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It’s officially Chicken Soup weather here in Michigan and if you’re like me, you dial up the soup recipes this time of year. But if you are looking for a new chicken soup recipe for the family, this Chicken Lemon Rice Soup is such a great way to jazz it up. It’s a very similar idea, but I use rice instead of noodles and finish it off with some freshly squeezed lemon juice for a light and vibrant flavor!
RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL
How to make chicken broth
I love making my own vegetable broth or chicken broth. It’s all about using up the scraps of vegetables you have laying around and cooking it with chicken, some herbs and water. For this chicken lemon rice soup recipe, you can use the scraps from the vegetables needed for the recipe.
- Step 1: Season chicken breast or chicken thighs with salt and pepper and place inside a large stockpot.
- Step 2: Peel the outer layers of onions and outer layers of washed carrots; cut the ends and leaves of celery stalk. Add those “vegetable scraps” on top of the chicken in the pot along with a couple bay leaves. If you have other leftover herbs that you’re trying to use up, you can throw them in there as well.
- Step 3: Add 10-12 cups of boiling water on top of the chicken, vegetables and herbs, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Step 4: Remove the chicken and shred. Then strain the chicken broth using a fine-mesh sieve. All the vegetable scraps will be leftover and you can toss them. You were probably going to toss them before anyways and now you made your own homemade chicken broth from them!
How do you make chicken lemon rice soup
Now that you know how to make the broth, the actual chicken lemon rice soup is easy peasy. Start by cooking the chopped onions, carrots, and celery along with garlic and any herbs you’d like (I love using thyme or oregano). So, making the broth wasn’t all that pretty since we used vegetable scraps. But now we can chop the vegetables finely (and nicely!) because we’ll actually be eating these.
Then add the shredded chicken from making the homemade chicken broth. You can also use leftover chicken here. And add the short grain rice.
Now you’ll add the broth that you made (or store bought broth) and let everything cook together. The goal is for the rice to get tender and fluffy. That’s how you’ll know the chicken soup is ready.
When they say chicken soup is for the soul, they ain’t kidding! This soup is soul warming and seriously has some healing capabilities. But even if you’re not feeling that bug coming on, I think you should still try this recipe! You and your family will love this quick, easy and healthy chicken lemon rice soup recipe! If you love a good chicken soup then you’ll also love my Vegetable Chicken soup!
Tips for making chicken lemon rice soup
- Cook it quicker by using store-bought or previously made chicken broth and leftover chicken. That will eliminate the time to make the broth and cook the chicken, and you’ll still get a fresh and bright soup.
- Make it grain-free by using chopped potatoes instead of rice. This would make it Whole30 compliant. To make it low-carb or keto-friendly, you can swap up the starch with celery root, riced cauliflower or chopped zucchini.
- Don’t add the lemon juice until you’re done cooking. When I’m making soup, I’m tempted sometimes to throw everything together to cook at once in the pot. And that’s fine sometimes. But when it comes to the lemon soup, adding the lemon too early will create a bitter taste to the soup. Instead, adding it after it’s finished cooking will bring out a fresh and bright flavor.
- Make the soup in a heavy bottomed pan or Dutch oven. Because they are thicker, they conduct the heat more evenly, whereas thinner pans can form hotspots and scorch the bottom of your soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
This soup is great for make ahead meals. Let it cool completely before transferring in an airtight container. It will keep well in the fridge for 4 days. Reheat the soup gently on the stovetop or in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring halfway through.
The rice will absorb moisture as it sits, so you may want to stir in a little water or stock when reheating to loosen it back up.
The soup itself is best not to be frozen, but you can make the broth and freeze that before you make the rest of the recipe. The broth will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months and can be thawed in the fridge overnight before using.
I like to use white short grain rice, like arborio in this soup. A long grain white rice like jasmine or basmati will also work well. If you like, you can make this with brown rice too, you’ll just need to increase the cooking time for an extra 25 minutes to make sure that it is cooked through.
This recipe is inspired by the Greek lemon chicken soup (Avgolemono), but it’s not the same recipe because that one includes tempering an egg into the broth. This is a much simplified version that’s inspired by it with a simpler and quicker technique. It’s a very heartwarming, filling and nutritious chicken soup recipe that I’m sure will become a staple recipe in your house, like it is in mine!
