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To make this 1-Pot Healthiest Congee Recipe, we create an anti-inflammatory version of the recipe, with just 6 ingredients — without eggs or other optional ingredients that can be inflammatory, and with chicken. The recipe turns out delicious, nourishing and very comforting in flavor and texture. Instead of garnishing with green onions, we garnish with optional fresh cilantro.
Optional also: Personally, I like to use white corn as one traditional veggie add-in. You may omit or choose another veggie if corn does not agree with you. (I give some examples of alternatives in the text below.)
We end up with an amazingly healthy and satisfying breakfast, (lunch or dinner), borrowed from other cultures’ knowledge and tradition that a savory breakfast with all the macronutrients is the best way to start the day (or end it).
This recipe can be made on the Stove top, or in an Instant Pot. It’s Gluten-free, Ancestral and VAD (LVA).
Jump to Recipe
Troubleshooting thick congee
Congee can be served thinner and brothier, or thicker. Because most people prefer thicker congee, that’s what we’re making here, but you can omit one ingredient if you want yours more soup-like — which is great when you’re sick or want a more intense brothy congee.
Before we start this recipe, I want to tell you that a lot of people struggle with succeeding at this deceptively simple recipe … So, I’ve made this recipe faster and easier so you can’t “mess up”. (I have never said this before, but I’m going to say it once: “You’re welcome”. LOL)
Most recipes do not tell you the stumbling blocks or how to fix thin congee; they just let you make the common mistakes and then be disappointed.
Most recipes simply instruct you to do a long cooking time with some unspoken methods along the way, thus thickening the congee base. This can take an hour or more, and requires some guesswork or experience — not ideal for the modern cook (who wants authentic results and needs insights).
Tricks for making thick congee
Native congee home cooks in Hong Kong and China have a variety of methods to make thick congee: They use broken rice, very high heat to break the rice down and open it up, and even frozen rice (which works great! you can try it with this recipe if you plan ahead); they soak it overnight; they even squeeze the cooked rice to make it silkier. Lastly, they add rice flour or cornstarch at the end to thicken it.
Guess what? — We’re going to do that last trick, with rice flour. Adding a small amount of rice flour at the end could be considered cheating, or it could be considered shrewd and efficient.
Ingredients in Healthiest Congee Recipe
- brown rice — I believe brown rice is healthier overall, but I couldn’t always tolerate it. If you prefer white rice, that variation is included in the main Recipe card below.
- water — We don’t use stock or broth because the chicken cooked in lightly salted water creates stock. This makes the recipe more affordable.
- chicken — Boneless skinless thighs, or use any cuts, with bones or without — whatever you prefer; just increase the overall pounds to account for the bones’ weight if you use bone-in.
- good salt
- fresh ginger root — Very traditional, easy to add, and delicious.
- rice flour (white or brown, optional) — This is your “secret” ingredient at the end for thickening, so your congee is exactly the thickness you like. If you’d rather not use rice flour, (first remove the meat so it doesn’t overcook), and then keep simmering the rice and stock for an extra 30 minutes.
Optional ingredients
- corn — Frozen works great, white for VAD.
- fresh cilantro — Garnish the top of soup bowls, but it’s also great chopped and stirred in before serving.
- flavorful concentrated pan drippings — Leftover from cooking chicken or similar (this looks and tastes like concentrated broth, and it often gels when chilled. If you keep yours after roasting chicken, put a spoonful on top of your hot served congee [it will melt and get stirred in], then top with fresh cilantro, if using). If you have stuck-on pan drippings, add some water to the hot pan, and let the drippings soften for 30 minutes or so, then scrape it all into a mason jar for adding to recipes.
Alternatives to corn
If you can’t eat corn, omit completely, or replace it with another anti-inflammatory veggie from this list.
Options include: bamboo shoots, asparagus, a cooked bean (such as red beans), peeled diced zucchini or sliced mushrooms (not shiitaki). Chop small any veggie you use. Bamboo shoots and cooked beans can be added when the corn gets added. Most other veggies will need to be quickly precooked with a quick steam, blanch or sauté. Mushrooms can be added with the chicken, as the longer cooking time will not harm their texture.
