Amish Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup

This Amish creamy vegetable rice soup is a pot of onion, carrots, celery, corn and peas in a light, buttery cream base, with long grain white rice to make it filling enough for supper. It takes 50 minutes from start to finish and makes 8 servings, so it fits a family weeknight or a pot to share.

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Everything happens in one pot. The only knife work is dicing an onion, two carrots and two celery ribs, and the corn and peas go in straight from the freezer.

What goes into the pot

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup long grain white rice
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Try to dice the onion, carrots and celery to roughly the same size. Pieces that match cook through in the same 7 minutes, and every spoonful gets a little of each.

Two things that keep a creamy vegetable rice soup smooth

The soup gets its body from a simple roux: butter and flour cooked together, then thinned with broth. There is no cream in it, only milk, so how you handle those two steps decides whether the broth turns silky or lumpy and grainy.

Give the flour its full minute

When the flour hits the buttery vegetables, stir it for 1 minute before any liquid goes in. That minute coats each grain of flour in fat and takes away the raw, pasty taste. Then add the broth slowly while you whisk. Pouring all 6 cups in at once is how you end up chasing floury lumps around the pot. A slow stream lets the flour loosen evenly, and the broth thickens a little more as it heats.

Keep the milk below a boil

The milk goes in last, with the salt and pepper, and the soup only needs to heat until it is steaming. If it bubbles hard after the milk is added, the dairy can separate and leave small grainy flecks in the broth. Watch for steam rising off the surface and small movements at the edge of the pot, then turn the heat off. It will still be plenty hot to serve.

How to make it

• Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in the pot. Add the diced onion, carrots and celery and cook for 7 minutes, stirring now and then. The onion should look soft and see-through, and the carrots should start to give a little when pressed with a spoon.
• Sprinkle in the 1/3 cup flour and stir for 1 minute so it coats the vegetables. Then slowly whisk in the 6 cups of chicken broth until no dry flour remains.
• Add the 3/4 cup long grain white rice. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 18 minutes. Stir once or twice so the rice does not settle and stick to the bottom.
• Add the 1 cup frozen corn and 1 cup frozen peas and simmer for 5 minutes. They go in frozen, and the hot broth thaws and cooks them in that time while the peas stay bright green.
• Stir in the 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Heat until the soup is steaming, without letting it boil, then ladle into bowls.

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Serving it and the next-day pot

With rice and vegetables in every bowl, this soup holds up as a supper on its own. The batch makes 8 servings, which is enough for a family meal with bowls left over for lunch.

Expect the leftovers to look different. The rice keeps soaking up broth after the heat is off, so by the next day the soup is much thicker and the rice is softer. That is normal. When you reheat it, add a splash more milk and warm it gently, stirring, until it loosens back into a spoonable soup. Keep the same rule as the first time and let it steam rather than boil.

Taste before serving the second time, too. Thinning it with milk can soften the seasoning a little, and a pinch more salt or pepper brings it back.

If your family likes a creamy soup for supper, try our crockpot potato soup or the creamy chicken Parmesan soup , and for more Amish-style comfort food there are slow cooker Amish chicken and noodles and a 4-ingredient Amish beef casserole .

A few more questions

Do the corn and peas need to be thawed first?

No. The recipe adds them frozen. The 5 minute simmer is enough to heat them through, and it also keeps the peas from turning dull and soft.

Why does the pot need a lid while the rice cooks?

Covering the pot during the 18 minute simmer keeps the broth from cooking off. The rice needs that liquid to cook through, and you still want plenty left over to make a soup instead of a thick porridge.

Is this soup vegetarian?

As written, no. It is built on 6 cups of chicken broth, which gives the base its savory flavor even though there is no meat in the pot.

My soup thickened up overnight. Did something go wrong?

Nothing went wrong. Long grain white rice keeps drinking up liquid as it sits. A splash of milk while reheating thins it back out.

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Written and edited by The Foodie Yummy Kitchen Team

The Foodie Yummy Kitchen Team writes and edits the recipes on Foodie Yummy: classic American potluck salads, holiday sides and easy comfort food, with a few low-carb options. Every recipe lists exact quantities, numbered steps and a printable recipe card, plus notes on swaps, storage and make-ahead timing. Spot a problem with a recipe? Tell us through the contact page and we will correct it. About us