I first came up with this chicken with rice soup recipe about 6 or 7 years ago when I was trying to recreate a soup my mom made while I was growing up. After Thanksgiving every year my mom would make a delicious turkey soup using the leftover turkey. I called my mom to ask her for the recipe and she said she didn’t have one – and that she would just make it up as she went along each time. I’m still not sure how that is possible because it always tasted exactly the same!
This turkey or chicken with rice soup didn’t end up tasting like my mom’s turkey soup but it’s still really good! And I now always make it with any leftover Thanksgiving turkey I have. When I don’t have any Thanksgiving leftovers around then I make it with chicken. While I prefer the turkey, both versions are delicious!
Why I love This Turkey or Chicken With Rice Soup
Allergy-Friendly
If you’ve come to my blog before then you know I’m all about the allergy-friendly recipes! Hence the name Allergy a la Mode. My oldest son had just turned one when he was diagnosed with food allergies to wheat, eggs, dairy, peanuts, and cashews.
Learning to cook for him and finding recipes that were free from ALL the stuff he was allergic to was so hard! That’s why I keep everything on my blog allergy-friendly. Every recipe on my blog is free from dairy, wheat, eggs, peanuts, and cashews – and most are also free from all top 9 food allergens!
That includes this recipe! This dairy-free chicken with rice soup is perfectly allergy-friendly and is a great choice to make whether you are feeding yourself, family, or friends.
Healthy
I used to be a major over-the-top health nut! While I’ve slowly relaxed over the last 15 years, I’m still very conscious about making sure I feed my family healthy meals whenever possible. Meals full of whole grains, lean protein, and of course, veggies!
This recipe is full of all of those things!
While you can use any kind of rice in this soup, brown rice or wild rice will give you a little more protein and fiber.
What This Soup Is Good for
Chicken With Rice Soup Is Perfect for A Packed Lunch
I love sending something warm and yummy with my son for his school lunch. His Batman food thermos is our most used lunch container! It’s perfect for things like soup, mac and cheese, and creamy butternut squash pasta. I love knowing he’s getting a healthy home cooked meal, even when he’s at school. This healthy chicken with rice soup goes to school (or work!) so perfectly packed in a food thermos and paired with some sweet potato crackers and a mandarin orange.
Chicken With Rice Soup Uses Up Thanksgiving Leftovers
Truthfully, I have never had a hard time using up any Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. I love turkey! Those day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches are the BEST! I feel the same way about them as Ross feels about Monica’s turkey moist maker sandwich. Has anyone every tried making the moist maker? I never have but I think I just might need to do that.
However, I know that some people do struggle with using up all that turkey. If that is you then this chicken with rice soup is perfect for you! Just swap out the shredded chicken with your leftover Thanksgiving turkey for a delicious turkey rice soup!
What You Need For Chicken with Rice Soup
Equipment Needed
All you need for this recipe is a large soup pot, wire whisk, and a wooden spoon!
Ingredients Needed For Chicken with Rice Soup
Refrigerated
- Plant milk
- Plant butter
- Cooked and shredded chicken or turkey
- Minced garlic
Produce
- Carrots
- Celery
- Mushrooms
Pantry
- Chicken broth
- Gluten-free flour blend
- Rice
Spices/Baking
- Rosemary
- Ground sage
- Ground marjoram
- Salt
- Pepper
What Kind of Rice Can I Use?
You can really use any recipe you want for this soup. Whatever you have, whatever you like. You can make this soup with white rice, brown rice, or wild rice. You can make it with long-grain, short-grain, or jasmine rice. Literally, whatever rice you want to make this soup with will work.
Changing the rice will change the cooking time. White rice will cook the fastest, wild rice will take the longest, and brown rice will be somewhere in the middle.
How to Make Chicken with Rice Soup
This soup is so easy to make. Easy soups are one of my favorite things about cooler weather. I live for them! I love just throwing ingredients in a pot and letting it simmer while it warms up the house, then sitting down for a big bowl of tasty, comforting soup. Ahh.
Begin my preparing your carrots and celery. Wash and slice them. Next, melt the plant butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add in the carrots, celery, and minced garlic. Saute for 3 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Mushrooms cook faster so they don’t need to start right away.
Saute the mushrooms for 2 minutes and then add the gluten-free flour blend. You can also use white all purpose flour if you don’t need this recipe to be gluten-free. Stir in the plant milk with a wire whisk and blend until smooth.
Next, add in the chicken broth, seasonings, and rice. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low until the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes for white rice, 40 for brown, and 45 to 50 for wild). Once the rice is fully cooked, add in the shredded chicken or turkey and heat through.
How to Make this Recipe Vegan
This soup is a great vegetarian or vegan option if you leave out the meat! It’s just as delicious without the chicken so if meat isn’t your thing then not to worry. Just a few simple changes and you will have yourself a tasty comforting vegan rice and mushroom soup.
To make this recipe vegan all you have to do is leave out the chicken (obviously) and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. This recipe is already dairy-free so no changes there!
What to Serve with This Soup
Classic soup side dishes pair perfectly with this chicken with rice soup recipe. Some ideas are:
- Gluten-free sourdough bread or rolls
- Honey Cornbread
- A green salad
- Cucumber Avocado and Tomato Salad
- Sweet potato crackers
What’s your favorite thing to serve with soup? Let me know in the comments below!
Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later!
Turkey or Chicken with Rice Soup
Equipment
- Large soup pot
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups plant milk
- 4 tbsp plant butter or olive oil
- ¼ cup Gluten-free flour blend
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 cup celery
- 4 oz sliced mushrooms
- ¾ tsp rosemary
- ½ tsp ground sage
- ½ tsp ground marjoram
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1½ cups uncooked rice wild, brown, or white
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken or turkey
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large soup pot. Add garlic, carrots, and celery. Saute for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes.
- Stir in gluten-free flour bend. Add milk and blend with a wire whisk until smooth. Add broth and seasonings, stirring after each spice addition.
- Add rice to the pot. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the rice is cooked, about 40 minutes. Stir in the cooked chicken or turkey and heat through.
Did you make this recipe? If you did then I would love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram and tag me, Allergy a la Mode, and hashtag it #allergyalamode to be featured in my Instagram stories!
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