Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
Chicken Enchilada Soup has all of the flavor you love in the classic enchilada! It’s so easy to make, comforting as can be, and bursting with bold enchilada flavor. Top it off with sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheese to really send it over the top!
If you’re looking for more easy and light soups, don’t miss our Chicken Tortilla Soup and Chicken Gnocchi Soup!
Table of Contents
We’re in the thick of comfort food season, so I thought there would be no better time to re-introduce my favorite soup! Chicken Enchilada Soup is so hearty and filling while also being bold and flavorful. It checks all of the right boxes when it comes to classic comfort food requirements. If you love the flavors of classic, cheesy, slightly spicy chicken enchiladas, you’ll love all that this easy to make soup has to offer.
And when I say easy to make, I definitely mean it! While this soup is made from scratch, all of the steps are clear, concise, and simple enough for even the most novice of home cooks to follow along with ease. You start off by making a very easy broth, then just toss in the remaining ingredients to complete the soup itself. It’s a one-pot recipe that you’ll be happy to serve and say “yes, I made this from scratch!” After all, with a soup this good, why not brag a little bit?
While my favorite toppings include sour cream and shredded cheese, there are so many more ways you can garnish your bowl. This protein-packed soup is so very versatile! Add some freshness and spice with sliced jalapeños or a salty crunch with tortilla strips. Or, if you’re satisfied with the soup itself (and I have a feeling you will be), you can always enjoy a flavorful bowl without any garnishes at all.
Ingredient Notes
Olive Oil – You can use another neutral oil like avocado oil instead if preferred.
Yellow Onion – In a pinch, you can substitute a white onion.
Chicken Breasts – you can use boneless and skinless or use bone-in and skin on but discard the skin and bone after cooking the chicken. You can also use chicken thigh meat if proffered.
Tomatoes – use tomatoes on the vine, heirloom tomatoes, or any other large and flavorful tomatoes.
Garlic – Be sure to use fresh cloves for the best flavor!
Chili pepper in adobo sauce – make sure to use just one average sized chili pepper in adobo sauce. It can add bitterness to the soup rather than spice if you use too much. So if you want to add extra spice to the soup, use either fresh chili pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Spices – You’ll need a bold medley of ancho chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, white granulated sugar and dried oregano for this soup. They all blend together to create the most mouthwatering signature enchilada flavor!
Heavy Whipping Cream – This is what gives the soup such a creamy consistency. (If you need to keep it lactose free, use lactose free half and half and some lactose free sour cream. There are some plant-based whipping cream options if needed, check your grocery stores.)
Cilantro – for the best flavor, use fresh cilantro.
Lime Juice – Freshly squeezed lime juice is always preferred for the best flavor.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Enchilada Soup
Make the broth: Add some oil to a Dutch oven or soup pot. Sauté the onions until fragrant (1) and add in the bay leaf, water, and salt (2). Add in water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
Score the tomatoes by making a crisscross cut at the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and let them cook for just under a minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove the tomatoes and set them aside (3).
Add the chicken breasts to the pot (4). Lower the heat to low and let them cook for about an hour and a half. Note that a white foam will appear at the top when the meat is first added – just remove it with a spoon and discard.
Shred the chicken and sauté the veggies: Remove the cooked chicken from the broth and place the breasts in a bowl. Shred them with two forks (or chop them when cooled if you with).
Pour the broth through a strainer. Discard the cooked onions and bay leaf. Return the pot to your stove-top and increase the heat to medium. Add the oil.
Sauté the onions until golden (5), then add the diced tomatoes and diced chili in adobo sauce (6) and cook until softened. Make a well in the middle of the pot and add the garlic. Sauté until fragrant.
Add the final ingredients. Stir in the shredded chicken (7), broth (8), tomato paste and seasonings (9). Stir well and bring to a simmer.
Lower the heat so the simmer becomes slow and gentle. Cook for about 15 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. After cooking for a few moments, stir in the heavy cream (10) and allow it to heat through before taking the pot off of the heat.
Toppings Good for Enchilada Soup
Here are just a few of my favorite garnishes for this soup!
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheese
- Tortilla strips
- Green onions
- Sliced jalapeños
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Make sure to store leftover soup in an airtight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, Enchilada Soup should be good for up to 3 days.
Freezing Instructions:
You can also easily freeze this soup, but do so without the heavy cream. If you plan to freeze the soup, make it up to the step of adding the cream, then take the pot off of the heat. It’s important to cool the soup before freezing and it’s best to cool it quickly.
To help speed up the cooling process, place the pot of soup into an ice bath and stir from time to time as it cools.
