
This is a very filling soup that my family love – great for a quick winter meal. Serve with some fresh bread and a green salad, and it will feed about six people for a main meal. The soup becomes quite thick as it cools down, and could be thinned down a little more with some milk if you like. (We like it thick.)
If you have a big family, or like more veges in your soup, you can add more chicken to the soup (leaving the peas out) and cook at Varoma temperature with the peas and lots of other veges steaming on top – e.g. zucchini, carrot, broccoli, squash, asparagus. Place the steamed veges in individual bowls and spoon the soup over the top.



- 50g of raw brown rice
- 50g raw almonds
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 stalk of celery, quartered
- 1 large carrot, quartered
- 30g olive oil or butter
- 300g cubed chicken
- 1 litre water
- 1 1/2 Tbspns chicken stock paste (made in TMX - see below) or vege stock paste (or to taste)
- 100g raw brown rice
- ground rice & almonds
- handful fresh parsley, chopped
- 100g frozen peas
- Grind rice in Thermomix bowl 1 min/speed 9.
- Add almonds and grind 20 sec/speed 9, or until fine. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
- Place onion, garlic cloves, celery and carrot in bowl and chop for 3 sec/speed 5.
- Add oil (or butter) and cook for 3 mins/100C/speed 1.
- Add chicken and cook 3 min/100C/speed 1.
- Add water, stock paste, rice, and reserved ground rice and almonds, and cook for 30 mins/100C/reverse/speed 1.
- Add parsley and peas, cook another 5 mins/100C/reverse/speed 1.
- Adjust seasonings if needed, and serve.
- Replace almonds with 50g sunflower seeds, or an extra 50g of brown rice.
- Omit rice. At start of recipe, grind 100g almonds (or cashews) and set aside, adding back in later in the recipe. If you like you can add 150g cauliflower rice with the nut meal, and cook the soup for approx 20-25 mins. (Cauliflower rice is made by chopping cauliflower florets for 5 sec/reverse/speed 5.)


- 300g of raw chicken
- 300g veges (leek/onion/shallots, carrot, garlic, celery, celeriac - your choice)
- few sprigs fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley)
- 1 bay leaf
- 150g coarse sea salt
- 50g white wine (or 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar)
- 1 clove and 5 coriander seeds
- Place chicken into Thermomix bowl and chop 10 sec/speed 6.
- Add veges, herbs and bay leaf, and chop 10 sec/speed 5.
- Add salt, white wine (or vinegar), clove and coriander seeds (or ground spices).
- Cook 20 mins/Varoma/speed 2, with simmering basket on top instead of MC (to allow steam to escape).
- Replace MC and blend 1 min/speed 10.
- Use 1 Tbspn stock paste in 1 litre water for chicken stock, or to taste.
Hi Jo! I LOVE your website! Absolutely everything I’ve made is awesome. Anyway…this may be a really dumb question… but when you’re making the chicken stock paste…can’t you mince the chicken in the thermomix? Usually you give instructions on times and speeds so I’m assuming not? I don’t really know what it means to mince chicken exactly…newbie cook over here and generally blonde ha.
I’ve been asked to make this soup for a friends party. It says 50 g raw brown rice first then later in list of ingredients it says another100 g of raw brown rice. Please help
Hi Nicole! The first 50g rice is milled and then added into the soup at a later stage along with the 100g rice (left whole). 🙂
Other than a messy kitchen, this soup is awesome!!
Tip: ensure you have your MC in place before grinding nuts.
Can you freeze this soup?
Sure can!
Ahhhh-amazing! And super simple! Just love it!
Oh my gosh! I am in love with quirky cooking :-O
Just cooked this up this morning, found it needed an extra 10-15mins to soften the rice a bit more, it was a little chewy (for me).
I didn’t make the chicken paste, just used a vege paste I had previously made. I also used leftover meat from a roast chook bought from the supermarket yesterday, it didn’t yield 300g of meat but seemed to be enough to flavour the soup.
Tastes fabulous, I would never have thought to grind almonds to add to a soup!!
Thanks for a wonderful, easy recipe.
Did you mill the rice ? Mines was perfect
Hi Jo, thanks so much for this ace recipe!! we love it for dinner and then its perfect for lunch the next day or evening cooking a batch just to take to work 🙂
Hi Jo, can I halve the chicken stock paste recipe? Just checking as some recipes can’t be meddled with (; Thanks Jennie.
Hi Jo,
I am allergic to onion and garlic and a myriad of things that add flavour to food (like capsicum, ginger, chilli, ginger). I normally leave these ingredients out but it certainly does affect the flavour, is there anything you could suggest that I replace the onion and garlic in the soup with?
Thanks,
Penny
Penny: Have you tried asafoetida? It smells awful until you sauté it in some ghee, then it’s great as a sub for onion/garlic. Check it out online. Also, celery leaves! 🙂
Jennie: Yes, halve it, that’s fine. May only need 20 mins cooking time.
tried tonight. was ok.
hubby said ‘best soup ever’ our whole family loved it…will become a regular I think
My husband made this for the first time last nights, enjoyed so much by the whole family including 3 kids, 1,3,6. That I had to make it again tonight.
I am also making another batch over the weekend to freeze as our back up emergency dinner! YUMMY
Thanks Jo
Hi Jo,
Your chicken paste recipe used to say use 1 teaspoon to 500g water and now it says 1 Tablespoon to 1 litre.
There are 4 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon 😯 so is there any reason you have doubled the recommended amount?? Sorry for the silly question! Lisa
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been meaning to make it for ages but never quite got around to it but my husband is currently sick so I thought it was perfect timing! We all loved it – even my fussy children!!! Miss 3 refused to taste it to begin with but then decided it was nice after she saw her big brother devour his bowl and ask for seconds! That NEVER happens. Again, thank you so much for a wonderful recipe and one that I will make for friends when Mum is sick. I’m still in shock my son asked for seconds!!!
Hi Jo,
Made this tonight with some Almond Milk I had already prepared and substituted Choko for celery (have to get rid of them!. Was so deliciously filling and warming on a cold night after soccer training. Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks
Donna.
P.S Do you know of any good choko recipes? I have some I need to use and pan frying them is the usual way I cook them.
Thanks for this great recipe! My husband is very fussy and he actually went back for more!! The whole family enjoyed it.
I love this soup so much thanks! With the chicken stick paste it makes a fair bit which is great but how long will it last do I just keep in the fridge or freeze small amounts ? Thanks
Hi Soph – The chicken stock paste will last for about 3 months in the fridge. And a lot longer in the freezer!
Is it ok to use left over cooked chicken and add after the cooking time?
Yes – that would be fine – we often use up slow cooked chicken in our meals, and just add it at the end of the cooking time. 🙂
Thanks for this recipe Jo! I made the grain-free version with cauli rice and it is sensational!
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Made cauliflower soup for lunch and used chicken stock from your recipe. I was a little light on fresh herbs only had rosemary and parsley so added some dried tarragon tasted delicious. Also relieved to hear that the chicken stock will last for three months in fridge as I was a little dubious being chicken.
I made this today with a few changes:
– Used almond meal
– Increased ground rice to 80g
– Used part of a carrot + 1 whole one
– 2 small celery sticks
– 180g bacon
– 4 chicken thigh fillets (this equalled more than the 300g called for in the recipe)
– 3/4 tsp celtic sea salt
– I also did not add in the peas during the cooking process, as I don’t like how peas turn out the next day, that muddy green colour. I will add peas when serving so it’s fresh.
– Adding in parmesan cheese for more flavour when serving.
– All these changes I made resulted in a thick soup.
Thanks for a great recipe, I will definitely be using this again the future and using difference veggies!
x Angie
I’ve made this twice now and both times the water took the level up way over the max line. Has anyone else had that problem? I just added less and thinned it after, but it seems strange no one else has mentioned this happening.
Did you soak the rice first? If you did use less water otherwise it will be too wet. Hope that helps.
I have this cooking at the moment and have exactly the same problem Chrissy. I stopped the machine, took the MC off and took out a bit of liquid and have now put the basket on top. It’s still splattering a bit but nothing like it was before. I’m using quinoa instead of rice. Next time I’ll only use 800g of water and see how that goes.
Hi. I’m a little confused as to how much rice and almonds to use. Top of ingredient list has 50g brown rice and 50g almonds. Then bottom of ingredients list has 100g brown rice and then ground rice and almonds. So not exactly sure how much to use if each?
Thanks
Hi Jo, this looks amazing!! I don’t have a Thermi yet so just wondering if you would have a method for stovetop cooking? Thanks!
Yes, you could use almond meal instead of milling the almonds, and rice flour instead of milling rice; then cook as usual in a saucepan, but keep an eye on it – stir as needed so it doesn’t stick!
This is a family favorite. so easy to make, so delicious! one of our favorites, especially if anyone is feeling sick.
Why does it say 50g raw brown rice and then further down the ingredients list, 100g raw brown rice?
The 50g is ground at the start and set aside; the 100g is added to the soup whole. The ground rice and almonds are used to thicken the soup. 🙂
Hi Jo, made this tonight as the wintery weather is upon us here in Vic! Loved it, as did the family. Always a few tweaks depending what is on hand! Had some cold cooked chicken so used that, adjusting the time accordingly and added some chopped broccoli in the last 5 mins, then forgot the peas and parsley!
Certainly a winner that I will make again and again! Thank You!
I have heard so many positive reviews about this soup. I even bought your book and didn’t even bother trying out the recipe. After my friend made it last week, I thought to myself, I really need to make this soup to see what the fuss is about. OMG! If I am ever on death row and they ask me what my last meal would be, this would be it! It is so delicious, so comforting, and so nourishing for the soul. I didn’t have frozen peas at home and substituted it with frozen corn kernels (using McCain Super Sweet Corn Kernels). The result was better than expected. A definite keeper and my favourite soup! I absolutely love it! I did cook it longer for an extra 30 minutes because I liked the brown rice to soften further, next time I will soak them overnight. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful recipe. I have previously made and loved your Bacon and Tomato Zoodles with Poached Eggs but this tops that dish! Thank you, thank you! 🙂
I’m making this soup for the first time today and wondering if it is suitable to freeze?
Yes!
Excited to try this soup today, is it ok to freeze?
Yes!
Hi there
I made both the stock and soup today (its still cooking away).
Just wondering gow to store the stock and how long does it keep please? Thanks so much
You can store it in the fridge for up to 3 months. 🙂
Can you freeze this soup
Yes! It will thicken a little so just add a bit of water when thawing if needed.
My husband couldn’t believe there was no cream added to the soup. Another delicious recipe, thank you for sharing.
This is so delicious I’ve made it twice in 3 days. I have a lapband and have trouble eating so when I do I tend to stick to the same types of soups and will be using this as another to the list (if not the first preference) it is so good. When I was making it my sister came over and smelt it as soon as she walked in the door (she clearly stayed for dinner) and when I opened the lid she asked if corn had gone into it because of the colour. I ended up making this again because it’s so easy for freezing for lunches. Included an extra 150g of chicken and also a little bit more water. Also increased the cooking time by 5 minutes because I found the rice wasn’t totally cooked. Thank you for this recipe, it is a winner 🙂
For the stock paste, can I just use table salt as I don’t have rock salt now?
Hi! Can you substitute the chicken for anything to make it vegetarian, like mushrooms? When would I add these? I’ll be using vegetable stock too. Thank you for this recipe, I’m excited to cook this!
Hi Jo.
Wanting to cook the grain free version. Is the total amount of milled almonds 150g ( as 100 to replace the rice as well as the usual 50g) or is it just 100g in total?
Also, do I then just continue with the recipe as usual.
Many thanks!
Cint
This is seriously excellent! I made it last night when friends were over, and have to make it again tonight because we don’t want to share it again!! It’s simple, delicious and nutritious! Thanks Jo!
Hi Jo, is there any reason why you can’t use bone broth instead of the stock paste?
Hi Jo, I would love to try and make this soup for my family but we don’t have a thermomix. Can you please five instruction for normal cooking? Thanks.
Hello Jo, I have made this soup a number of times now and again today, as the glorious aromas waft through my kitchen I just wanted to thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe, so thank thank thank you.
Hi Madge, that’s fantastic! Thanks so much for your lovely comment. 🙂 xx
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this recipe! Every Friday I make soup for the homeless and this is by far the most popular choice. It’s so easy to make and very nutritious
Hi Mandi! 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment. Glad you and the people you serve (good on you!) love this recipe. xx
Hi Jo, just wondering if there is a conventional cooking method to this recipe as I don’t have a thermomix? I’m sure it’s somewhere and I’ve just overlooked it🤪
Hi Cathy! No conventional method written – you would basically need a very high powered blender to mill the rice and almonds and then proceed with the recipe cooking it in a pot on the stove instead of in the Thermomix. 🙂
Such a tasty soup. I made it with water as I didn’t have stock/stock paste. Just added a few pepper corns, a bay leaf and a cinnamon stick and used dry roasted cashews instead of almonds. Yum. Thank you. 5 stars.
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Your variations sound delicious! xx
Im new to thermomix cooking & this is my first cooking experiance have this soup cooking now OMG smells wonderful.
We love this soup so much and it’s really so easy – every batch is gone in a flash as we can happily eat it any time of the day. My fiancé is allergic to almonds so we use cashews instead. Thanks Jo!
You’re so welcome!! xx
Does anyone know approx how many carbs and kj per serve please? We love it but hubby has been diagnosed diabetic so we’re trying to track carbs and energy
Sorry I don’t know, but maybe there’s an online calculator you could use?