For more soup recipes, check out:
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Vegetarian Lemon Rice Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup
- Easy White Chicken Chili
- Red Lentil Chicken Soup
- Zucchini Orzo Soup
- Tomato Lentil Soup
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Spinach Tortellini Soup
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Chicken Lemon Rice Soup recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
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Chicken Lemon Rice Soup
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs
- 1 onion diced
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup short grain or Arborio rice
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Parsley for serving
Instructions
- Place chicken and scraps from the outer layers and end of the onions, carrots and celery in a large stock pot. Season with salt and pepper, add bay leaves and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is fork-tender, about 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken and shred; then strain the chicken broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard the vegetable scraps.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme and cook until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the shredded chicken and rice, then return the broth to the stockpot and bring a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with fresh parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Instead of short grain rice, you can use long-grain rice or brown rice. If you’re using brown rice, be sure to add an extra 25 minutes to the cooking time though. You can also use potatoes, riced cauliflower, celery root or chopped zucchini for some grain free and/or low carb options.
- If you don’t have thyme, feel free to use oregano, parsley, cilantro or other herbs.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Flat leaf parsley or Curley parsley?
Whichever you prefer will work just fine.
YUM!!! – So full of flavor!
Thanks, Doreen!
Can you use chicken breast instead of thigh?
Yes!
Absolutely delicious! I’ve never made my own chicken stock before but it was perfect, I’ll never buy store bought again!
Thank you so much, Erika!!
Came down with a post-Thanksgiving cold and didn’t feel like having a high sodium canned soup. Soup was just what was needed and easy to make for a sick newbie.
Accidentally bought bone in chicken thighs but just separated the meat from the bone and dumped it all in for the stock.
SO glad this helped you to feel a little better, get well soon!
We love your soup! It is a staple now and my family asks for it often. I add grated ginger root and a dab of red paper flakes for a little extra punch, but that is just what we like. I love your tip about making the broth from scratch and throwing in the veggie throwaways. Thanks for a great recipe : )
Aww, thanks for sharing this, glad it is a family favorite. And love your tasty tweaks to the recipe!
Can you tell me the serving size? Thanks!
This soup makes about 12 cups, and usually I like each serving of soup to have about 2 cups, so this would be about 6 servings!
Pro tip for beginners‼️ SLOWLY ADD THE LEMON AT THE END 😂 I used two thinking it might not be enough for the amount of soup I made, and like a novice just dumped it in without slowly adding and tasting- I made lemon soup 😂 delicious lemon soup, but much too much lemon!! Be careful 🥰🥰🥰
love that tip, thank you for sharing!
When making this broth, is it ok to use chicken breast instead of thighs? Will the broth have enough flavor? Thanks!
You can! It might be a little lighter flavor-wise but nothing too drastic.
Yummy! I used rotisserie chicken, broth and canned carrots to make it quickly.
Thank you! That sounds excellent.
I’ve never made home made broth before…SO GOOD! Best soup I’ve had in a long time.
So glad you enjoyed!
My husband was sick so I made this for him, and he liked it a lot. I subbed oregano for thyme cos I didn’t have any, and it was still fine.
So glad he enjoyed! Hope he feels better soon!
This was so good!! Thank you!
I love that! You’re so welcome!
Made this yesterday, loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! You’re so welcome!
I’ve made this twice now, both times because my girlfriend is sick. she loves it. it reminds her of a soup her grandmother used to make. definitely worth a try!
So glad she enjoyed it! Yay!! Hope she feels better soon.
Is it 10-12 cups or water or 8 cups of water? In step 3 under “how to make chicken broth, it says 10-12 cups, but in the recipe directions it says 8 cups.
Sorry about that, it’s 8 cups of water. Just adjusted it in post. Thank you!
I finally made this recipe and it’s instantly one of my favorites. Thank u.
I LOVE this delicious soup recipe! I make this once a week and it just warms my soul. The tangy lemon brightens up the chicken soup and gives it an irresistible flavor! Love trying your recipes because they always turn out amazing!!
