Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

When you’re meal planning for the week ahead, it’s always a good idea to throw a soup recipe into the mix.

Quick stovetop soups can be made with just a few ingredients and are a great way to use up those vegetables you have hanging out in the freezer or vegetable drawer.

For easy chicken and rice soup, combine onions and peppers (we used a cup of the pre-made frozen mixture but you could certainly use fresh vegetables if you have them on-hand), celery and carrots in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Then stir in flour, salt, pepper, thyme, sage, and turmeric. Side note, we can’t get enough of turmeric at the moment. Not only is it a great anti-inflammatory, it adds a beautiful golden hue to whatever you add it to – smoothies, curries, or soups like this one.

Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to medium heat. Add your pre-made slow cooker shredded chicken from the weekend and cooked white or brown rice. Cook the rice in a rice cooker while the soup broth is coming together on the stove, or, if you’re meal planning game is really strong, cook the rice over the weekend and have it ready and waiting alongside the chicken.

This simple soup comes together in no time and is begging to be dunked into with a big, buttery baguette. Skip the canned stuff the next time you’re at the grocery store and plan to make this easy stovetop soup during the week.

Quick Chicken and Rice Soup

Yield: Serves 8
Author: Hamilton Beach Test Kitchen

Ingredients

¼ cup butter
1 cup frozen chopped onions and peppers
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ teaspoon dried sage leaves
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups cooked rice

Instructions

In a Dutch oven over medium-high, melt butter. Add onions, peppers, celery and carrots. Cook until vegetables are tender.
Stir in flour, salt, black pepper, thyme, sage and turmeric. Add chicken stock and stir until blended. Heat until mixture comes to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium. Add chicken and rice. Simmer 10 minutes or until heated through.

Notes

For easy meal planning, prepare a quantity of rice in a rice cooker and cook the chicken in a slow cooker. Reserve remaining rice and chicken for other meals.

To see just how easy it is to make shredded chicken in your slow cooker, watch the video below.

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