• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Wimpy Vegetarian
  • Home
  • About
    • About Susan
    • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Recipe Index
  • Essential Pantry
    • 5 Tips for Perfect Cooked Dried Chickpeas
    • Reduced Balsamic Vinegar
  • Work With Me
    • Partnership Opportunities
    • Media Kit
  • Contact Me
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Vegetarian 101
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Meal Plans
    • Vegetarian 101
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » SOUPS + CURRIES

    Vegetable / Chicken and Rice Peasant Soup

    March 21, 2013 16 Comments

    Comforting soup packed with vegetables, rice, and (optional) chicken.

    Comforting, cooking for a crowd, kid-friendly, hardy soup packed with vegetables, rice and chicken for satisfying lunch.

    When I get knocked around a little by life, I head to the kitchen to make soup or to bake. I'm convinced that soup, cookies, and cake are the original comfort foods, not just as hugs from my own childhood, but from all the generations of women in my family that cooked in kitchens before me.

    I made this soup last week for a friend who was ill, and wrote it up as an article for Ask Miss A web magazine. Yes, yes, yes, I know, it's written as a chicken rice soup, but I'm still cooking in my home for both vegetarians and carnivores, and really it's so easy to make it vegetarian. For generations, soup has been an efficient peasant food; a way to cook up scraps of vegetables, meat or fish in a broth, and frequently stretched with legumes, pasta, bread, rice or whole grains. Ribollita from Italy comes to mind, as does a Hungarian goulash made with meat, potatoes and noodles.

    Cooking Notes:

    • There’s a bit of prepping to do for this soup, but it comes together quickly, and some prepping can be done while the soup simmers on the stove.
    • To save time, I buy a whole roasted chicken at my local market for this soup.
    • Other grains can be substituted for the rice. I’ve made this soup using quinoa with great success.
    cooking for a crowd, kid-friendly, comfort food, vegetable, chicken and rice peasant soup
    Print Recipe
    No ratings yet

    Vegetable / Chicken and Rice Peasant Soup

    Servings: 8 -10 servings
    Author: Susan Pridmore

    Ingredients

    • 2 
 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 ½
 medium yellow onions chopped
    • 1 large leek white and light green parts, thoroughly washed, and thinly sliced
    • 2 
 large shallots minced
    • 1
 serrano chili seeded, minced
    • 3 stalks of celery chopped
    • 1 small carrot
    • 12 cups vegetable broth preferably homemade
    • 2 
 russet potatoes peeled, diced
    • 3 
 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
    • 2 
 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • 2
 teaspoon ground black pepper
    • ⅔ cup uncooked rice well rinsed
    • 1
 avocado mashed
    • Juice from 2 limes
    • ½ 
 cup Pecorino cheese plus more for garnish, grated
    • 1 ½ 
 cup shredded roast chicken from 2 chicken breasts retaining the bones of the chicken
    • 2 
 teaspoon dry sherry

    Instructions

    • Warm up the olive oil in a heavy, large pot suitable for making soup, over medium-high heat. Add the onions, leek, shallots, chili, celery and carrot, and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.
    • Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and rice. Add the bones from the chicken that the cooked breast meat was removed from. Stir in the mashed avocado and lime juice. Simmer for 15 minutes.
    • Add the Pecorino cheese and roasted chicken, and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Stir in the sherry.
    • Serve piping hot in soup bowls with a salad and hunk of crusty bread on the side.
    « Springtime Asparagus Egg Bake with Artichokes and Potatoes
    Hot Cross Buns »

    SIGN UP!

    Want to add more vegetarian dishes to your dinners but need it to be easy? Subscribe here and get my 5 SECRETS TO FUSS-FREE VEGETARIAN DINNERS!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Choc Chip Uru

      March 21, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      This soup looks so warming 🙂
      Yum!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        March 21, 2013 at 10:04 pm

        Oh it is CCU. Next snowy day you have, you should totally make it. I think you'd really like it!

        Reply
    2. Rosemary

      March 21, 2013 at 2:07 pm

      Gorgeous photo, Susan! Love the blend of background textures and I can almost put my spoon into the soup!

