Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ronda L. Halpin

I love Tex-Mex, but I'll be honest and say I don't always have time for hand-rolling enchiladas or slow-simmering complex sauces. So I save those kinds of recipes for weekends or a rainy day and focus on soups that adopt my favorite flavors without require quite as much effort for my busy weeknights. This time around, I'm sharing a creamy chicken enchilada soup that uses a combination of convenience foods and fresh vegetables to get dinner on the table quickly, while satisfying taste buds and even keeping things fairly healthy.

So grab a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, a couple cans of beans, some tomato paste, frozen corn, and shredded chicken (you still have some from that Costco rotisserie chicken, right?). But don't stop there - you are also gonna want a basket of veggies: onion, celery, carrot, pepper, and garlic. Give yourself a half hour and you'll be sitting down to a fantastic bowl of delicious. Top it however you want -- you can even add tortilla chips if you want.

This is a meal on its own, especially if you are adding lots of toppings, so I just keep it simple and have soup for supper. If you really want something else, make a batch of corn muffins with diced chilis mixed in. Yum!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

  • 1 T. butter
  • 1 onion, diced
  • ½ c. chopped celery
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 T. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 - 15 oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
  • ¼ c. tomato paste
  • 4 c. chicken broth
  • 1 - 14.5 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed
  • 1 - 14.5 oz. can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 c. frozen sweet corn
  • 2 c. shredded cooked chicken
  • 1 c. Mexican shredded cheese blend
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic; cook until they soften, about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender.

Remove the stockpot from the heat and, using a hand blender, blend the soup until the desired consistency has been reached. Place the soup back over medium heat and add the beans, corn, and shredded cooked chicken.

Stir to combine and simmer for a couple of minutes to heat it through. Serve topped with shredded cheese and any other toppings you want - I used sliced black olives, but diced avocado, chopped tomato, and a dollop of sour cream are all nice as well.

  • Yields: 6 servings
  • Preparation Time: 30 minutes

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