Chicken and Rice Soup in 30 Minutes

Needed a quick meal the other night and I had some chicken breast already thawed. I made this meal (with the help of my son) up on the fly and it was delicious!

I usually have celery and bell peppers in my chicken and rice soup, but not this time. This meal was put together using ingredients I had on hand without running to the store.

1.5 lb of chicken breasts
5-6 carrots cut into slices
1 large sweet onion diced
2 containers of chicken broth
Jasmine rice
Kale (wish I had more)
Black pepper

Garlic powder

Seasoned salt

Tony Chachere creole seasoning

Start by first cutting up all the ingredients that need to be cut. Dice the onions, I cheat and use a pampered chef chopper. Next I sliced up the carrots. Add the onions and carrots( also this is when I would add the celery and bell pepper if I had some) into a large pot along with olive oil and cook on a high heat, stir frequently. While that cooks cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces. Next add the chicken to the pot where the onions and carrots have been cooking. I also add in a lot of my spices about this time, black pepper, garlic powder, seasoned salt and Tony Chachere creole seasoning. Continue to cook on high heat until all the chicken is completely cooked. The veggies will soften most of the way when cooking with the chicken. Next add the two containers of chicken broth or your own stock if you have it. Continue to cook on high heat until the broth comes to a boil.

Now onto the rice. My dad once added too much rice to a chicken soup he made years ago and well it stuck. I now prefer my chicken and rice soups to be heavy on rice. I really don't measure it out I just add rice until I think there is enough. If I added too much rice I would just have to add more water to compensate. For this soup I used nearly a third of the bag. Once the rice is added back the heat down to medium. You must constantly stir to make sure the rice does not stick to the bottom and burn. As the rice expands add additional water as needed to maintain desired consistency. The veggies should be tender about the same time the rice is done. Next once the rice and veggies are fully cooked I turned off the heat and added in the kale pieces and mixed them into the soup. Even though the heat is off the soup is plenty hot and it will cook the kale.

The soup was delicious and despite not having all of my usual ingredients. The best part is that the kids and wife enjoyed the meal and there were tons of leftovers! The second picture is a bowl from the next day, as you can see the rice swelled even more. A small bowl of this really fills you up and keeps you satisfied!