Hearty Chicken Vegetable and Rice Soup

Whether you need a bowl of comfort or you're craving a cozy meal, you'll want to reach for this Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe. It's hearty, warming, packed with nutrients, and you can easily change it up to suit your taste.

Sometimes it just doesn't get any better than a bowl of super flavorful comforting soup. When we crave it, it's simply all that will do.

I used to order a cozy soup just like this one from a local favorite restaurant, Café Vida. It was in Pacific Palisades and sadly, along with most of the town, it burned in the Palisades fire on January 7, 2025.

I recreated this soup recipe so you can try it if you haven't, and if you have, you can continue to experience this Café Vida favorite. It comes quite close to the original, and I think you'll find it incredibly tasty, and I know it'll bring you comfort.

The soup is packed with a handful of basic, easy-to-find ingredients, that you likely already have on hand.

The Key Ingredients

• chicken - I use boneless skinless chicken breasts, though you can use thighs if you prefer darker meat. If you can swing it, buying pasture-raised chicken is best. There are ethical and health benefits. You can learn more about them in this article: Pasture Raised Chicken vs. Conventional, Free Range & Organic. (Not sponsored.) If you need to save time, you can use a Rotisserie chicken.
• onion - Be sure to choose onions that are heavy for their size.
• carrot - When you're cutting a lot of carrots, using larger carrots is much easier. Look for firm, plump carrots, preferably without little roots on the bottom.
• celery - If the celery stalks are particularly large, it's nice -- but not necessary -- to peel them. You'll avoid any stringy pieces this way. Choose crisp sturdy celery stalks that are bright green.
• Jasmine rice - I love Jasmine rice and it's always at the ready in my pantry. You can substitute with other rices like Basmati, Brown or Wild rice, though cooking times will vary. (Please see note below!)
• chicken stock - Low to no sodium is best.
• kale - In soups I prefer Lacinto kale because the leaves are relatively smooth, though you can use any variety you like. Spinach is a great substitution.

How to Make it

*This is a very forgiving recipe! Measurements don't have to be exact. You can add more or less of what you like, and you can adjust the chicken stock to your liking -- more for a lighter soup, and less for a stew-like soup.

- Coat the bottom of a 5 to 6 quart soup pot with olive oil and place it over high heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place them in the pan once it's hot. After a couple of minutes, turn the heat to medium and use kitchen tongs to flip each breast over. Sauté just until they're cooked through, about 7 minutes.

- Once they're cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces with your hands.

Recipe tip: You can also cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, but shredded is best. The pieces really soak in the other flavors this way and stay extra juicy.

Ideally, the chicken is cooling while you're working on the rest of the soup, and you'll shred it just before adding it to the pot.

- While the chicken is cooling, over medium heat, in the same pot, add the onions and cook just until they're translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add the carrots, followed by the celery and mix. Turn the heat to low, add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover and let the vegetables steam just until they begin to soften.

- Turn the heat back to medium and add the rice. (If the pan is dry, add more olive oil.) Mix to be sure the rice is coated with the oil and other ingredients. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce to the lowest setting. Cover until the rice is cooked and vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes.

- With the heat still on low, add the shredded chicken and kale, mix and cook only until the kale has wilted.

- Season generously to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Variations

• Add herbs. I almost always add fresh and/or dry herbs to recipes, but this is one that's lovely with just salt and pepper. That said, feel free to add some. Thyme and/or oregano are my top choices. If you use fresh herbs, add 2 tablespoons when you add the kale, and if you use dry, use 1 tablespoon and add it with the rice.
• Vegetarian version. Add diced potatoes, sliced mushrooms or zucchini, and omit the chicken. Or just add more of the other vegetables.
• Try other grains or pasta. Orzo, farro and barley would all be superb. Barley especially, is great for a hearty chicken soup with vegetables.
• As I mentioned above, spinach would be excellent in this -- either with the kale, or instead of it. Green peas also add great flavor and a pop of color.

*Important Recipe Note* While you can use any rice you like, please note that almost every variety of rice will have a different cooking time, and often a different ratio of liquid to rice. Read the instructions on the package of rice you use. Brown rice and Wild rice have significantly longer cooking times, so if you choose to use one of them, cook it separately in chicken stock, add it to the soup at the end, and subtract the amount of chicken stock you use to cook it from the soup recipe.

Making it Ahead and Storage

• You can make Chicken and Rice soup ahead, however, the longer the soup sits, the more the rice will absorb the liquid. For this reason, it's best right after it's made.
• You can make a day ahead and when you're ready to serve, add as much stock as you'd like to make it more soupy. (Amounts will vary.) OR, it's also fantastic and more stew-like without out adding the additional stock.
• Whether you make it ahead or are storing leftovers, it should be refrigerated in a tightly sealed container and reheated on the stove.
• It can be frozen for up to a month in a tightly sealed container. Defrost it overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it on the stove.

For an incredible vegetarian soup with rice, try my Creamy Wild Rice Mushroom Soup.

Other Scrumptious Comforting Soups

I hope you love this soup recipe as much as my family and I do!