How To Add Rice To Soup Without Ending Up With A Bowl Of Mush

Few things are more comforting than a creamy bowl of chicken and rice soup on a rainy day. Perfectly cooked rice soup should have a particular consistency. The rice needs to be soft so that it thickens the broth, but you don't want it to dissolve into the soup altogether. If this happens, the rice can soak up too much of the liquid, leaving you with a bowl of mush that's not solid enough to be a stew but not wet enough to be called a soup. 

Rick Bayless, celebrity chef, Emmy-nominated TV presenter, and winner of Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" season one, had some advice for us on creating the perfect bowl of hearty rice soup. Bayless is well-known for his knowledge of authentic Mexican cuisine and chicken and rice soup — or "sopa de pollo y arroz" — is a hearty Mexican staple. Bayless explains, "In Mexico, they cook the rice separately and add it just before serving the soup." This helps the grains to hold their shape rather than mulching down into the broth while the soup cooks.

However, Bayless also notes, "In Asia, where I've also spent quite a bit of time, they want the rice to fall apart a bit, creating a creaminess to the broth." Examples of these types of soups include the Filipino chicken and rice soup called arroz caldo, and congee which is a thick rice dish from China that is usually seasoned with ginger and has a similar texture to porridge or rice pudding.

Making your own version of rice soup at home is satisfyingly simple (not quite as simple as three-ingredient tomato soup, but close enough). For a traditional Mexican-style soup, you could start with a base of onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and chicken stock. Braise chicken thighs in the stock and then scrape off the meat, or cook your chicken in another pan and add it later. You can either cook the rice in a separate pot and add it roughly five minutes before serving or add the rice uncooked and let it simmer for around 20 minutes.

Don't add the rice before this point if you don't want it to melt into the broth. As Rick Bayless points out, the biggest mistake people make with rice soup is "adding the rice too early if you want intact kernels."

So, what happens if you've already added rice to your soup? If the rice is overcooked, Bayless explains, "I would simply purée the soup turning it into a velvety texture rice soup." You could always top it with some crispy homemade croutons if your soup has developed a slightly mushy texture. 

Bayless will also be appearing at Utility 2025 on May 18th and 19th, in Chicago.