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My Chicken Enchilada Soup is an easy one-pot dish that’s creamy, thick, and so delicious. Loaded with hearty shredded chicken and beans, it is a crowd-pleasing soup that’s full of your favorite Mexican flavors and very comforting and delicious.
Feed me this chicken Enchilada soup every day, and I will never complain. It is one of the best and most flavorful soup recipes, not only filling and comforting but also crowd-pleasing, putting a smile on everyone’s face.
This soup is loaded with beans, chicken, and all the Tex-Mex flavors you love, in one delicious bowl. Easy-to-make High-Protein Chicken Enchilada Soup is perfect for any night of the week. Especially on a busy weeknight when you need dinner ready in no time.
You may also love my classic chicken chili soup or my white chicken chili soup recipe.
Recipe Overview
Reasons to love this soup
- Best-tasting soup ever: The taste of this soup is seriously out-of-this-world good.
- Filling: This soup will keep you full, happy, and satisfied. Perfect for lunch or as a light dinner.
- Healthy and good for you: Packed with fiber and protein, this soup is good for you in every way.
Ingredients you will need
Below is a list of the ingredients I used to make this soup. Full measurements are listed further down in the recipe card.
- Butter or Ghee: To keep this on the healthier side, you can skip butter. You may use avocado oil.
- Onion: use white sweet onions or cooking onions
- Veggies: Celery Stalks, Carrot, Red Bell Pepper,
- Beans: Red Kidney Beans and Black Beans
- Seasonings: Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, and Dried Oregano
- Garlic Cloves: Do use fresh garlic for the best flavor.
- One can of Diced fire-roasted Tomatoes. Fire-roasting gives it an amazing flavor, but you can use what you have on hand.
- Tomato Paste: This adds depth and flavor to the soup. You can use tomato sauce instead.
- Fresh or Frozen Sweet Corn: You may use canned corn if that’s all you have and you don’t want to make a trip to the grocery store.
- Shredded Cooked Chicken: Make your own chicken or get a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. To prepare your own, check out our post on How to poach chicken breast.
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth– If you plan to poach your own chicken, you may save the broth from that.
- Mexican Shredded Cheese Blend for garnishing, or you may also use Monterey Jack cheese
- Optional: If you prefer to add some enchilada sauce, you can. I didn’t, but it certainly won’t hurt and will add some flavor to the soup.
How to make Creamy Enchilada Soup
This chicken enchilada soup recipe is made on the stovetop. I will also show you how to make it further in your crockpot, slow cooker, and Instant Pot.
Note: The recipe calls for cooked, shredded chicken. Either get a store-bought rotisserie chicken and use that, or cook your own at home using chicken breast (scroll down to learn how to cook the chicken for your enchilada soup).
To make enchilada soup on your stovetop:
- Prepare vegetables and ingredients: Set up all the ingredients and get your shredded chicken ready.
- Cook vegetables: Add butter or oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. First, add the onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and cook until softens, about 5-6 minutes. Then, stir in seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Cook and prep soup: Lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until veggies are very tender.
- Blend: remove from heat and using a hand blender, blend the soup until smooth and creamy. (This is optional if you don’t want to blend you can skip this step).
- Add beans and chicken: Place the soup back over medium heat and add in beans, corn, and shredded cooked chicken. Stir to combine and boil for a couple of minutes, just to heat it all up.
- Serve: Pour into bowls and top with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Enchilada Soup Topping Options
Endless toppings to come up with, but here are some optional toppings you can add to your soup:
- Chopped avocado
- Sliced jalapeño
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Green onions
- Lime wedges
- Crushed Tortilla Chips
- Sour cream or yogurt etc.
- Shredded Cheese
How to cook chicken for enchilada soup
Cooking the chicken is quite simple. You can use any pot or a Dutch oven. It would be easiest to use a rotisserie chicken, but you can certainly cook your own. I recommend using skinless and boneless chicken breasts.
- Add chicken into a pot full of water
- I like adding some sort of herbs to give the chicken some flavor. Use half an onion and a bay leaf. Sometimes I use a cinnamon stick, but not for this particular recipe.
- Boil for about 15-20 minutes, until you can easily insert a knife or fork into the chicken.
