How to Make the Best Spanish Chicken Soup with Rice 

Fall season isn’t complete without a cozy soup. You must try my Best Spanish Chicken Soup with Rice! Tender chicken thighs are cooked in aromatic and rich broth along with large chunks of nutritious vegetables. Rice is added in the end to help make this a more hearty and satisfying dish. 

Why this recipe works

• This is a healthy soup that can be consumed any time of the year. 
• It’s a great recipe when you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner. 
• You can make it ahead by prepping the veggies for it the night before or make the full recipe and freeze it for later. 
• A warm bowl of chicken soup is always comforting. 
• They are different versions you can make: omit the rice, or use your favorite pasta noodles or add in potatoes to make more a chicken stew. 

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Be sure to try these other healthy dinner soups: Vegetarian Lasagna Soup with Ricotta and Kale and also my Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup.

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs. Remove the skin and be sure to rinse off any blood from the chicken. I like to use bone-in chicken thighs but boneless skinless chicken thighs work as well. 
• White onion. Sweet onion or yellow onions would work as well. 
• Celery.
• Fresh corn kernels. I use 2 corn on the cob but canced corn works as a substitute. 
• Carrots. Carrots add so much flavor a bit of sweetness to this tasty soup.
• Chicken broth.
• Diced fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilies. These come in a can. If you don’t see it with green chiles, it’s ok. 
• Fresh cilantro.
• Cooked rice. The rice is cooked seperately and added in the end when you are serving the soup. You can cook the rice fresh or use leftover rice. 
• My spice blend. It consists of ground cumin, coriander, dried oregano, onion powder, granulated garlic, aleppo pepper, cinnamon and sea salt. Aleppo can be substituted with cayenne. If you don’t have all the spices to make this mix, you can use chicken bouillon. 
• Black pepper. 

How to make the Best Spanish Chicken Soup with Rice 

1. Rinse the rice thoroughly. Place the rice in a rice cooker and cook accordingly. 

2. With the chicken thighs, rinse under cold water. Place the chicken in a very large pot or large dutch oven pan over medium-high heat. When the chicken starts to sizzle, give it a quick stir and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Season a with a dash of salt and pepper. 

3, Turn the heat down to medium heat and add the onions and let them cook for 2 minutes then add the celery and carrots. Continue to cook for 3 min. 

4. Pour in the chicken broth and the diced tomatoes.

5. Bring it to a boil. Then turn the heat on low. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes. 

6. Add in the corn kernels and the seasoning and continue to simmer for another 30 min. The chicken will be done when it starts to fall off the bone. The internal temperature should be 165 degrees F.

7. Add in the fresh cilantro and let it cool for about 5-7 minutes. Carefully shred the chicken with 2 forks in the soup. 

8. Dish into soup bowls making sure to have some of the shredded chicken and veggies and then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the cooked rice. Top your rice soup with avocado or if you want more heat, add fresh jalapeño slices.

Helpful tips

This recipe isn’t too spicy but you can adjust the spice level with more cayenne, chili powder, fresh peppers or your favorite hot sauce. (I serve it to my toddler without the jalapeño and he is able to enjoy it.)

Chicken thighs are the best for this Spanish Chicken Soup recipe. Here’s why: The chicken fat gives flavor. You can use skinless thighs or cook with the fat on and just remove it when you are going to eat it. The chicken skin really helps give that oomph to the broth. 

Other chicken parts can be used in this soup such as chicken legs, a whole chicken or boneless chicken breast. You can even use leftover chicken.  

For the other ingredients, you can really play around with what you like. You can add noodles such as angel hair pasta. Some other great additions are black beans, red bell pepper, tomato sauce or to make it a little thicker use tomato paste. 

For additional garnishes try squeezing fresh lime juice over the top or topping with sour cream or fresh tomatoes. Crush up tortilla chips and add them to the top for a little crunch. 

Bone broth can be used in replace of chicken stock. 

​I don’t add any olive oil when adding the chicken pieces to the pot. You can add some if you like but it’s not needed. 

Storing instructions

Use an airtight container and store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Store the rice seperately because it if you add all the rice to the soup, it will become mushy. Same goes for freezing. Use a freezer safe container and store it up to 3 months. When reheating the base of the soup, then add the rice. 

Recipe inspiration

Let’s talk about the inspiration behind this soup. For the past 5 years during the month of October, I normally like to participate in an October Whole 30. With Whole 30, you are to avoid gluten, dairy and also any type of grain. This recipe is based off my noodle-less version of chicken noodle soup (which I created for my Whole 30 challenge) along with adding some additional classic Spanish ingredients to make it unique. 

You can serve this Spanish Chicken Soup with white rice as the recipe calls for, or you can omit it if you would like to keep it lower carb.  Sweet potato is a nice addition to this soup as well. 

Another thing that is delicious is dipping fresh corn tortillas in it or taking some of the juicy chicken thighs and wrapping them up in the tortilla. That’s how I get down with this soup! 

I know I mentioned that this recipe is not spicy and you’re like wait a minute, Kristina- I see a freaking jalapeño in the picture! LOL- well the heat level is up to you! But when I serve this to my family, I omit them. 

Delicious soups are always a great idea when you need a healthy recipe that uses simple ingredients. 

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