I don’t know about you, but when I cook rice I always make extra. A LOT extra. Now, I do it on purpose because I love a bowl of cold rice covered in cinnamon sugar and milk. But after a bowl or two I find I still have extra rice and I’m all cinnamon sugared out. That’s when I make soup. This soup in particular. It is perfect for leftover rice.
Full of vegetables and soft tender chicken, this soup is just right for a cold winter night. It’s easy to make with what you have on hand and if you don’t have fresh parsley, dried will work just fine. And since the rice is already cooked, there is no worrying about cooking it long enough for it to be tender. Just throw it in and cook until it’s heated through.
If you are partial to another type of herb, switch out the parsley for something else! Thyme and Oregano would both go well with this soup. I love the fresh parsley though, there is something so bright and healing about it.
If you don’t want to use bone-in chicken thighs, boneless would work well also, however I would recommend using the bone-in thighs because you get a lot more flavor and body in the stock when you use them.
- 1½ lb. Chicken Thighs, bone-in
- ½ T. Coarse Salt
- ½ t. White Pepper
- 7 C. Water, divided
- 1 T. Olive Oil
- 1 Sweet Onion, chopped
- 1 lb. Carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and thickly sliced
- 1 Garlic Clove, crushed
- ½ T. Coarse Salt
- 1 T. Chicken Base
- 2 C. Cooked Brown Rice
- 2 T. Cornstarch
- ½ C. Cold Water
- ¼ C. Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped
- Place the chicken in a crock pot and sprinkle the top with the ½ T. salt and ½ t. pepper. Pour 4 C. of the water into the crock pot with the chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours, or until chicken is fall off the bone tender.
- Remove the chicken from the crock pot with tongs and place in a bowl. Set aside to cool slightly. Strain the chicken stock to remove any debris and set aside.
- When the chicken is cool enough to work with, remove the bones and cartilage. Lightly shred the chicken(it will shred more when added to the soup). Set aside.
- Add the olive oil to a stock pot and heat to medium/high. Add the onion, carrot, and ½ T. salt to the hot oil and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pot and saute for another minute.
- Add the reserved chicken stock to the pot, as well as the remaining 3 cups of water and chicken base. Bring to a simmer and cook until the carrots are very tender.
- Add the brown rice to the soup and continue to simmer.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the ½ C. cold water(starting with 1-2 T. of water and adding more once that is mixed in to avoid lumps). While stirring constantly, add the cornstarch slurry to the soup, stirring until the soup thickens slightly.
- Add the shredded chicken and parsley and stir in until just combined. Check the seasonings and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
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