This easy vegetable rice soup is quite possibly one of the most affordable soups you will ever make. Vegetables and rice are boiled to perfection in a hearty chicken broth.
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Vegetable rice soup was one of my regular meals as a student. In short, it's basically plain rice boiled in chicken stock with any vegetables you like. In my student days, I would often use bags of mixed frozen vegetables, or a combination of vegetables from the back of my freezer.
This soup is still one of my favorite ways to use up any extra vegetables. It's also one of my favorite pantry dinner recipes for when I haven't planned dinner, because I always have rice and some fresh or frozen veggies.
If you're looking for other easy meals to make with leftover veggies, I suggest you check out chicken and rice soup, spicy chicken noodle soup, hamburger soup, Tuscan bean soup, or barley soup with ground beef.
Ingredients
This simple soup only requires a handful of ingredients: rice, water and chicken stock cubes (or chicken broth), carrots, celery sticks and onion. You might also need some salt and pepper, depending on the salt content of your chicken stock.
You can also add any other vegetables if you like, or additional seasoning.
Instructions
Start by preparing your ingredients. Peel the carrots, and cut them into bite sized slices. Then, slice the celery sticks, and finely chop the onion.
Heat up the oil in a pot on medium heat. Add the onion, and saute for a few minutes until it's soft and translucent.
Then, add the carrots and celery, and saute for another 2 minutes.
Lastly, add the rice and water + stock cubes, or chicken broth. Cover with a lid, and leave the soup to cook until the rice and vegetables have cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste if required, then serve.
Top tips
Here are my very best tips to get this soup perfect:
- When you cook soups with rice, the rice will literally keep absorbing all the liquid until it's all gone. This means that you have to keep an eye on the soup, and serve it as soon as the rice has cooked through. Leaving the soup for any longer will result in overcooked rice with no broth.
- The flavor in this soup comes from the broth or chicken stock. Make sure to use quality stock, and add additional seasoning if needed.
- Fresh or frozen vegetables can be used. You can also use a combination of both!
Serving suggestions
This soup is best served as a main course for dinner or lunch. I like to serve it as is, but you can also serve it with some crusty bread on the side if you wish.
Variations
Soups are really easy to vary, and this one is no exception. Here are some of my favorite variations:
No rice: If you prefer to omit the rice for any reason, you can substitute it with cauliflower rice instead. Note that cauliflower rice does not absorb liquid, so you should drastically reduce the amount of water added.
Spicy: You can spice this soup up by adding some freshly chopped chilies. This will give the broth a little extra heat.
Tex Mex style: Add canned diced tomatoes, Tex Mex seasoning (like fajita seasoning without cumin), black beans and corn.
All the veg: Add any extra vegetables you like. Try adding sliced zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, potatoes, peas, corn or green beans for variation.
Leftovers
One note about leftover rice soup: when rice is left in any liquid, it tends to absorb all the liquid. If you store any leftover rice soup, the rice will absorb any amount of liquid, and the dish will turn into mushy, wet rice rather than soup.
Because of this reason, if you have any leftovers, I recommend that you drain the rice and vegetables, and store these separate from the broth. Store the rice and broth in separate containers in a refrigerator for up to 3 days.
You can then combine the broth, rice and vegetables in a bowl or pot, and reheat the soup either on the stove top, or in a microwave, until it's hot throughout before serving.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, absolutely. Keep in mind that the rice will absorb a lot of liquid, so you should serve the soup as soon as the rice has cooked through.
Recipe
Vegetable Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup rice
- 5 cup water
- 3 chicken stock cubes
- 4 carrots
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 onion
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Start by preparing your ingredients. Peel the carrots, and cut them into bite sized slices. Then, slice the celery sticks, and finely chop the onion.
- Heat up the oil in a pot on medium heat. Add the onion, and saute for a few minutes until it’s soft and translucent.
- Then, add the carrots and celery, and saute for another 2 minutes.
- Lastly, add the rice and water + stock cubes, or chicken broth. Cover with a lid, and leave the soup to cook until the rice and vegetables have cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste if required, then serve.
Notes
Top tips
- When you cook soups with rice, the rice will literally keep absorbing all the liquid until it’s all gone. This means that you have to keep an eye on the soup, and serve it as soon as the rice has cooked through. Leaving the soup for any longer will result in overcooked rice with no broth.
- The flavor in this soup comes from the broth or chicken stock. Make sure to use quality stock, and add additional seasoning if needed.
- Fresh or frozen vegetables can be used. You can also use a combination of both!
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