What makes this Congee the healthiest recipe
Many “authentic” congee recipes use modern ingredients that are not natural. Examples include bouillon, oyster sauce and vegetable oil. Of course, soy sauce is estrogenic, and it’s often used, too.
We omit these favorites, and replace them with great core ingredients so we don’t need to add the unnatural “flavor” that some palates require and demand.
Most recipes also use white rice, and while this is a good choice if you personally digest it better, once you can digest brown rice (despite what I used to think), I now believe brown rice is healthier, as you get the whole grain fiber, and no blood sugar spike; plus white rice depletes thiamine (Vitamin B1), and most people are already deficient.
I’ve also excluded other optional ingredients that can be inflammatory: green onions, eggs, fish sauce, pork, shrimp, garlic or shallots, peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, chili oil and sesame oil.
We keep this recipe simple and remember that balance is best. Simple, made well, is wonderful. We don’t need to eat like hedonists, because when we do, we usually end up paying for it later … As some of us have learned the hard way.
How to make this Healthiest Congee
Below I first give directions for making Healthiest Congee on the stove top. Following those instructions, I share the IP directions.
The stove top method is slightly faster because of the time it takes for the IP to pressurize. The stove top method is not a dump and cook recipe, but it still has only a few steps. Overall, this is an easy recipe.
The rice flour gets added at the final stage to thicken the base. This shortens the overall cooking time and makes the whole recipe easier and more delicious — no-fuss perfection.
Stove Top:
- Place water, rice, ginger and 2 teaspoons salt into large stock pot or heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat, but immediately turn heat to lowest setting that still allows a slow simmer when covered, and cover. Set timer for 35 minutes.
- When timer sounds, stir rice, then add chicken to simmering pot. Turn the heat to High just briefly as you stir it in: Make sure all the chicken is covered or mostly covered, and that all the rice is fully in the water. Cover again, and return heat to prior lowest setting. Set timer for 15 minutes.
- When timer sounds, remove lid, and whisk the stock on one side of the cooking pot — as you fan the rice flour in: over and through the whisk. (Choose more or less flour based on how thick you want your finished congee.) Turn up heat to bring stock to a simmer, and stir gently. Simmer just 1 to 2 minutes, during which time the base will thicken.
- Remove pot from heat, add and stir in frozen corn if using, and allow to sit covered 20 minutes, undisturbed. Ideally, move it to a burner with the Warm setting on.
- Carefully remove pot lid, then use tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Cut into bite-size pieces. Return chicken to pot, and give it all a good stir.
- Serve, topped with optional fresh cilantro.
Instant Pot:
The Instant Pot method is even a little easier because it’s a dump-and-cook recipe with fewer steps.
- Place water, chicken, rice, ginger and 2 teaspoons salt into insert. Attach lid. Choose Multigrain or High Pressure Manual Setting, and adjust setting to 23 minutes. When timer sounds, allow a 20-minute Natural Pressure Release, then do a QPR.
- Use tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Press Sauté button. Whisk stock while you fan in the rice flour over the whisk, so it stirs in evenly. As stock begins to simmer, continue to whisk. When it’s fully simmering, press the Cancel button. The heat under the insert will cause the rice and stock to simmer an additional few minutes. Cover until it’s done simmering.
- Add frozen corn (or other veggie), if using, and stir it in. Press Keep Warm button, and cover. Let it sit for 20 minutes to thicken.
- While Congee thickens, cut chicken into bite-size pieces, or use two forks to shred into longer pieces, whichever you prefer. Return chicken to pot, and give it all a good stir.
- Serve, topped with optional fresh cilantro.
Healthiest Congee Recipe (Anti-inflammatory, GF, 6 Ingredients, 1-Pot)
Equipment
- medium size soup pot or Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown rice (preferably short grain) rinsed briefly (Okay to use 1-¼ cups white rice if it agrees with you better.)
- 5 cups water -- We don't use stock or broth because the chicken cooked in lightly salted water creates stock. This also saves money.
