Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
This chicken and rice soup is so warm and comforting. When I’m sick, this is what I want. It’s even better if made from homemade chicken stock. The rice cooks into the stock and makes a thick, rich porridge of sorts. If you’ve ever had Chinese congee, you’ll find this to have a similar texture. This soup is dense, nourishing, and filling.
THE CHICKEN
If short on time, you can make this soup with a pulled rotisserie chicken. When I have the time, I like to cook a whole chicken in my Instant Pot. I cover the chicken in water, add 2 tsp salt and cook on high pressure for thirty minutes followed by a slow release. Once cooked, I’ll pull the chicken off the bones. I can generally portion a whole chicken into three sections. I use one section for a pot of soup, and freeze the other two sections for later use. When freezing, I like to put the pulled chicken pieces in a quart jar and cover the chicken with stock. I freeze the jars on their sides before standing up for storage. This helps to prevent cracking or breaking of the glass. Once I’ve pulled the chicken from the bones, I strain off the chicken stock, then return the bones to the pot. I refill the pot with water and cook the bones to get one more full pot of chicken stock before discarding the waste. I freeze the stock like I freeze the chicken.
THE VEGGIES
In its most basic form, I always include onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in this recipe. I sometimes like to add other vegetables depending on my mood. When I’m sick, I keep it simple. Digestion is the most complicated job the body performs. If sick, it’s good to eat food that’s easily digestible as that frees up the body’s energy for healing. When I’m feeling more adventurous, I may add frozen peas or frozen green beans to the soup.
THE AROMATICS
This chicken and rice soup gets way more interesting when you can include fresh herbs. I always include white pepper and dried tarragon. Those flavors are a base that I personally love in any chicken soup. If you have fresh thyme or fresh sage or fresh parsley, I highly encourage the use of these herbs. They each have their own medicinal uses. Thyme helps to fight bacterial and fungal infections. Sage treats a sore throat. Parsley improves digestion and boosts the immune system. These make wonderful additions to this soup, for their flavor complexity, as well as their ability to heal the body if sick.
Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- Instant Pot or stock pot
- 1-2 c pulled chicken
- 1 onion, diced
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 ribs celery, diced
- 3-4 large carrots, cut into small bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp dried tarragon
- 3/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 5-6 springs of fresh thyme, leaves pulled)
- 1/2 tsp ground sage (or 2 tsp fresh chopped sage)
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (if available)
- 1 c uncooked white rice
- 10 c chicken stock
- (optional: add 1 c frozen peas and/or 1 c frozen green beans)
Instructions
- Prepare the pulled chicken. Pull a rotisserie chicken, use leftover chicken from another recipe, or cook a whole chicken in water as described in the text above this recipe. If cooking a whole chicken, add 60-90 minutes to this recipe.
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, dice the celery, and chop the carrots.
- Add the olive oil to your cooking device. Add the above vegetables.
- If using an Instant Pot, hit “Sauté” and cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent and the carrots have begun to soften. If using a stock pot, sauté the vegetables over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots have begun to soften.
- No matter the cooking device, turn off the heat when the vegetables have begun to soften. Add all of the spices and stir to combine. Add the cup of uncooked white rice and ten cups of chicken stock. If using frozen vegetables, add them too.
- If using an Instant Pot, cover the pot, seal the lid, and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Allow the pot to slow release. If using a stock pot, bring to a boil, then cover the pot and cook on a low simmer until the rice has absorbed most all of the liquid. This may take 20-30 minutes.
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