This Curry Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe is a delicious twist on an old classic! It’s quick and easy to make and totally a family friendly meal.
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You all know by now that I love soups! They’re such an easy, comforting meal, and often inexpensive too. This Curry Chicken and Rice Soup recipe is definitely no exception!
I was introduced to this soup recipe by my sister-in-law. My husband’s family is pretty large (he’s the second oldest of ten kids!), making it hard for us all to get together easily at someone’s house.
So once a year, we all head to a big rental house in the mountains (we call it a cabin even though it’s totally not rustic!) for a long weekend of hanging out and making memories.
And of course a big crew like that takes a lot of food! To keep the meal prep from totally taking over our fun, we divvy out the work and each family is in charge of preparing one meal for the whole crew. It works really well and it’s always fun to see what delicious ideas everyone comes up with.
Several years ago, my sister-in-law made this Curry Chicken and Rice Soup for one of our cabin dinners and it was a total hit! It was just the perfect comfort food and though it’s filling, it’s not too heavy, which is perfect for a weekend of doing a lot of nothing. 🙂
I still love traditional chicken and rice soup recipes, but I really enjoy the unique sweet and savory flavor combination that the curry gives to this one. I think it’s a fun twist and like the variety that it adds to my collection of soup recipes.
I often combine it with my Classic French Bread and a salad for a totally easy, satisfying meal that the whole family loves.
Give it a try yourself!
Curry Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe
Creamy Curry Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots, diced (link in Notes for the tool I love to use to dice veggies quickly)
- 2 celery ribs, diced (optional)
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp. seasoned salt
- 1/2-1 tsp. curry powder (or more to taste)
- 4 1/2 cups milk
- 4 cups chicken broth (link in Notes for Homemade Chicken Broth recipe)
- 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
- 2 cups cooked rice
- salt if needed
Instructions
- In large saucepan, saute carrots, celery and onion in butter until soft.
- Add flour, seasoned salt and curry powder and stir until smooth.
- Gradually add milk; stir and cook until thickened.
- Add chicken broth, chicken and rice. Cook over low to medium low heat until hot, stirring occasionally.
Notes
- Homemade Chicken Broth
Other Soup Recipes that You’ll Enjoy:
Caren
I used Unsweetened coconut milk and it’s soothing and delicious.
Lydia Beiler
Great tip for subbing coconut milk, Caren. I bet that makes it extra creamy! Glad you enjoyed it!
Debbie Cope
Curry Chicken Rice soup
great flavor. I
should have paid attention to the amount of servings, large amount for two people. Will probably use a little less milk/chicken broth by 1/2 cup less of both, so it might be a little thicker.
But again it has great flavor.
Will take your advice on freezing some of the soup without the rice. Therefore we can freeze it and add rice for another meal in a week or so.
Lydia Beiler
So happy to hear that you liked the soup, Debbie! And so sorry that you missed noticing that it makes such a large amount. Yes, it’s most definitely a recipe that was designed more for feeding a bigger family. But I’m grateful that you were at least able to figure out a way to not have the extra go to waste!
Abbie L
Is this soup too thick? I usually use 1 cup liquid for each tablespoon of flour to get a thick consistency. This one has 8 cups liquid and 12 T flour. I would imagine it would be VERY thick. Thanks for any input!
ThriftyFrugalMom
It is a thicker soup, but the amount of flour and liquid listed has always worked well for me. And I know several friends and family that make it and love it and they have never mentioned anything about it being too thick. If you prefer a thinner soup, feel free to either cut back the flour or add more broth. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a thinner version and will add a bit more broth. And any leftover tend to get a bit thicker because the rice seems to continue to absorb the liquid. Hope that helps!
Ellen
Can this soup be frozen?
ThriftyFrugalMom
Unfortunately, any soup with pre-cooked rice doesn’t seem to freeze well because the rice doesn’t have a great texture once frozen, thawed and reheated. I freeze cooked rice by itself all the time and it’s fine. But freezing it with other liquid doesn’t seem to work well. If you don’t mind if the rice get’s a little mushy then you can freeze it. I’ve done it before and while it’s not ideal, it still tastes fine…just has a rather different texture.
If you’re wanting to make this ahead to freeze and then have on hand for an easy meal, I’d make it without the rice and freeze it that way. Then you can either freeze the rice separately or just cook it up and add it to the soup once you are ready to serve it.
Stef
This sounds perfect for a cool fall night. I want to try your bread too! I love the touch of sweet in the soup.
ThriftyFrugalMom
You can’t go wrong with soup and bread, can you?