Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Soup is great, creamy comfort food soup filled with rice, broccoli, chicken and cheese.
Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Soup
Here’s a great comfort soup for you! It’s supremely creamy and rich. And it makes for a fabulous meal with salad or bread or whatever sides you’d like. I’d say this is a family friendly kind of soup too.
101 Greatest Soups on the Planet by Erin Renouf Mylroie
This recipe comes from the cookbook: 101 Greatest Soups on the Planet, which includes recipes for every savory soup, stew, chili and chowder you could ever crave. I love to make soups in chilly weather, so I’ve been finding myself reaching for this cookbook a lot in the winter! There is a beautiful picture included of each soup, and there are so many amazing meals to choose from.
Here are some things I hope to make from the book:
- Lighter French Onion and Cider Soup
- Red Chili Cheese Enchilada Soup
- King Ranch Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Italian Sausage, Wild Rice and Acorn Squash Soup
- Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Parmesan and Lemon
- Four Cheese Ravioli Soup
- Chili Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Dill Pickle Soup
🛒 Ingredients Needed:
- salted butter
- onion
- garlic
- all purpose flour
- chicken broth
- white rice
- broccoli
- cooked chicken
- half and half cream
- cream cheese
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- sharp cheddar cheese
- Ritz crackers
- salt and pepper
✏️ How to make Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Soup:
*The complete, printable recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or just until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the broth and rice. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 14 minutes, or until the rice is almost tender.
- Add the broccoli and the chicken and cook for 6 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender but still beautifully bright green.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the half and half and cream cheese chunks. Stir until the cream cheese has melted into the soup. Stir in the lemon juice and season the soup to taste with salt and pepper, adding more broth if the soup seems too thick.
➡️ Tips and Substitutions:
- If you’d like to make this soup vegetarian, leave out the chicken. Add 4 peeled and chopped carrots with the onion. Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
- Use leftover turkey instead of chicken.
- Use chopped potato instead of rice.
- It’s okay to leave out the cracker garnish.
- It’s a pretty rich and creamy soup. Lighten things up a bit by using reduced fat cream cheese and whole milk.
✔️ Make ahead and storage instructions:
It’s definitely okay to make this soup a day ahead of time, but it will taste best when eaten the same day it is made. The rice will tend to continue to absorb the liquid in the soup, making it thicker than when first made. Add in some more chicken broth if it’s too thick for you. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days.
❤️ What I Love About This Recipe:
- It’s so rich and creamy! It’s definitely a decadent soup.
- I love that it’s super filling, so for me… a small bowl with a big salad on the side is perfect.
- It’s family friendly. This is a soup that will pretty much please everyone in your house!
Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- salt and pepper, as desired
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 7 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped into very tiny pieces
- 2 cups fully cooked chicken
- 1 cup half and half cream
- One 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 12 to 18 round butter crackers (such as Ritz)
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or just until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the broth and rice. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 14 minutes, or until the rice is almost tender. Add the broccoli and the chicken and cook for 6 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender but still beautifully bright green. Reduce the heat to low. Add the half and half and cream cheese chunks. Stir until the cream cheese has melted into the soup. Stir in the lemon juice and season the soup to taste with salt and pepper, adding more broth if the soup seems too thick.
- To serve, ladle the soup into six bowls. Garnish each bowl with ¼ cup shredded cheddar and 2 or 3 coarsely crumbled crackers.
Notes
- If you’d like to make this soup vegetarian, leave out the chicken. Add 4 peeled and chopped carrots with the onion. Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.