This easy chicken enchilada soup is made with cooked vegetables, shredded meat, cheese, and enchilada sauce. Enjoy the flavor of regular enchiladas in tasty soup form.
Classic enchiladas are a Mexican dish consisting of corn tortillas wrapped around a meat/veggie filling and covered in a savory sauce. In this creamy chicken enchilada soup recipe, the deliciousness of chicken enchiladas is transformed into a soup — one that is easy, filling, and flavorful.
Hot tip: If you’d like a vegetarian enchilada soup, swap the chicken out with beans and use veggie broth instead of chicken broth.
Chicken Enchilada Soup Video
How To Make Chicken Enchilada Soup
What’s the hardest part of chicken enchilada soup? It’s not making the soup — that’s for sure! Cook the veggies, pour in the liquid ingredients and chicken, and you’re virtually done.
- Cook the veggies: Melt the butter in a large pot or large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté the diced onion and bell pepper until they’re soft (5-8 minutes).
- Cook Chicken: Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute until fragrant. Then, pour in the red enchilada sauce and broth. Add chicken and simmer until its fully cooked. Remove from the pot, cut into pieces.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients: Add chicken back to the soup, along with the black beans, corn, and salt. Allow the soup to gently boil.
- Toss in the Cheese: Add the cheese and stir until it melts. Enjoy!
Hot tip: Garnish the soup with toppings to make your dinner extra flavorful. Top the soup with fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, avocado slices, sour cream, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, diced green chiles, and/or lime wedges.
Extra Tips for the Best Tasting Soup
Beyond following the three simple steps to the recipe, here are a few small tips to follow to ensure your soup tastes its best.
- Sprinkle in more seasonings: If you feel that the soup tastes bland, add in your favorite spices like chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, ground cumin, and oregano.
- Swap the beans: Feel free to substitute the canned black beans with kidney or Pinto beans. Or, use a combination of all three!
- Substitute the cheese: We love using Mexican cheese, but Monterey Jack cheese works well, too. Both of these cheese are often used in Tex-Mex cuisine.
- Use cooked chicken: A great perk of this soup is that almost any type of cooked chicken works! Our instant pot chicken thighs, blackened chicken, and air fryer chicken breast all taste delicious. Alternatively, use a rotisserie chicken.
- Opt for homemade chicken broth: We believe our tasty homemade chicken broth is the best liquid base for this soup. Making your own broth at home also allows you to limit the sodium levels, making it a low-sodium chicken broth.
- Omit the canning juices: For the best tasting soup, it is best to omit the juices from the canned corn and beans — as well as rinse these ingredients as well. This juice often has a ton of sodium.
Serving Suggestions
Looking for a side to serve along with a bowl of chicken enchilada soup? We highly recommend making fresh air fryer tortilla chips or baked tortilla chips and serving them with a bowl of guacamole. If you’re in the mood for a salad, opt for Mexican street corn salad, taco salad, or black bean corn salad to keep the Tex-Mex theme going strong.
Storing & Reheating the Soup
Soups are one of our most frequent leftovers to have in the fridge for an easy meal the next day. If you also love stocking up on soup, take a look at how best to store and reheat this soup in the days to come.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftover cooled soup for up to four days in an airtight container.
- Reheating: For a quick reheat, place a bowl of soup into the microwave. For larger quantities, reheat on the stove until heated through.
More Tex-Mex Favorites
- Chicken Tortilla Soup — A similar soup but without the enchilada flavor
- Steak Quesadillas — Made with tender steak, sauteéd veggies, and cheese
- Chicken Fajitas — Strips of chicken, peppers, and onions tossed in Tex-Mex flavor
- Carne Asada Street Tacos — Tender bites of lime-flavored steak and fresh veggie toppings
- Beef Enchiladas — Beefy, cheesy and so easy to pull together
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 15 oz red enchilada sauce
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1 lb chicken boneless skinless
- 15 oz black beans rinsed
- 15 oz canned corn drained
- 1 tsp salt adjust to preference
- 1 1/2 cups Mexican cheese shredded
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the diced onion and bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in the red enchilada sauce & broth. Add chicken and simmer until fully cooked.
- Remove chicken from the soup and chop or shred it into bite sized pieces.
- Add chicken back to the pot. Add black beans, corn, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil.
- Sprinkle in the cheese and stir until melted and creamy. Enjoy!
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