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        March 21, 2013 at 10:04 pm

        Thanks so much Rosemary!! Soups aren't always easy for me to photograph; something I'm really working on right now.

        Reply
    3. Rebecca

      March 21, 2013 at 2:10 pm

      Heading out to get the rest of the ingredients now. *I* am in the mood for a little comfort food myself!

      Reply
    4. Rebecca

      March 21, 2013 at 7:53 pm

      Wow -- this is ridiculously good! I used (homemade) chicken broth, omitted the step with the bones, and used whole-wheat orzo because I had it on hand. Amazing! I was a tad concerned about the avocado and lime, but they add a light "zing." This is going on my soup rotation. Thanks. 🙂

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        March 21, 2013 at 10:01 pm

        I'm sooooo excited that you made this soup so quickly, Rebecca!!! You really made my day. And I'm so glad you liked it. Yay!!! Yeah, the avocado adds a little *creaminess* without the cream, and the lime just sharpens those flavors. Best of all, it's a forgiving soup, and welcomes little twists and shortcuts, as you found out. This was actually a riff on a quinoa soup I made a couple of years ago - which I still haven't gotten around to adding to my blog 🙂 Someday I need to do that 🙂 Thanks again!!

        Reply
    5. Julia

      March 22, 2013 at 8:29 am

      This soup looks so yummy and since spring still hasn't arrive (and may never) I have time to make this!

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        March 22, 2013 at 8:56 pm

        Thanks Julia! It's such a wild winter. Some areas of the country getting slammed, and we barely had any winter at all here in the Sierras. Crazy!

        Reply
    6. apuginthekitchen

      March 22, 2013 at 5:47 pm

      I could use a bowl of this soup right now, looks delicious Susan, You are so right, soup, cookies and cake are the ultimate comfort foods!

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        March 22, 2013 at 8:59 pm

        Thanks Suzanne! I was just over at your blog - I had no idea how poorly you've been feeling. And I'm so glad Nando is doing better. Hope you both are feeling back to normal soon. If we were neighbors, I would have brought some of this soup over to with your friend's stuffed apple 🙂

        Reply
    7. TasteFood

      March 23, 2013 at 9:50 am

      I could do with a bowl of this right now - so warm and comforting.

      Reply
    8. Cass @foodmyfriend

      March 26, 2013 at 8:09 pm

      Tyler always requests this in Winter. i guess it is nearly that time again!

      Reply
    9. http://www.theimnetwork.com

      October 18, 2013 at 1:25 am

      Hey! I'm at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone!

      Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
      Keep up the superb work!

      Reply
    10. Spoonful of Comfort

      May 26, 2015 at 9:02 pm

      Preparing my ingredients for this soup now. I am sure my hubby will love it. He loves soups and is always excited to try something new.

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        May 27, 2015 at 6:17 pm

        Oh I hope you liked it!! We love soups too, and this is one we've really enjoyed!!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    I'm a mostly vegetarian married to a mostly carnivore and am on a constant hunt for healthy, delicious recipes we'll both like. Most recipes here are vegetarian with tips for adding meat or fish for the meat-eaters at the table. Whether you're vegetarian, or just wanting to eat less meat, I hope you'll find inspiration here to try something new for your own table, even if you're sharing it with someone with different eating preferences.

    More about me →

    READER FAVORITES

    • Healthy Honey Lemon Ginger Tea (for Immunity!)
    • 10 Beginner's Tips for Going Vegetarian
    • Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes (Only 5 Minutes Prep!)
    • Sgroppino in 3 Ingredients (a Prosecco Slushie)

    Follow Us

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • RSS Feed
    • Mail

    5 TIPS FOR COOKING DRIED CHICKPEAS

    5 tips on how to cook dried chickpeas

    10 TIPS FOR GOING VEGETARIAN

    Freshly washed apples in a colander with text overlay for Main photo.

    Purchase My Cookbook!!

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Recipe Index

    Copyright © 2022 The Wimpy Vegetarian

    223 shares
    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Yummly
    • Twitter