- Then drain it in a colander and let it cool. Or you can just remove the chicken and place it on a cutting board while you save the chicken stock.
- Finally, use your hands or a fork to shred the chicken.
- If you have an Instant Pot, you can simply make this Instant Pot Chicken Breast to use in this soup.
Alternative ways to make this soup
There are other ways to make this soup other than using your stovetop. Here are other ways to cook up your soup.
How to make it in an Instant Pot:
If you are looking for an instant pot soup recipe, then here is how you can make this soup using your instant pot:
- Using the saute option, add the oil or butter in the instant pot, then add the onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.
- If using raw chicken, add it in with the veggies in the previous step at the bottom.
- Add in the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth.
- Next, add in the beans, corn, and shredded cooked chicken (if using pre-cooked shredded chicken). Stir to combine.
- Then, place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal. Using the “manual” setting, cook on high pressure for 10-12 minutes.
- Allow the Instant Pot to natural release for 10 minutes or so before doing a quick release.
- Finally, remove the lid from the Instant Pot, shred the chicken (if used, raw whole chicken breast), and serve with your favorite toppings.
- Note: You may remove a portion of the soup towards the end. Blend it, then add it back to the soup. Mix and serve.
How to make it in a crock-pot or slow cooker
- In a pan or skillet, add oil or butter over medium-high heat, add the onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.
- Transfer to a crockpot or slow cooker, then add the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth.
- Then, add in beans, corn, and shredded cooked chicken. Stir to combine. Cover and set it on High for 2 hours or Low for 4 hours if using cooked chicken.
- Note: You may add raw chicken breasts to the crockpot or slow cooker right before you add in the veggies at the very bottom and set it to cook longer. 6 hours on low and 4 hours on high. Then, towards the end, use a fork to shred the chicken.
- Also, Note: You may remove a po, then add it back rtion of the soup towards the end. Blend it and then add it back into the soup. Mix and serve.
Common questions
To thicken your enchilada soup, mix about 1-2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour with some cold water, then add it to the soup and let it cook for a few more minutes.
Another option would be to blend some of the beans and add them back in to make the soup thicker.
Place your creamy chicken enchilada soup in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Store in the freezer for 3-4 months. To reheat, place in a pot/pan and reheat on the stovetop or microwave in a bowl.
You can get creative with what you serve with your enchilada soup. Some ideas for you would be some toasted garlic bread, jalapeno cornbread, biscuits, grilled cheese sandwiches, roasted corn like this street corn on the cob, Tacos, Mexican Rice, etc
You can use ground turkey, ground beef, or ground chicken.
This soup is actually dairy-free and doesn’t have any cream, even though I call it creamy. The creamy texture comes from blending the veggies during the first few steps. If you do want to add a bit of unsweetened dairy-free milk, you can.
More Soup Recipes
- Italian Chicken Veggie Soup
- Creamy Chicken Broccoli Soup
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup
- Healthy Lasagna Soup
- Taco Soup Recipe
- Mexican Sweet Corn Soup
- Beef and Barley Soup
Thanks for stopping by. If you try a recipe and love it, it would mean the world to me if you take a moment of your time and leave me some feedback in the comment section below. I always love hearing from my readers.
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Note: This post was updated to add an ingredient photo and some process shots to make it easier for you to follow.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup (Easy One-Pot Recipe)
Video
Equipment
- spatula
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Butter or Ghee, or Ghee, avocado oil also works
- 1 Medium Onion, diced
- 2 Celery Stalks, sliced
- 1 Medium Carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 Large Red Bell Pepper, diced
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
- 1½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 15 ounces Diced fire-roasted Tomatoes, 1 can
- ¼ Cup Tomato Paste
- 4 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 14.5 ounces Red Kidney Beans, drain and rinsed, 1 can
- 14.5 ounces Black Beans, drain and rinsed, 1 can
- 1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Sweet Corn
- 2 Cups Shredded Cooked Chicken
- 1 Cup Mexican Shredded Cheese Blend, for garnishing
- Salt and pepper, to your taste
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon Butter or Ghee (add avocado oil if using) in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
- Add 1 Medium Onion (diced), 2 Celery Stalks (sliced), 1 Medium Carrot (thinly sliced), 1 Large Red Bell Pepper (diced), 2-3 Garlic Cloves (chopped), and cook until softens. About 5-6 minutes.
