Chicken and rice soup
The coziest bowl there is: tender chicken, soft rice and a golden broth that tastes like it simmered all day.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.44 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, sliced into thin coins
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1½ lb chicken breasts
- ¾ cup long-grain white rice
- 1 lemon, halved (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 450 calories, 44 g protein, 38 g carbs and 13 g fat, and costs about $3.44 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the carrots and celery into thin coins, and the garlic, keeping the garlic in its own little pile.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot or over medium. Add the onion, carrots and celery with ½ teaspoon salt.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Medium heat
Cook about 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and .
Translucent. Translucent means onions have cooked until they turn from white to slightly see-through. It shows they’re soft and sweet but haven’t started to brown.
How you’ll know: The onion looks glossy and a little see-through, bends easily, and has barely any color.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Add the garlic, thyme and pepper and stir for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Pour in the broth, add the bay leaves and 1 teaspoon salt, lay the chicken breasts in whole, and on high.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low so it barely bubbles, cover, and 15 to 18 minutes, until the thickest breast reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 17 min
Dolly’s tip: Gentle bubbles keep the chicken tender. A hard boil makes it tough and stringy.Food safety: Chicken is done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Lift the chicken onto a cutting board. Stir the rice into the pot, cover, and 15 minutes, until the rice is tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
While the rice cooks, the chicken into bite-size pieces with two forks.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Stir the chicken back in, fish out the bay leaves, and squeeze in the lemon. Taste and add salt until it tastes bright.
Low heat
Ladle into bowls and scatter parsley on top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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