Hello my name is Andrea, I love cooking and trying new dishes. I always order out when I have a taste for lemon rice soup. But today I have a little time and a taste for lemon rice soup 😋 So I googled and found this recipe, along with a 5 star rating. I have all ingredients needed so let the fun begin!!
I love that! Let me know what you think once you give it a try!
Hello Yumna! I’m Greek and in Avgolemono, there is absolutely never any butter or flour! Only egg tempered with the broth! It’s a pretty big NO-NO for any Greek anywhere in the world who makes it with butter or flour (you’ll never see that anywhere in our cookbooks or recipes). Butter is not something us Greeks use in our cooking (more only in baking),
Hi Maria! Oh that’s good to know! I think I noticed it in a few popular recipes for Avgolemono, but they must not be authentic greek recipes then. Thanks so much for letting me know, and I just deleted that part from my sentence.
Thank you Yumna! I’m a big fan of yours and love your recipes! Yes, the recipes on the net where they add flour and butter and definitely not Greek people posting it:)
Thank you so much! I appreciate it!
So easy to make, even when making the broth yourself. I did change up the cooking instructions & I made this soup in my crockpot. After all the ingredients, except the lemon, were together I cooked it on low for 4 hours. It was SO delicious! So metal can taste, completely fresh! Accompanied with a crusty bread it was a perfect, satisfying meal! The absolute best part of making this soup, other than eating it, is I had ALL the ingredients!! No trip out to stores! I so appreciate recipes I can put together without an extra shopping trip!
Thank you, Sheila! I’m so glad to hear this recipe can be made in the crockpot too. Next time I’m going to enjoy this with some bread!
Tasty, nice bright lemony flavor
So glad you liked it! Thank you!
I will use ground chicken (well seasoned) and make tiny balls for this soup..similar to Italian Wedding Soup.
Yup! That’s perfect!
I have 2 pounds of bone in chicken thighs. Should I use all of that or just use half. Recipe calls for 1 pound but I didn’t know if that was for boneless. Or does it matter?
Good question actually! You an use 2 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs since I used boneless thighs. I just clarified this in the ingredients. Thanks for bringing it up!
YES! A food blog by a Michigander!! So happy I found your site! I’m going to make this recipe tonight for my girlfriend.
Yay! Love my fellow Michiganders! Thank you so much and hope you like the recipe!
Hi Yumna, I tried the soup, it was absolutely delicious. My husband and I both loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi ma’am.. I hope you are doing well. Happy Ramdan!. yesterday I tried your chicken lemon rice soup recipe and it was really amazing. I had in iftar ?? Thank you so much for motivating us and sharing awesome recipes. Loads of love from ??.
Hi ma’am.. I hope you are doing well. Happy Ramadan. Yesterday I tried your chicken lemon rice soup recipe and it was really amazing. I had in iftar ?? Thank you so much for motivating us and sharing awesome recipes. Loads of love from ??.
Awww so glad to hear it. Ramadan Kareem to you!
So delicious and super easy! This is definitely on my weekly rotation for my family. Plus, I’ve never made my own chicken stock before trying this recipe. Now I do it all the time!
That is so awesome to hear!! Thank you!
contingencies***
Beautiful recipe and love that you take so many things into account with all the constringentes! ???
Aww so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!!
Really good! Needed a ton of salt added for me and my household. I also added some cilantro and avocado, which was really good!
Haha, that’s why I left the salt and pepper to taste because it depends on the broth and personal preference. Love that you added cilantro and avocado to it! Yummy!
What if I don’t have bay leaves? What can I use instead?
You can add other fresh or dried herbs like thyme, rosemary or oregano.
So easy and so yummy – love that you make your own broth for the Arborio rice using veggie scraps
Thank you so much and I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
Can you make this soup in a crockpot?
Yes you can! Just make sure to add the rice in the last half hour because otherwise it will become too mushy.
? my 6 year old son loved it and the cabbage soup last week.
He said “Mom, you’re the best cook!” ??
I’m a huge novice but thank you so much for making recipes that are easy to follow ?
