Day 55.
It's been wet and rainy here, again. I was not eager to leave the house much, and was happy to have all the ingredients on hand for a hearty chicken and rice soup. If my minestrone soup was to clean out the pantry this pretty much cleaned out the crisper drawer--a good thing since some of these veggies were a bit past their prime.
Chicken and rice is the gluten-free family's chicken noodle soup. Everything is right with the world when you have a steamy bowl of homecooked goodness.
The Ingredients.

--2 boxes of chicken broth
--1 cup of uncooked brown rice
--1 cup of water
--1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
--1 1/2-2 cups of vegetables (I used celery, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower, a red bell pepper, and green onion)
--1 t herbs de provence (sounds fancy)
--salt and pepper to taste after cooking
The Directions:
using a food processer, blender or hand chopper, chop up all the vegetables into whatever sized pieces your family likes.
I don't have a food processer, so I used the Vita Mix.
A container full of vegetables
turned into this
cook on low for as long as you can--the longer the better.
The Verdict:
This makes a lot. I'm going to eat it for lunch each day this upcoming week, and I packaged a few tupperwares to give to family. The flavor was perfect---but I did add a bit of salt and pepper to the grown-up portions. The kids have eaten it for dinner the past two nights and probably will again tonight.
I just found your blog from a rave from a friend, Chanda. WOW! This is so amazing and exactly what I've been looking for.
February 24, 2008 at 8:05 AM
The soup looks good!
Totally off topic, but I just bought my 20year old a birthday present and guess what it was?? A crockpot!!
Okay, I gave her a gift card since she is away at school and told her it was for a crock pot, but that's the same, right? She bought a 4 quart in red. She says the red ones make the food better!
February 24, 2008 at 2:05 PM
I love how healthy this is and how you "hid" so many vegetables!
February 24, 2008 at 4:04 PM
what a great way to get the kids to have some veggies!!
February 25, 2008 at 12:07 PM
We are sooo going to try this! We love rice and chicken.. nummy!
March 1, 2008 at 8:58 PM
in this ckn and rice recipe did you use regular brown rice? o converted? i used Carolina regular and it was still raw after 12hrs!!! I tried to cook it longer and then it burned. I have such a hard time w/ brown rice!
before the 2d cooking he flavor was good
keep up the fun site
March 3, 2008 at 9:50 AM
oh, no! I'm so sorry that happened, val!
I used regular basmati brown rice from Trader Joe's. I did not preboil or soak it at all.
I'm so bummed for you; I hate it when things don't go according to plan.
xoxo
steph
March 3, 2008 at 10:16 AM
I really wanted to like this because I had just a smidge of chicken left over, but this was bland, bland, bland. I did broccoli, carrots and celery for the veggies, used homemade chicken stock, and added some garlic and lots of bay leaves, but it just didn't do it for me. Plus, the rice exploded after all day cooking.
Any ideas what might have gone wrong? I was so looking forward to having dinner made for a few nights, but I'm going to have to force myself to eat this one for lunches by myself or give it to the dog, I'm afraid.
April 11, 2008 at 5:06 AM
Hi Beth!
If you still have the soup, it will taste better today. Soup tastes better the next day. If your homemade broth had little to no sodium, you are going to have to add salt. Your tongue wants salt.
lol on the rice exploding. I'm sorry. Cooking with rice is so tricky---the ratio needs to be right, etc. and I'm just now discovering that different elevations have a lot to do with things. I'm at sea level.
You can use long grain brown basmati for long periods of time---but rice does get mushy in a soup base. We're okay with it--but I can see how it could be off-putting.
I'm sorry to have led you astray---I'm learning right along with you all here.
xoxxo
steph
April 11, 2008 at 6:59 AM
This turned out fantastic! I only used carrots and celery for my veggies...
July 29, 2008 at 3:16 PM
hmmm- I think I cooked it too long :) It smells awesome, tastes awesome - and looks like one thick creamy texture. I think my rice melted!!
October 4, 2008 at 8:00 AM
i have this in my crockpot right now - can't wait to try it tonight:)!!!
i appreciate your blog so much - it has been a HUGE help to me as i learn this whole wife/newlywed/cooking thing:). keep it up!
October 21, 2008 at 7:31 AM
Thanks for this recipe! I'm going to try it tomorrow. Fingers crossed that it comes out well :)
December 20, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Not making this in the crockpot because I want to eat it relatively soon, but it smells delish. Thanks for the idea :) I only used some carrots and celery (though my chicken was leftover filling for tamales, so I had all those spices, plus corn and chiles), so next time I'll have to experiment with some different veggies. This one is a keeper :)
January 12, 2010 at 4:02 PM
I love you. I love your book. I love your website. I think you should have a member fee to access it, it is so very helpful and special. I will also love your next book, but I would pay any member fee you would come up with. You have made my life so much nicer with your slow cooker recipes.
