Chicken and Rice Soup

Method

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1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion, carrots and celery for 8 minutes until softened.

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2. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.

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3. Pour in the stock and add the chicken, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and 74°C / 165°F.

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4. Lift out the chicken, pull the meat off the bones in bite-sized pieces and discard the bones and bay leaves.

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5. Add the rice to the broth and simmer 12 to 15 minutes, until tender.

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6. Return the chicken with the peas and cook 2 minutes.

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7. Take off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill. Taste for salt.

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Chef’s Tips

• Add the rice late. It keeps swelling and turns the soup to porridge.
• Finish with lemon. It brightens a broth that tastes flat.
• Use thighs, not breasts. They stay tender and give the broth body.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.
• Vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock makes this meat-free without changing the method, if that is what you need.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried thyme at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Pairing Suggestions

• Crusty bread
• A green salad
• Saltine crackers

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 4 days. The rice keeps absorbing broth, so add stock when reheating. Freeze the soup without the rice for 3 months.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.