This easy Chinese Chicken Rice Soup is made in one-pot. Nourishing and warming, it's the perfect Asian comfort food for the colder weather of fall or winter that the whole family will love! I show you how to make it from scratch using fresh ingredients, as well as a quicker 15-minute hack using leftovers.
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- This Chinese Chicken Rice Soup is quick and easy: Made in one pot, this is pretty much a dump-and-cook recipe that makes the perfect soup broth. No advanced cooking techniques necessary. Perfect for soup season!
- Flexible: I show you how to make this chicken soup with a whole chicken (it's cheaper), but also how to substitute with boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, or leftover roast chicken.
🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple ingredients:
- chicken: I have tested this recipe both with a whole chicken, as well as with a 130g chicken thigh fillet. ( I do not recommend using chicken breast meat- unless you have an instant read food thermometer- as it dries out very quickly so you will have to be spot on with your cooking timing. And the beauty of this One Pot Chicken Rice Soup recipe is that it's flexible.) If using shredded leftover rotisserie meat, ⅓ cup is a good amount.
- chicken broth: Alternatively, you can substitute the 5 Cups of chicken stock with 5 Cups of water and 3-4 teaspoons of chicken stock powder, which is available at the Asian grocery store (or a chicken bouillon cube.) (For a chicken fillet, you can use less liquid- about 2.5 Cups will do.) If your fire is hotter than mine, you may need to add more liquid. (You can use water if you don't have any more stock.)
- fresh garlic cloves: peel and smash them with the back of a knife or cleaver (quicker than slicing!)
- fresh ginger: sliced. No need to peel!
- sesame oil: Use ½ Tablespoon Chinese sesame oil/ toasted sesame oil, if using a whole chicken and 1 Tablespoon if using chicken fillet or leftovers (as there is less fat and body for the broth.)
- salt: I used ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt, but please taste first as your chicken stock may be saltier than mine. Some people like to use light soy sauce. However, I find the flavor overpowers the delicate chicken flavor so I omit it. If you want to use light soy sauce, use less salt.
- long grain white rice: I used ½ Cup of jasmine rice but any type of white rice will work. (Note that sushi rice and Korean rice will make your soup starchier and less clear. If you want to use brown rice, it will increase the cooking time so you'll need more broth.) If you use just-cooked or leftover rice, add it at the end. You can spoon the broth over (hot) ready-cooked rice OR if using (1.5 Cups) leftover rice, add it to the soup and simmer till hot through.
- optional, ground white pepper: ¼ to ½ teaspoon. Omit if you don't have it.
- optional, green onions: this scallion garnish enhances the flavor of the soup and makes it look better too!
Optional Extra Ingredients
You can add some quick-cook/ no-cook and easy to digest vegetables, such as:
- canned corn or tomatoes: both will add a natural sweetness to the broth. Do not overcook the tomatoes as we don't want it to become too soft- 5 to 10 minutes is more than enough.
- diced carrots: like the tomatoes, these will make your soup sweeter.
- frozen vegetable mix: I like the cubed peas-carrots-corn mix.
- Napa cabbage: will add sweetness to the broth
- Bok Choy: just quickly blanch it at the end of cooking, to keep the bright green color.
- beaten egg: you can swirl it in the Chinese rice soup, like we do with Chinese Egg Drop Soup.
📖 Variations & Substitutes
- Traditional/ More flavor: Similar to what I did with my chicken porridge, one pot chicken rice, and cabbage soup, saute the rice, ginger and garlic in oil till fragrant and the rice is opaque. (Be careful of oil splatter when adding the washed rice to the oil!) Then add the chicken and simmer. The rest of the recipe is as bove.
- For a Vietnamese touch: use 5 pieces of star anise and fish sauce instead. (I like Red Boat fish sauce- it's pricey, but it's good.) You will still need about ¼ - ½ teaspoons of salt to season as well. Garnish with a generous serving of fresh lime juice, crushed peanuts and mint leaves.
- Healthier: substitute the rice with barley. (Cooking time and water changes- let me know if you want more exact directions.)
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add the chicken, 3 cloves of garlic, 1" ginger (sliced), and 5 Cups of chicken broth to a large pot. Bring to the boil over medium heat then lower to a simmer,
2. Note: If you cook a lot of Chinese meat soups, you'll know we usually blanch meat before making soup. However, with chicken, you can be lazy and skip the step as there's not much scum produced, and just skim it off as the meat poaches. (See above.)
Don't do this with pork- pork ALWAYS needs blanching.