Now for this soup. I love it but I want to share some tweaks I made just to show how goofy some people can be.
I substituted the second box of broth for a box of "Pacific Natural Foods Carrott Ginger Cashew All Natural Soup (I think it was the cashews that added 3.5 g of Saturated Fat (aargh), so I won't do that again, but very lush.
I substituted the Herb de P with Allspice for some reason. Not bad. But I will definitely make this again your way. I minced green onions, celery, and broc in my coffee grinder. It worked.
Did I say I love you? Your book? Your next book? Your website? I am 69 years old, why weren't you born sooner? I have miny, miny slow cooker books, and yours is the very best, hands down. Do not disappear from my life.
June 8, 2010 at 4:30 PM
Pat,
thank you so much for your wonderfully sweet words. They completely made my day---and I treasure them.
thank you.
LOL on allspice! :-0
xoxo steph
June 8, 2010 at 4:34 PM
It's probably about time I told you how much my family loves this. I make it every few weeks as a way to clean out the refrigerator. I love how versatile it is. Today, I used barley instead of brown rice, 2 chicken breasts because that is all I had and a multitude of "needs to be used NOW" veggies. It always turns out delicious and it's great that it makes a lot. Very frugal and I love that I don't have to throw out any veggies anymore.
July 10, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Steph, how much is a "box" of broth? I use bullion cubes for my broth, so I need to know ounces.
Thanks!
September 29, 2010 at 5:01 PM
Hi grace---a box is a quart, 4 cups.
xoxo
September 29, 2010 at 5:30 PM
I just made this soup. It turned out fantastic. I love all of the veggies in it. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of the herbs de provence. I didn't have any on hand and just used a bit of marjoram, basil, french tyme and rosemary. I cooked this over night and will have it for lunch today. Very hearty! Thank you.
October 26, 2010 at 3:37 AM
Have you ever tried this with uncooked chicken?? I'd love to try it but I rarely have leftover chicken and I would fair much better with using raw chicken in it.
January 18, 2011 at 8:43 AM
I'm going to try using barley as "The Nosh Pit" did. I'm not fond of rice in soup but love barley.
And since it has to cook so long I'll use frozen chicken breasts and shred them later
Thanks Steph for you great ideas
February 24, 2011 at 7:36 AM
I love topping chicken soup with a bit of store bought pesto sauce and some parmesan cheese....yummy!
March 3, 2011 at 1:03 PM
this is in my crockpot right now. i took down my frozen cooked turkey (we got 4 turkeys during xmas time, so we are slowly going through them) and made 2 pot pies and had leftover diced up meat so looked around in your recipes till i found one that needed already cooked chicken. great way to utilize those veggies i still had laying around. been in for 3 hours and it looks fantastic and smells fantastic. i hope my hubby enjoys it! (i went vegan for lent, so i will have to find out from him how it tastes)
March 23, 2011 at 8:13 AM
my hubby LOVED it! so easy to cook....5 hours on low, then i kept in on warm for 6 more hours. looked and smelled so delicious, i was very tempted to try a bite. i will be making this next weekend with TVP and veggie stock. and i am calling up my celiac momma tonight and telling her about this recipe!
March 23, 2011 at 5:32 PM
ok, I looked up your recipe on cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot, so this weekend I skinned the chicken and cooked. Oh my goodness was it great. My 13 year old gobble it up.
Then I looked up how to make chicken broth, so with the carcuss I made your broth.
Now I am cooking your chicken and rice soup with the leftover chicken. I can't wait until it's done cooking.
I found this website from my sister-in-law and am so thankful for all your recipes. Keep up the good work.
August 14, 2011 at 11:30 AM
Hi Stephanie,
I love your website! I would love your feedback if you have the time to offer it-- I tried making this chicken and rice soup recipe recently. I used homemade chicken broth, some shredded chicken breasts, a combo of long grain brown rice/brown basmati, shredded veggies, and herbs.... cooked on low for about 6 hours... and it turned out awful :( this is actually the 4th or 5th crockpot recipe i've made lately that has turned out tasting kind of bitter. Am I overcooking? Some friends suggest crock pot liners, but i'm not sure that would improve taste... would love your opinion!
Thanks,
Rachael
October 25, 2011 at 5:38 PM
Hi Rachael,
Are you following recipes, or making them up? Homemade broth needs lots and lots of salt in order to make your tongue happy---- think tablespoons instead of teaspoons. And then taste.
What herbs did you use? the herbes de provence?
October 25, 2011 at 5:55 PM
They do ;) wish mine was red!
June 18, 2012 at 2:27 PM
They do ;) wish mine was red!
June 18, 2012 at 2:28 PM