Lemon Chicken & Rice Soup
Lemon chicken and rice soup is a light and refreshing soup. It makes a great lunch or dinner.
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Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 348kcal
Equipment
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 ½ cups carrot diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock
- ¼ cup butter optional
- ¾ cup arborio rice
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill finely chopped
Instructions
- Add chicken, garlic, onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, salt, pepper and broth to a large pot.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring regularly.
- Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken from the pot and shred with two forks. Set aside.
- Add arborio rice and butter, if using, to the vegetables and broth and stir well.
- Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add back in the chicken, along with the lemon juice, parsley and dill.
- Stir well and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes, or until rice is tender.
- Season with more salt and pepper if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Notes
- Butter: The butter is optional, but it adds extra richness to the soup. The nutritional information includes the addition of the butter.
- How to make it with leftover shredded rotisserie chicken: Add butter to the pot first, sauté the onion, then add the garlic, carrots and celery and sauté for 7 minutes, until tender. Add in the rice, salt and pepper and stir well, then add in stock (don’t use water if using leftover chicken) and simmer for 15-20 minutes before adding the shredded chicken, lemon juice, parsley and dill.
- To make dairy free: Simply omit the butter.
- Rice: arborio is best because it makes the soup creamier, but you can also use long grain white rice.
- Optional add ins: spinach, kale, other vegetables like zucchini, etc.
- Using water instead of broth: Since you simmer the chicken for 30 minutes with the vegetables and spices, you can save money by using water instead of broth and it still ends up tasting super flavorful. If using broth, I highly recommend using reduced-salt or unsalted broth.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 706mg | Potassium: 1071mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5709IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 3mg