Once the soup has fully cooled to room temperature, you can transfer it into a large freezer zip-top bag or a freezer storage container with an airtight lid. Make sure to get as much air out as you can, seal, label, and freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw, do so slowly in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Transfer the thawed soup into a pot and heat it up. Once heated, you can finish it with the cream, cilantro, and lime juice as instructed in the recipe.
Recipe FAQs
There are a few great things you can serve with enchilada soup like:
Salads: try Southwest Salad, Taco Salad, or a Burrito Bowl served over lettuce rather than rice.
Breads: Buttermilk Biscuits, Buttermilk Cornbread, or Jalapeno Cornbread.
Sides: Mexican Street Corn Salad, Black Bean and Corn Salad, Spanish rice or Cauliflower Rice.
If you prefer your soups more thick rather than brothy, you can thicken it by simply adding some flour. Depending on how think you’d like it, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour to the veggies in the pot after they’ve softened (right between steps 4 and 5). Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and mix well until veggies are coated. Slowly pour in the chicken stock ad you stir. Once combined, add in the shredded chicken and seasoning. Keep stirring until the soup starts to thicken.
This soup is pretty mild but if you wish, it’s pretty easy to adjust spice level. To make it more spicy, you can add another 1/2-1 teaspoons of chili powder and/or, add fresh chili peppers with or without the seeds. Remember that chili peppers store most of their spice in the seeds and membrane.
To make the soup less spicy, start with 1/2 tsp of chili powder and the chipotle pepper. Once you’ve added the seasoning and stirred, taste it to see if you want to add a little more chili powder.
Some More Enchilada Recipes To Try
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Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe
Ingredients
For The Broth:
- 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion sliced
- 1.25-1.5 lbs chicken breasts
- 6-7 cups water
- 1 whole bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt
Chicken Enchilada Soup:
- 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion diced
- 0.75 lb large tomatoes skin peeled off, diced
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 3 garlic cloves crushed and minced
- shredded chicken breasts from above
- 4-5 cups chicken stock from above
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp ancho chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp white granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
- 1/2 lime – juice only
Optional Toppings:
- shredded cheese
- sour Cream
- toasted tortilla strips
- chopped green onions
Instructions
Chicken Broth and Tomatoes:
- Preheat a large Dutch oven or a soup pot over medium heat as add oil. Add sliced onions and sauté for a couple of minutes, until fragrant.
- Add water, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to boil and you can scald the tomatoes at this point, to make it easier to peel the skin off. Do that before adding the chicken. To scald the tomatoes: Make a crisscross cut at the bottom of each tomato, just enough to slice the skin. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water and let them boil for just about 45 seconds. You will see that the skin will start to come off. Take the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and set the aside.
- Add chicken breasts to the pot, lower the heat to almost low and cook the broth for about 1 1/2 hours. (White foam-like substance will appear at the top, in the beginning, just take it off with a spoon and discard.)
Chicken Enchilada Soup:
- Take the chicken breast out of the pot, place them into a bowl, and shred using two forks (you can also dice shredded chicken for a smaller, bite-sized pieces). Set aside.
- Pour the broth through a strainer and discard the cooked onions and bay leaf.
- Return the pot to the heat, set the heat to medium, and add some oil.
- Add diced onions to the pot and sauté until starts to golden. Add diced tomatoes and diced chili pepper and cook until starts to soften. Make a little well in the middle of the veggies and add minced garlic. Sauté until fragrant.
- Add shredded chicken chicken and mix. Stir in the broth, tomato paste, and seasoning. Stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Lower the heat so the soup is cooking on a slow and gentle simmer and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
- Add the lime juice and freshly minced cilantro and cook for a few seconds. Add in heavy whipping cream, let it heat through, and take off heat.
- Top each serving bowl of soup with any of your favorite toppings.
Notes
- Want to thicken the soup? If you prefer your soups more thick rather than brothy, you can thicken it by simply adding some flour. Depending on how think you’d like it, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour to the veggies in the pot after they’ve softened (right between steps 4 and 5). Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and mix well until veggies are coated. Slowly pour in the chicken stock ad you stir. Once combined, add in the shredded chicken and seasoning. Keep stirring until the soup starts to thicken.
- Make it spicier? This soup is pretty mild but if you wish, it’s pretty easy to adjust spice level. To make it more spicy, you can add another 1/2-1 teaspoons of chili powder and/or, add a fresh chili pepper with or without the seeds. Remember that chili peppers store most of their spice in the seeds and membrane.
Nutrition
Originally posted on Will Cook For Smiles on January 2, 2014.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
The Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup is delicious! Easy to make (I used left over rotisserie chicken), and my family loved it. I’m looking forward to trying your other recipes.
Thanks.
Thank you, Susan! I’m happy to hear that 🙂 Enjoy!