Are you looking for something flavorful, super saucy, yet simple to make? Our chicken enchilada soup might just be for you. We’re throwing together enchilada ingredients you love to make a spicy, flavorful soup.
How Good Is Enchilada Soup?
Chicken enchiladas are chewy and tasty and all, but they do take quite a while to prepare. Well, if it’s just the taste of it that you crave, this soup is the perfect thing to make. It takes 10-15 minutes less to make than a typical chicken enchiladas, and basically has it all.
In the tomato broth, we have garlic, onion, chicken, beans, and corn all properly cooked. That means before the broth is added, we make sure to let them heat to the point they’re charred to give them more flavor. To season the broth, except for the salt, we do not hold back on seasonings: there are cumin, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and many more. We even add a dollop of tomato paste in there, to deepen the tomato-y flavor we all know and love.
All is topped with fresh herbs, shredded cheddar, and sour cream, just like how the classic enchiladas are enjoyed.
How Healthy Is This Enchilada Soup?
With less salt and cheese than many recipes, our soup is lower in sodium and saturated fat. One portion contains 530 mg sodium, 10 g saturated fat, and around 450 calories. It’s still pretty tasty and fulfilling, in our opinion.
Apart from that, the soup also has certain health benefits:
- It has 38.4 g protein per serving coming from the beans and lean chicken breasts.
- There’s 21.4 g carbohydrates from corn and beans, all of which are non-refined.
- Corn and beans contain some fiber to aid digestion and promote satiety.
- All ingredients combined provide B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, etc.
Ingredients for This Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Chicken breasts: skinless, boneless. You can also use chicken thighs.
- Kidney bean and corn: canned. Give them a quick rinse to remove the salt before using.
- Onions and garlic: and some butter to cook them.
- Tomato sauce: unsalted. We couldn’t find any locally, so we made it ourselves in advance. It’s already pretty good, but for this recipe, we add some tomato paste as well to amplify the tomato flavor.
- Spices and seasonings: garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cinnamon, mustard, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Mustard isn’t typically used, but it adds plenty of savoriness.
- Cheese: cheddar and cream cheese.
- Broth: chicken broth.
- Herbs: fresh cilantro or parsley.
- Lime juice: to your preference.
Store and Reheat
The enchilada soup stores and reheats more easily than the classic enchiladas:
- Divide the soup into portions, and store each portion in an airtight container. It can be a glass container or a sealable bag.
- Place the containers into your fridge or freezer. Keep refrigerated for four days only, or frozen for up to three months.
- Transfer the portion(s) to a pot for reheating. Turn the heat to medium, wait until it simmers, then transfer it into serving bowl(s). Enjoy.
How to Make Chicken Enchilada Soup
This chicken enchilada soup recipe takes just 30 minutes to give you a flavorful, wholesome soup for four people. It's as flavorful as the real-deal enchiladas.
- cook TIME 25 mins
- prep TIME 5 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Mexican
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 449 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 19 ozskinless boneless chicken breast (cut into chunks)
- 4 ozunsalted dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 4 ozcanned corn (drained and rinsed)
- 4 ozonion (chopped)
- 1 tbspgarlic (chopped)
- 2 cupsunsalted chicken broth
- 0.5 cuphomemade tomato sauce
- 2 tbspunsalted butter
- 1 tbspolive oil
- 1 tbspall-purpose flour
- 1 tbsplime juice
- 1 tbspHunt’s tomato paste
- 1 tspcayenne
- 1 tsppaprika
- 1 tsptraditional Dijon mustard
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
- 0.5 tspsalt
- 0.5 tspcumin
- 0.5 tspchili powder
- 0.5 tspgarlic powder
- 0.5 tsponion powder
- 0.3 tspcinnamon
- 2 ozcream cheese
- 1 ozcheddar cheese (shredded)
- 0.3 cupcilantro (chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep:
Cut the chicken into 2” chunks.
Drain and rinse 4 oz corn.
Drain and rinse 4 oz kidney beans.
Peel and mince the garlic: Cut to remove the root of each garlic clove and mash them down with a knife to remove the peel with ease. Mince the peeled cloves.
Chop the onion: Halve the onion lengthwise and peel the skin. Make vertical slices 1/4" apart from each other towards the root, but leave about 1/4" so they're still intact. Turn the half 90 degrees, and grip the root. From the bottom, make horizontal cuts 1/4" apart from each other into the onion, also leaving 1/4" to keep everything intact. Slice the onion to create even cubes.
Shred 1 oz cheddar cheese.
Chop 1/4 cup cilantro.
Cook:
Cook the aromatics: In a pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 4 oz onion, and 1 tbsp garlic. Turn the heat to medium and stir for 2 minutes.
Cook the chicken: Add 19 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast and stir to cook for 5 minutes or until the meat looks cooked on all sides.
Add the seasonings: Add 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp traditional Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Stir to combine.
Add the liquids: Add 2 cups unsalted chicken broth, 1/2 cup homemade tomato sauce, 1 tbsp Hunt’s tomato paste, and 1 tbsp lime juice. Stir to combine and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
Shred the chicken: Transfer the chicken chunks to a large bowl, and shred them with two forks.
Add corn and beans: Add the chicken back to the pot along with 4 oz kidney beans and 4 oz corn. Stir to combine.
Add cream cheese: Stir in 2 oz cream cheese until it melts into the broth, then turn off the heat.
Serve: Just before serving, sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro on top. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with 1 oz cheddar and more lime juice (to your desire).
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Founder
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer