Canned chicken noodle soup was the meal my mom warmed up for us on sick days while she balanced getting us well (read: back to school) with getting work done at home. Chicken and rice soup, however, was made from scratch and an all-day affair we savored.

Chicken and rice soup is just the sort of thrifty luxury we should all master in the kitchen. A whole chicken is simmered to both make the rich broth and for the tender chicken it yields. The rest of the soup is built on the bits and bobs you probably have in the kitchen right now: a few banged-up carrots, some limp celery, a partial bag of rice. The resulting soup is nourishing, full of chicken, tender vegetables, and rice that creates a creamy thickness without any cream.

My mom knew what she was doing: Save the chicken noodle soup for sick days and make this chicken and rice soup whenever you need to taste home in a bowl.

Chicken and Rice Soup, a Homemade Luxury

Consider the canon of chicken soups around the globe and throughout history and you'll often find that recipes start with simmering a whole hen or chicken in water to create the broth. This was both to the benefit of the chicken and the soup. Modern chickens are tender, but this was not always the case, and boxed broth certainly wasn't an option when my grandmother was making this soup.

Stewing (not boiling!) the chicken makes for an incredibly tender chicken and a rich, flavorful broth with fat and collagen from the chicken enriching the water. You'd feel restored from the broth alone, but this broth does take time, over an hour of simmering, which makes it a luxury in the modern kitchen where time is a commodity. With that being the case, this is a wonderful recipe to make when you'll be in the house to tend to the pot.

Key Steps for Luxe Chicken and Rice Soup

• Cover the chicken in the pot. You're going to set your seasoned chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven and then cover it with water — this prevents adding too much water but guarantees the chicken is covered.
• Simmer the vegetables with the chicken. After the chicken and water come to a simmer, add the vegetables. This will make for an incredibly flavorful broth but also super-soft vegetables — a quality that adds to the nourishing aspect of this soup. If you prefer crisper vegetables, simply add them about halfway through the chicken's cook time.
• Cook the rice in the broth later. Once tender, you'll remove the whole chicken from the pot and add the rice. While the rice simmers, shred the chicken and return to the pot when the rice is cooked.

Serving and Storing Chicken and Rice Soup

When the rice is tender and the chicken is shredded, be sure to taste the broth and add any additional salt and pepper. Fish out the bay leaves and return the shredded chicken to the pot before serving. Serve the soup in deep bowls, preferably at a table filled with friends or family.

The leftover soup can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, but can be frozen for several months.