- 2 lbs chicken boneless skinless thighs, or use any cuts, with bones or without -- whatever you prefer; just increase the overall pounds to account for the bones' weight if you use bone-in
- 2 teaspoons good salt plus 1 more teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1 nub ginger peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 to 5 Tablespoons rice flour white or brown, amount of flour depends on how thick you want it
- Optional: 1 cup corn frozen white
- Optional: ½ cup cilantro roughly chopped, serve on top, or stir it in
- Optional for garnish: ¼ cup flavorful concentrated drippings leftover from cooking chicken or similar This looks and tastes like concentrated broth, and it often gels when chilled. If you keep yours after roasting chicken, put a spoonful on top of your hot served congee (it will melt), then top with fresh cilantro, if using.
Instructions
Stove Top
- Place water, rice, ginger and 2 teaspoons salt into large stock pot or heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, but immediately turn heat to lowest setting that still allows a slow simmer when covered, and cover. Set timer for 35 minutes. (If your mixture is boiling, not slow simmering, water will evaporate, and you'll need to add more. This can happen with older stoves that don't have a low setting, and/or with pot lids that let out too much steam.)
- When timer sounds, stir rice, then add chicken to simmering pot. Turn the heat to High just briefly as you stir it in: Make sure all the chicken is covered or mostly covered, and that all the rice is fully in the water. Cover again, and return heat to prior lowest setting. Set timer for 15 minutes.
- When timer sounds, remove lid, and whisk the stock on one side of the cooking pot -- as you fan the rice flour in: over and through the whisk. (Choose more or less flour based on how thick you want your finished congee.) Turn up heat to bring stock to a simmer, and stir gently. Simmer just 1 to 2 minutes, during which time the base will thicken.
- Remove pot from heat, add and stir in frozen corn if using, and allow to sit covered 20 minutes, undisturbed. Ideally, move it to a burner with the Warm setting on.
- Carefully remove pot lid, then use tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Cut into bite-size pieces. Return chicken to pot, and give it all a good stir. Taste, and add additional 1 teaspoon salt if desired.
- Serve, topped with optional fresh cilantro. (The longer congee sits, the thicker it will get.)
Instant Pot:
- Place water, chicken, rice, ginger and 2 teaspoons salt into insert. Attach lid. Choose Multigrain or High Pressure Manual Setting, and adjust setting to 23 minutes. When timer sounds, allow a 20-minute Natural Pressure Release, then do a QPR. (Photo shows pot before cooking.)
- Use tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Press Sauté button. Whisk stock while you fan in the rice flour over the whisk, so it stirs in evenly. As stock begins to simmer, continue to whisk. When it's fully simmering, press the Cancel button. The heat under the insert will cause the rice and stock to simmer an additional few minutes. Cover until it's done simmering.
- Add frozen corn (or other veggie), if using, and stir it in. Press Keep Warm button, and cover. Let it sit for 20 minutes to thicken.
- While Congee thickens, cut chicken into bite-size pieces, or use two forks to shred into longer pieces, whichever you prefer. Return chicken to pot, and give it all a good stir. Taste, and add additional 1 teaspoon salt if desired.
- Serve, topped with optional fresh cilantro. (The longer congee sits, the thicker it will get.)
- Shown here in reheated congee leftovers: You may also stir as much chopped fresh cilantro as you like into the soup before serving, which I do, and my family loves it. You can really taste it, (as you taste the bites with sliced ginger). And it's pretty.
Notes
How to store and reheat Congee
Healthiest Congee keeps well in the fridge, covered, for 3 days. To reheat, warm gently over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.Nutrition
You may also like: 12 Best Paleo Soups & Stews
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Darcy Danielson says
The Instant Pot version that made turned out great. I used a rice I found in bulk at the local food co-op: Sprouted medium grain brown rice. Stirred in some organic garlic granules before serving and used the cilantro garnish. Thanks for the great recipe. It’s brilliant to know we don’t necessarily need to use chicken stock or broth for chicken congee.
Megan says
Great to hear, Darcy!! So glad you enjoyed, and I agree that not using broth is such a great money saver and helpful overall! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your details and results!