Aww I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing!!
There is a Greek restaurant my husband and I love to go to for their lemon soup! This looks just as good so I’ll have to make it so we can have it more often. I wanted to let you know I featured this in my recent post: https://amysenter.com/january-pinterest-roundup/
Awww, you’re the best…thanks so much for the feature! 🙂
I did 10 cups of water instead so I had to double the rice and use an extra lemon but it’s so good!!! Thanks for the recipe! Very fresh and filling!
That’s perfect! Thank you so much for sharing and glad you liked it 🙂
It was good but way too lemony for me and my family. I would start with one lemon and taste test from there
Yes, that might be a good idea! I love to bring out a big lemon flavor since it’s an important part of the recipe, but I agree that two might be too much for some taste buds. Thanks for sharing!
Made this for dinner tonight for my fam and it was absolutely so good! I cheated a bit and bought a whole rotisserie chicken from Costco and cooked rice in our Asian rice cooker ha ? Empty pot said it all! Delicious, easy recipe and a keeper! ?
That’s so awesome! I love the shortcuts you made and I think what matters is the empty pot in the end haha!
Why would anyone consider the inner tender leaves of celery a scrap? It is the best part of celery.
I know what you mean and it’s 100% edible. But in general the stalks are what most people eat. Like you, I find the leaves delicious, and I like to chop them up to include in salads and soups. But most of the time, I save them as “scraps” for making chicken broth since they are so flavorful.
such a wonderful recipe! i made it as is and it was comforting and delicious. it really helped with my cold
So glad to hear it!! Nothing like chicken soup when you have a cold!
How much broth if you are using store bought?
Great question. I use 8 cups of water that gets reduced to make about 6 cups of chicken broth. So if you’re using store-bought, try 6 cups and you can always adjust it. 🙂
store bought is fine but why? with this recipe? you are chopping the veggies anyway and boiling the chicken anyway..however I am no stranger to convenience so as the recipe says 8 cups of broth it doesn’t matter where you get it. FYI I used 5 cups of broth bc that is how many fit in my pot… worked fine. this is a very nice soup, it stands to reason, her name begins with YUM
HAHA! I really should have named my blog something with YUM in it! Thanks hun 🙂
Do you leave the skin on the chicken when boiling?
Yes you can leave the skin on. It will give the broth more flavor. But I recommend taking it off when shredding for the soup, although that comes down to preference 🙂
Can you add more rice?
Absolutely!
This was so easy and delicious! I added some zucchini and only the juice of one lemon instead of two. So excited to eat this as my meal prep lunches. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So glad to hear that you found the recipe easy and delicious! So smart to prep it for lunch for the week!
ok love chicken lemon rice soup. reciepe calls for 2 lemons. can you use lemon juice from a bottle. if so how much?
Yes, you can use lemon juice from a bottle. Each lemon has about 2 tablespoons of juice, so I would recommend up to 1/4 cup, but feel free to adjust it by your preference 🙂
This soup is SOO good!! We’ve made it multiple times and will make it again tonight! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Thank you so very much for this recipe! A dear friend will begin chemo next week … and we’re making this recipe as our friend’s favorite soup so she can eat … even when she doesn’t feel up to it! Thank you so much for the keto friendly tips … my friend is doing paleo while doing chemo, so this is very helpful!
That makes my heart so happy. Thank you for sharing, and hope this soup brings some warmth to your friend. She’s so lucky to have you thinking of her!!
Getting chilly here in Michigan, so I made this today. It was amazing! Absolutely delicious. Thank you.
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Any opinions on using chicken breasts instead of thighs? It’s all I got thawed right now, eek!
Yes, that’s absolutely fine. You’ll need to boil the chicken for only 15 minutes then. And you can actually boil it when it’s frozen! Enjoy 🙂
Tried this recipe because it looked interesting and now it’s a weekly staple! Delicious, wholesome and so easy to make. I didn’t have celery and thyme so skipped those two and it still turned out to be amazing.
Yay! So glad to hear you tried it and enjoyed it!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Goodness in a steamy bowl…happy slurping!
Hahaha thank you!
Cusune: Greek (not American)
You got it!