Vietnamese Chicken Rice Porridge (Cháo Gà)
Move over, chicken noodle soup — chicken rice porridge has my heart, and I’m not sorry about it. Cháo Gà, a classic Vietnamese chicken and rice porridge, is my go-to for cozy weeknight dinners or when you’re feeling under the weather. It’s like a warm, comforting hug in a bowl, loaded with shredded chicken, white rice, and fragrant aromatics. Not only is it healthy and healing, but it’s also quick and cost-effective to whip up! This version has a few shortcuts to save you time and dishes, plus it’s made with bone broth for an extra protein boost — because gains don’t happen by themselves!
ingredients
4 cups of leftover jasmine rice
32oz of chicken bone broth
32oz of water (equal parts of bone broth)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 stalk of green onions, sliced, separate white parts from green parts
2-inch ginger, sliced or minced
2 garlic cloves, diced
4 tbsp of fish sauce
Cilantro, chopped
Black pepper
Optional
Hard-boiled egg
Lime
Hot sauce, I prefer sambal chile paste
Bean sprouts
Roughly 4 servings
instructions
In a large saucepan, cook the chicken breasts. I prefer a steam method and cut them in half to speed up the cooking time (~10 minutes). This would also be a great time to boil your egg if you’d like.
While the chicken is cooking, add the white parts of the green onion, ginger, and garlic to a medium/large pot. Cook for a few minutes until aromatic.
Add bone broth, water, and rice and cook until desired consistency. I prefer it soupy but on the thicker side, so this takes around 30 minutes to cook and for the rice to absorb the liquid.
Season with fish sauce, and black pepper and stir.
When ready to serve, pour porridge into an empty bowl and top with shredded chicken, cilantro, green parts of green onion, more black pepper, and additional toppings like a hard-boiled egg, hot sauce, lime, and crispy shallots.
Notes:
If you don’t have leftover rice, you can add washed/cleaned rice. You’ll just need to cook it longer.
Adding any vegetables cooked your way would be great! I’d recommend mushrooms and/or boy chok on top.