Lemon Chicken And Rice Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil works well here, but you can use butter or any other kind of oil if desired.
• Onion: Use white or yellow onion, and chop it finely.
• Garlic: I use 3 cloves of garlic, but feel free to use more or less.
• Carrot: Use a couple of carrots and dice them.
• Chicken: I used boneless skinless chicken breast, but boneless skinless chicken thighs work too.
• Rice: It’s best to use short or medium grain rice such as arborio. Long grain rice such as basmati won’t work well in this recipe. You can also use leftover rice.
• Stock: You can use either chicken stock or vegetable stock.
• Herbs: You can use a variety of herbs including parsley and dill.
• Lemon: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is the main flavor of this soup.

How To Make Lemon Chicken And Rice Soup

Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add in the garlic and carrots and cook for a few minutes.

Slice the chicken breast into pieces and add it to the onion and carrots. Saute until it’s slightly golden.

Season with salt and pepper, then add the rinsed rice to the chicken.

Stir to combine, then add the stock and bring it to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the chicken and rice are completely cooked.

Once the soup is ready, stir in the lemon juice and herbs. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve warm with some toasted crusty bread.

Variations

• Vegetables: Add mushrooms, zucchini or celery to this soup if desired.
• Rotisserie chicken: Add rotisserie or leftovers chicken to the soup with the rice and keep in mind that cooking time might be less since the chicken is already cooked.
• Spices: I only used salt and pepper in this recipe so the lemon and herbs shine. However, you can use other spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander and oregano.
• Herbs: Use dill weeds instead of fresh dill. You can also use other greens including spinach or kale.

Serving Suggestions

This chicken and rice soup is a complete meal on its own. I love serving it with some bread such as garlic knots, sourdough or focaccia and a simple side dish such as Mediterranean salad, fattoush or a quick Turkish tomato salad.

Leftovers

Store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat in a saucepan over medium high and stir frequently.

To freeze lemony chicken and rice soup, let the soup cool completely and transfer it into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, you can either let the soup thaw in the fridge overnight or submerge it in water until thawed, then reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat.