My chicken and vegetable soup recipe will make you a soul-nourishing stew-like soup with shredded chicken and spring vegetables such as fennel, leek, zucchini, broccoli, and broccolini; wild rice, to add texture, as well as nutrients, fibre and antioxidants; and a generous shower of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, which gives richness and umami. It’s a great use of leftover rotisserie chicken or poached chicken breasts.
Are you fond of a classic chicken and vegetable soup but bored with the age-old combination of chicken, carrot, celery, and potatoes, and don’t have time to make chicken stock? Then try my quick and easy, soul-nourishing chicken vegetable soup with green vegetables and wild rice. It’s one of our best chicken soup recipes, one of our best chicken recipes, and one of our best broccoli recipes. I’ve got a pot simmering on the stove.
Because all of a sudden it’s soup weather here. Strike up a conversation with someone in Australia right now – Australians might not be the happiest people at the moment, but they’re still some of the friendliest – and you’ll probably find yourself commiserating about the cost of living/housing rental crisis, expressing outrage at the increasing injustices around the world, and complaining about the weather/climate change.
Erratic temperatures have meant we’re sweating over chilled soups and cooling salads one day – such as this watermelon feta salad, watermelon, tomato and halloumi salad, Caprese salad, melon, mozzarella and prosciutto salad, and spring chicken salad – and the next day we’re hugging bowls of comforting pastas, hearty stews and warming broths like this chicken and vegetable soup.
But before I tell you more about this chicken and vegetable soup recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo. For instance, you could buy something on Amazon, such as one of these classic cookbooks for serious cooks or cookbooks for culinary travellers; book a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or buy a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever.
And if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives from places we’ve lived, worked and travelled. Note that you can save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create your own private account. Now let me tell you more about this chicken and vegetable soup recipe.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup Recipe with Green Vegetables and Wild Rice
There are few things as comforting as the ancient broth that’s the chicken and vegetable soup. The healing powers of chicken soup are one reason, and familiarity another. It’s no coincidence that no matter where you travel in the world, you’ll come across local iterations of chicken and vegetable soup: a clear broth floating with chicken pieces (bone-in or no bone), the ubiquitous vegetables that are the onion, carrot and potato, and either noodles, dumplings or grains.
As much as I love the carrot and potato combo – have you tried my deeply flavoured old-fashioned chicken stew? – I keep finding myself craving green vegetables and that’s how this chicken and vegetable soup with spring veg came about. This recipe will make you a soup easily as soul-nourishing and even more nutritious, with spring vegetables such as fennel, leek, zucchini, broccoli, and broccolini. Of course, you could treat it as a clean-out-the-fridge soup and throw in any veg that needs using.
Just as I had those salads on rotation during spring and summer, I envisage having a handful of soups on repeat over the increasingly chilly months ahead, and this chicken and vegetable soup with green vegetables, wild rice and shredded chicken will be one of them.
When the first cold snap hit last week, I put on a big pot of this Scottish chicken and leek soup, which I shared with you all for your Burns Night Supper menus back in January. Leeks have been plentiful here, I had half a bag of pitted prunes to use up, and I’ve been buying a rotisserie chicken once or twice a week, because I don’t have an oven and don’t have much time to cook these days.
Just as a classic cock-a-leekie soup recipe starts with a whole chicken and my quick version of the Scottish chicken and leek soup uses shredded poached chicken or rotisserie chicken, a traditional chicken and vegetable soup begins with a good chicken stock made from a whole chicken or chicken pieces that simmer for hours, but shredded rotisserie chicken or poached chicken speed things up once again in this chicken and vegetable soup recipe.
I’ve justified my short cut with the words of wisdom of French chef Jacques Pépin that I read somewhere once upon a time have always stuck with me when developing soup recipes: if you’re making a vegetable soup with good quality fresh vegetables, as you should, use water rather than a stock, which can overpower the flavours of the fresh vegetables. And it’s so true.
That explains partly why I cook some of these green vegetables a little longer, so they break down and give the broth the kind of density and richness of a chicken soup made with stock, but barely cook the broccolini, so it has the crunch and colour of fresh spring vegetables. That generous sprinkle of Parmigiano Reggiano adds even more richness.
Of course, you can always use a light stock if you prefer, if you have some in the freezer, or crumble a stock cube into the water. Now let me share a few tips to making this chicken and vegetable soup recipe.
Tips to Making this Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe with Green Vegetables and Wild Rice
I only have a few tips to making this chicken and vegetable soup recipe, as it’s another quick and easy soup that comes together quickly. Cook the soup in a medium-sized soup pot or a Dutch oven. Here in Australia at mum’s I use a soup pot, but back home in Cambodia I use Terence’s Dutch oven, which he bakes his sourdough in.
If you’ve not bought a Dutch oven yet, do it now. We use it for so many dishes – here are some of our favourite Dutch oven recipes. A Le Creuset Dutch oven is perhaps the most-coveted, but we have the more affordable Lodge Dutch oven which is fantastic for soups and stews. Otherwise your favourite soup pot or stock pot will do the job.
Wild Rice
I adore wild rice and I’ve been using it a lot in my cooking lately. For this chicken and vegetable soup recipe, I like to cook the wild rice in a rice cooker while I’m prepping the vegetables, as it speeds things up. I just add 2 cups of wild rice and 2 ½ cups of water to the rice cooker, but do follow the instructions on the packet in case they differ to mine.
The Vegetables
I love the combination of green spring vegetables such as fennel, leek, zucchini, broccoli, and broccolini, but feel free to vary that mix. First, while the rice is steaming, I heat 2 litres of water in a medium-sized soup pot, but feel free to use a light chicken stock or crumble in an optional chicken stock cube and heat. But before I add the vegetables, I brown them for flavour.
Use a large frying pan, and over medium-high heat the extra virgin olive oil and sauté the finely diced brown onion until it’s soft and fragrant, then transfer it to the soup pot. To the same pan, add the fennel and leek slices, and sauté those until soft and aromatic, then slide them into the soup pot.
Next, brown the zucchini. I usually lay the zucchini slices straight down on the pan, allow them to brown on one side, then use tongs to turn the slices over, to brown the other side. Then transfer to the zucchini to the soup pot. If needed, before laying down the zucchini slices, you could add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and heat it but I usually find it’s not needed.
Lastly, to the same pan, toss in the broccoli florets and broccolini stems, sauté them for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to the soup pot, along with the broccolini florets and feathery leek fronds, then stir to combine the lot.
The Chicken
Slide the shredded chicken breast meat into the soup pot next, along with the steamed wild rice. I love to make this chicken and vegetable soup recipe as an excuse to use up any leftover shredded rotisserie chicken, but if you’re like Terence who always has poached chicken breasts in the fridge, use those. We’ve got more leftover rotisserie chicken ideas here.
Season and Serve the Soup
Lastly, taste the chicken and vegetable soup and season with salt and pepper if you like, or serve it with cracked black pepper and sea salt on the table and allow guests to season their own soup.
Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle on some good quality extra virgin olive oil, shower with grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or even Pecorino Romano).
A tip that’s not in the recipe: If you’re going to leave the soup to simmer on the stove for a while, add a small rind of Parmigiano Reggiano to the pot if you have one. We always save our rinds for our Italian soups. Cheese rinds add a richness and creaminess that really makes this soup.
Serve with a basket of crusty sourdough bread. I like to sprinkle some chilli flakes on my soup. Enjoy!
Chicken and Vegetable Soup Recipe with Green Vegetables and Wild Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups wild rice
- 2 litres of water - or a light chicken stock
- 1 chicken stock cube - optional
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - plus more as needed
- 1 small brown onion - finely diced
- 1 fennel bulb - trimmed, sliced; chop green stalks and keep feathery fronds
- 1 leek - finely sliced
- 2 zucchinis - trimmed, cut into rounds
- 300 g broccoli - florets only
- 200 g broccolini - florets and stems sliced
- 2 chicken breasts - shredded; use leftover rotisserie chicken or poached breasts
- 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano - grated
Instructions
- To a rice cooker, add 2 cups of wild rice and 2 ½ cups of water, or follow the instructions if they differ, to steam the rice.
- While the rice is steaming, to a medium-sized soup pot, over medium-high heat, add 2 litres of light chicken stock or 2 litres of water and crumble in an optional chicken stock cube and bring to a boil.
- In a large pan over medium-high, heat the extra virgin olive oil and sauté the finely diced brown onion until soft, brown and fragrant, then transfer the onion to a soup pot.
- To the same pan, add the fennel slices and leek slices, and sauté until soft and aromatic then transfer to the same soup pot.
- Lay the zucchini slices down on the pan; when brown use tongs to turn the slices over, then transfer to the soup pot.
- Lastly, to the same pan, add another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, heat, and toss in the broccoli florets and broccolini stems. Sauté for a few minutes, then transfer to the soup pot.
- Add the shredded chicken, broccolini florets, feathery leek fronds, and steamed wild rice to the soup pot. Stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes or so; no more, as you want the broccolini to remain bright green and firm.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper if you like. Use a ladle to distribute the soup between bowls, then generously shower each bowl with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Serve immediately with crusty bread, salt and pepper, and dishes of fresh flat leaf parsley and grated Parmigiano Reggiano so guests can customise their soups.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make this chicken and vegetable soup recipe, as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
