This Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe has everything you love about enchiladas all in one bowl. Packed with shredded chicken, black beans and vegetables, it's an easy, healthy and delicious meal that the whole family will enjoy!
All the warm, tasty Tex-Mex flavours come together in this comforting soup. It's loaded with nutrition and is so easy to make you can even pull it off on a busy weeknight. Just like my Curried Red Lentil , White Bean Sausage and Arugula, and Chicken and Spaghetti Squash soups I recommend making a big batch so you can stock the freezer! For even more soup recipes check out my library of Soup Recipes.
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🥘Ingredients
Here's what you will need to make this recipe. For quantities see the recipe card below.
- White or yellow onion
- Bell pepper
- Jalapeno pepper
- Corn, fresh, frozen or canned
- Fresh garlic
- Chili powder, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper
- Enchilada sauce
- Canned chopped tomatoes
- Black beans
- Skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- Chicken stock or broth, low sodium
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh lime juice
Toppings for Chicken Enchilada Soup
Here are some ideas to top up your soup with.
- Shredded cheddar cheese, or any cheese of your choice
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- Sliced avocado or guacamole
- Pickled jalapeno peppers
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Hot sauce
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh lime wedges
🔪Step-by-step Instructions
For full detailed instructions see the recipe card below.
Steps 1 - Sautee the onions first until they begin to soften and brown slightly. Add bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few more minutes until softened. Then add all the spices and stir to coat the vegetables.
Step 2 - Add chicken to the pot along with tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Step 3 - Remove chicken and shred with a fork or chop. Add it back to the pot along with the black beans and corn. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro and lime juice. top with your favourite toppings and enjoy!
🥣Ingredient Substitutions
- Bone-in chicken thighs - Boneless thighs or breasts work perfectly in this recipe. Or to make it even quicker, use shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken or turkey from another recipe. In Step 3 add the cooked meat along with the black beans and corn and skip Step 4. Ground meat can also be used. Add it in Step 1 after the onions have softened. Add the meat, cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes or until starting to brown. Then add the rest of the vegetables and continue with the recipe.
- Jalapeno pepper - If you want to kick up the heat, use any of your favourite hot peppers or add extra jalapeno. One jalapeno with seeds removed doesn't add a lot of spice but a nice mellow flavour.
- Enchilada sauce - This can be substituted with extra chopped, canned tomatoes with added chopped chipotle peppers to give it that smokey flavour. Also increase the spices slightly to make up for the extra flavour the enchilada sauce gives.
- Black beans - Any of your favourite beans can be used.
- Fresh cilantro - If you just can't do cilantro feel free to leave it out or substitute with fresh parsley.
Variations
Make it creamy - Add a half block of plain cream cheese right into the pot to make this soup cheesy and creamy. The cream cheese with also thicken it slightly.
Make it spicy - This recipe is mild on the spice factor to make it enjoyable for everyone. Adjusting the spice is easy to do. You can leave the seeds in the jalapeno, add extra jalapenos or other hotter peppers. Add extra cayenne or good ole' hot sauce to your liking.
Make it vegetarian - This soup can easily be converted to a vegetarian version. Simply change the chicken to one extra can black beans or any other beans you like. A combination of black and white beans would be my choice. Substitute vegetable stock for chicken and you are good to go!
Storage
Chicken Enchilada Soup can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for 4 days. Or freeze for up to 6 months.
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📖 Recipe
Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, finely diced
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels, can be thawed or frozen
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- 1 ½ cups chopped canned tomatoes plus juices (13.5 oz/398ml)
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (2 cups)
- 4 skinless chicken thighs
- 4-6 cups chicken broth, low or no sodium
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice of half a lime
Optional Toppings
- Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Feta cheese
- Lime wedges
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Avocado or guacamole
- Fresh cilantro leaves
- Pickled jalapeno peppers
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until “glassy” and starting to soften.
- Add bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic. Stir and cook 3 more minutes or until pepper has started to soften. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for one minute to release the aromas of the spices.
- Add chicken thighs, enchilada sauce, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes.
- Remove chicken pieces and shred with a fork. Add chicken back to the pot along with the black beans and corn. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and add cilantro and fresh lime juice. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed (I added an extra teaspoon here). Serve topped with any (or all!) of the optional toppings.
janet says
Healthy and DELICIOUS!!
Kb says
One of the best soups I've ever made, and I make A LOT of soups!
barbara says
I just made this for the first time. Absolutely delicious. A wonderful winter soup with a touch of heat. Will definitely be making it again.
Deb says
Omg Delicious , it was a hit in the house ,especially for my grand daughter
She wanted all the leftover to take home .lol Thanks Andre should have made this sooner
Lynda says
Looking to make this tonight... I've read the recipe a few times and I don't see at which step I should add the corn. Sorry if I missed this ... or maybe it doesn't matter.
Andrea says
Hi Lynda! It's in step 4 with the beans. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Lynda says
Thanks Andrea - I see it now. Appreciate the clarity.
Lynda says
It was another winner. Added some diced zucchini because I did not have bell pepper on hand. My husband bought taco sauce (by accident) instead of enchilada sauce. Probably had more tang than spice but we had some hot peppers, with gauc and cheese as toppings.
Highly recommend.
Marie Ferguson says
EXCELLENT recipe! I have loved every one of your recipes that I have tried. I thank the Gina Livy Method for finding you. Thanks for all your recipes.
Meredith Kivell says
This soup is delicious- love the fact that you cook the chicken right in the broth! I added 1 more pepper and leafy greens. I will most definitely make this again!
Maureen Mills says
Made this soup yesterday with leftover turkey - so tasty with just a bit of heat to help warm you. The addition of black beans along with the corn & tomatoes makes this a tasty meal. I put Spinach in my bowl then added the soup so got m leafy greens as well.
Thanks Andrea, another great recipe for my rotation!
Barbara Francis says
One of your best soups yet!! I think the flavors blended even better the next day. Served it with some graded old cheddar and a dollop of sour cream and it wA a huge success!!!
Lisa says
Delicious soup! Love black beans and corn combo, used rotisserie chicken for convenience. Added a bit more heat and throw in some spinach (as I do with most soups). Another great recipe Andrea, thank you 🙂
Andrea says
My pleasure! So happy you enjoyed it!
Lynne Enzweiler says
Great soup. I made it to take to a gathering of high school friends--that is how confident I am about the recipes you develop. Got so many comments from everyone that the soup was delicious. I did use rotisserie chicken to save time and I used only one jalapeno pepper and 1/8 tsp. of cayenne even though I was doubling the recipe. Some of my friends are not amenable to spicy foods. It still had a little kick, but it was not too spicy for anyone. Thanks, Andrea.
Andrea says
My pleasure Lynne! I'm so happy everyone enjoyed it!
Marylynn says
Great Soup, your recipes are tasty and easy to make, great for following the Livy plan, thanks for sharing.
LP says
Loved this!! Couldn’t find enchilada
Sauce so used extra can diced tomatoes with Mexican spices and chipotle pepper in adobe. Also added some extra veg and spinach. Family loved it!! A new staple in our menu rotation for sure!!
Andrea says
Love those substitutions! So happy you enjoyed it!
Esther says
Made this for lunch today. So easy and fast to make with precooked chicken. Absolutely delicious! Will certainly make this a staple soup this winter!!
Michelle says
Ok to simply omit the black beans or would I need to substitute something instead?
Andrea says
You can just leave them out and add extra chicken if you like or keep it as is.