If you wish to add dairy to the equation, do that creamy hen rice soup.)

Simple to make. When you’ve prepped all of the veggies (and you are able to do that forward if you’d like), the laborious work is finished. From there, it’s a matter of simmering the whole lot collectively till the rice and hen are tender.

Ingredient Notes

• Onion, celery, carrots: The flamboyant title for this trio of onion, celery, and carrots is mirepoix. They type the bottom of taste on this hen rice soup recipe.
• Olive oil, kosher salt and pepper: The greens are sautéed in a small quantity of oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. Use a sparing hand with the salt. Broth varies broadly in saltiness so that you’ll wish to style your soup first.
• Garlic: Should you’re coming down with a chilly, it doesn’t harm so as to add just a few additional cloves! 
• Boneless skinless hen breasts: You may swap in boneless skinless hen thighs should you choose. Bone-in hen components can be used however watch out of small bones or bone fragments that will separate from the hen.
• No-salt-added hen inventory and water: If in case you have common hen broth readily available, that works too, however be aware that you simply’ll want so as to add much less salt. I like to recommend not including any salt in any respect till the very finish, when you’ll be able to style the soup.
• Herbs: I like to make use of dried herbs from my pantry: bay leaves, dried parsley, dried thyme, and rubbed sage. If in case you have recent herbs, be happy to make use of them however enhance the quantity used as a result of recent herbs aren’t as potent as dried.
• White rice: You should utilize brown rice as a substitute, should you choose. It’s going to take about 10 further minutes to cook dinner.

Learn how to Make Hen Rice Soup

Sweat the veggies. Cook dinner the mirepoix (chopped onions, celery, and carrots) with the olive oil, salt, and pepper in a big soup pan set over medium excessive warmth. Cook dinner till the onions are translucent, then stir within the garlic and cook dinner till it’s aromatic. Keep in mind that you really want the veggies to soften, not brown. Flip down the warmth if they begin browning. This course of known as “sweating” the greens.

Simmer. Add the uncooked hen, broth, water, and herbs to the pan. Convey the soup to a boil, then scale back the warmth to low, cowl, and simmer for 45 minutes. If the soup is sputtering with the lid on, go away the lid partly ajar to permit the steam to flee.

Take away the hen and add the rice. Utilizing tongs, take the hen breasts out of the soup. Set them on a plate or platter to chill. Add the rice to the soup. Maybe you’re questioning why you’ll be able to’t simply throw the rice in straight away. Rice doesn’t take very lengthy to cook dinner. Should you add rice originally of the cooking time, it’ll truly get so smooth that it disintegrates.

Add the hen again. As soon as the hen is cool sufficient to deal with, use two forks to shred it or chop it into small items with a knife. Stir the hen again into the pot. Cowl the pan, and simmer for 30 extra minutes, or till the rice is tender. 

End. Fastidiously take away the bay leaves from the hen rice soup, then season to style, and serve. We like our soup thick, as you’ll be able to see from the photographs, however should you prefer it thinner, add extra broth or water.

Ideas for Making Hen Rice Soup

• Get a head begin. To avoid wasting time on busy days, contemplate prepping your greens upfront. Chop the veggies and retailer them in hermetic containers within the fridge till you’re able to cook dinner. 
• Experiment with completely different components. Don’t hesitate so as to add herbs and spices based on your style. Recent parsley is a pleasant garnish, whereas a little bit of smoked paprika provides a touch of smoky taste that’s scrumptious. A squeeze of lemon juice provides a Mediterranean twist to this hen rice soup, particularly should you add dill too!
• Examine the rice for doneness. Stir the soup sometimes, and close to the tip of the cooking time, begin checking to see if the rice is finished. Generally it will likely be executed slightly bit sooner, relying on which sort of lengthy grain rice you utilize.
• Regulate the broth as wanted. For a “broth-ier” soup, add much less rice or add extra broth. You too can exchange the two cups of water with further broth for richer taste.

What to Serve With Hen Soup

Refrigerate: Switch leftovers to an hermetic container and refrigerate for as much as 4 days. I don’t advocate freezing this soup; the rice will take up extra of the liquid throughout freezing and thawing, leaving you with an excessively thick soup with mushy rice.

Reheat: Heat up the soup in a pan set over medium warmth or within the microwave.

Cook dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

• In a big pan, warmth olive oil over medium excessive warmth. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook dinner for six to 7 minutes, stirring sometimes, till onions are translucent. Add garlic, cooking and stirring for 1 minute.

  1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 cup diced onion, 2 cups diced celery, 2 cups diced carrots, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, extra to style, ½ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper, extra to style, 2 cloves garlic, minced

• Add hen, broth, water, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and sage. Over excessive warmth, convey soup to a boil. Flip warmth to low, cowl the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes.

  1 ½ kilos boneless skinless hen breasts, 4 cups no-salt-added hen inventory, 2 cups water, 2 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons dried parsley, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ½ teaspoon rubbed sage

• Take away hen breasts from soup; put aside on a plate to chill barely. Add rice to the soup, stir.

  1 cup raw lengthy grain white rice

• When cool sufficient to deal with, shred hen into bite-sized items. Add again to pan, stirring to mix. Cowl pan, and proceed simmering for half-hour, stirring sometimes, or till rice is finished.

• Take away bay leaves, style, including extra salt and pepper, if wanted. Serve instantly.

• Broth Notes: Should you use common broth (not no-salt-added)), alter the quantity of added salt so the soup doesn’t get too salty. At all times style the soup earlier than serving to regulate the seasoning. If desired, you need to use all broth (as a substitute of the two cups of water). A carton of broth normally accommodates 4 cups, so it’s extra economical to complement with water. The soup tastes nice however should you choose all broth, that may undoubtedly work nicely. Should you choose soup with extra broth, both add 2 extra cups of broth or scale back the quantity of rice (as you’ll be able to see from the photographs, we prefer it thick).
• Brown rice could also be substituted for white rice however might require an extra 10 minutes to get tender.
• Vitamin info is calculated for low sodium broth, not no-salt-added. 

Serving: 1.5cups, Energy: 323kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 30g, Fats: 7g, Saturated Fats: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g, Monounsaturated Fats: 3g, Trans Fats: 0.01g, Ldl cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 630mg, Potassium: 862mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 7321IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 62mg, Iron: 1mg

Vitamin info is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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