3a. A 2lb whole chicken will take about 45 minutes to cook, whilst the rice only takes about 15-20 minutes. So cover and simmer the chicken for 25 minutes then add the ½ cup of rice.
Note: for deboned chicken thighs, it'll take 15-20 minutes. On the other hand, the cooking time will increase to 1 hour if using a 1.7 kg chicken, so adjust accordingly. Always check that the juices of the chicken run clear, and that the internal temperature reaches 165ºF (75ºC.)
4a. After adding the rice, simmer for 15-20 minutes till the rice is soft and cooked, then season with the salt, white pepper and sesame oil before garnishing with sliced green onions. (Check in at 15 minute mark, as we don't want the rice to boil into mush. If it does though, don't fret, you'll have made congee, a very popular Chinese breakfast recipe! Always make sure the chicken is fully cooked before switching off the fire!)
Note: if using leftover chicken, add it 5-10 minutes before the rice finishes cooking. (Time depends on how big the chicken pieces are.)
🥡 How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheat on the stove by bringing back to the boil. Make sure all the chicken meat is fully reheated. (Do note that the meat will become tougher if you boil for too long.)
Note that you'll need to add more chicken stock before reheating, as the rice will absorb the liquid when stored. (Don't use plain water or your soup will be diluted and taste very bland.)
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
Tip #1: You can also substitute with leftover rotisserie chicken and leftover rice. (Make sure the rice was safely stored, as it can give you terrible food poisoning.) This will drastically reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes as we really just need to warm everything up. (Make sure the rice is HOT to avoid food poisoning.) See Ingredients for more directions.
Tip #2: You can substitute the rice with thin rice noodles or glass noodles. (Both don't need to be cooked- they can just be blanched in hot water before adding them to the pot, at the end of the cooking process.)
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Chinese Chicken Rice Soup (One Pot)
Equipment
- Large pot
- Spoon to sieve out scum from soup
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb whole chicken Check that the giblets have been removed from the cavity. Substitutes:I have tested this recipe both with a 130g chicken fillet (skinless, bonless chicken thigh.) I do not recommend using chicken breast meat. You can also substitute with ⅓ cup shredded roast chicken meat.
- 5 Cups chicken broth Alternatively, substitute with 5 Cups of water and 3-4 teaspoons of chicken stock powder. (For a chicken fillet, you can use less liquid- about 2.5 Cups will do.)
- 3 fresh garlic cloves peel and smash them with the back of a knife or cleaver (quicker than slicing!)
- 1 inch fresh ginger sliced, not peeled
- ½ Cup long grain rice You can use any white rice but I generally do not use short-grain rice such as sushi rice or Korean rice, as it will bleed starch into the soup. Brown rice will take longer to cook and need more liquid.
- ½ Tablespoon sesame oil Increase to 1 Tablespoon if using a chicken fillet or leftover chicken(as there is no skin to provide fat and body for the broth)
- ¼ teaspoon salt Up to ½ teaspoon of salt or to taste. Some people like to use light soy sauce but I find the flavor overpowers the delicate chicken flavor so I omit it. If you want to use light soy sauce, use less salt.
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper Omit if you don't have it, no need to replace with black pepper as they're not perfect substitutes.
- 1 scallion sliced, garnish
Instructions
- Add the chicken, 3 cloves of garlic, 1" ginger (sliced), and 5 Cups of chicken broth to a large pot.
- Bring to the boil over medium heat then lower to a simmer, and cover.
- A 2lb whole chicken will take about 45-60 minutes to cook, whilst the rice only takes about 15-20 minutes. So cover and simmer the chicken for 25 minutes then add the ½ cup of rice. Note: for deboned chicken thighs, it'll take 15-25 minutes. On the other hand, the cooking time will increase to 1 hour if using a 1.7 kg chicken, so adjust accordingly. Cooking time will vary with the size of the chicken, and the temeprature you simmer at so always check that the juices of the chicken run clear, and that the internal temperature reaches 165ºF (75ºC.)
- After adding the rice, simmer for 15-20 minutes till the rice is soft and cooked, then season with the salt, white pepper and sesame oil before garnishing with sliced green onions. (Check in at 15 minute mark, as we don't want the rice to boil into mush. If it does though, don't fret, you'll have made congee, a very popular Chinese breakfast recipe!
- Always make sure the chicken is fully cooked before switching off the fire!) Enjoy!Note: if using leftover chicken, add it 5-10 minutes before the rice finishes cooking. (Time depends on how big the chicken pieces are.)
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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