- Stir in seasonings ( 1½ teaspoon Ground Cumin, 1 tablespoon Chili Powder, and 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano, 15 ounces Diced fire-roasted Tomatoes, ¼ Cup Tomato Paste, and 4 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth. Season with Salt and pepper, to your taste, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until veggies are very tender.
- Remove from heat and using a hand blender, blend the soup until smooth and creamy. Place the soup back over medium heat and add in 14.5 ounces Red Kidney Beans and 14.5 ounces Black Beans, 1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Sweet Corn, and 2 Cups Shredded Cooked Chicken.
- Stir to combine and boil for a couple of minutes, just to heat it all.
- Then, pour into bowls and top with shredded cheese ( 1 Cup Mexican Shredded Cheese Blend divided into 6 servings) or your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
- Corn: you can use fresh, frozen, or canned corn
- Oil- avocado, olive oil, or vegetable oil
- Try shredded turkey, ground chicken, or ground turkey. I love to use leftover chicken, or I just buy a rotisserie chicken to save time. Especially if I am going to Costco. You can’t pass that up. So, next time you are at Costco, grab that chicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was absolutely delicious! My two sons devoured it! I will absolutely make it again! Thank you!
So glad you guys all loved it.
So so goood!!! Everything about it is delicious
Thank you. Glad you loved it
Tried this soup tonight on a scale of 1-10 and 10 being the best. I’d give it a 12, this soup was Awesome!
Definitely will be making this more often
So awesome! Glad you loved it.
I have made this soup five times in two months. My kids have requested it, it’s that good. I’m even hoarding a pint of it in the freezer. It won’t disappoint. I highly recommend blending as directed, the creamy texture that brings us what makes this soup shine. If I were to let my 11 year old review it she would say, “best soup ever!”
Thank you. Glad you loved it.
Very easy to follow i am confused though when do i add the cheese
The cheese is to garnish
Oh my goodness, soooooo good. Topped it with tortilla chips crumbled up and was so good. I will be making this again. So tasty and filling.Yum yum!
This soup was delicious and full of flavour. Thank you for sharing this with all of us soup lovers.
Glad you liked it.
Oh my goodness, soooooo good. Topped it with tortilla chips crumbled up and was so good. I will be making this again. So tasty and filling.Yum yum!
We love this one too! Glad you loved it
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have the fire roasted diced tomatoes used I used Aylmers spicy petite cut tomatoes & added some smoked paprika since I didn’t have the fire roasted tomatoes. This is definitely a keeper. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for the great feedback!
Loved it. The texture is perfect. Next time I will add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Amazing! Happy you loved it
So from beginning to serve was an hour and a half. Prep took half hour alone. It was quite bland so need to work with it to get more flavor. I could have added too much chicken broth. Only blended half and was really good. Added sour cream and tortilla strips.
Is that calories per serving or dish?
Hi.its per serving
How much is 1 serving? A cup?
Closer to 2 cups- one bowl
This was so delicious and so easy! I pretty much followed the recipe but added some smoked paprika because I love it! I would definitely recommend blending it to give it that creamy texture. I will be making this again!
Glad you loved it
Oh, Holy Cow, this is tasty soup!! I followed the recipe exactly as the stove-top direction say (except for subbing a can of regular chopped tomatoes plus ¼ tsp paprika for the fire roasted tomatoes which I can’t find in the UK where I live). This has easily become one of my favorite homemade soups. Because I’m decidedly challenged when it comes to speed-dicing, anything that includes more than a half an onion’s-worth of dicing takes me much longer than any recipe accounts for, so this took me about 2 hours from refrigerator to table, but it made enough soup for 4 lunches for the two of us, (8 total servings), dividing and storing the remaining 3 lunches-worth in the freezer. Not a bad investment! We both loved the spice level (a bit of a bite) and loved how creamy it was after using the stick blender as directed- no thickener needed. I served with a dollop of cream cheese and a handful of cheddar cheese and with tortilla chips on the side. Delicious!! This Tex-Mex food loving, California transplant is thrilled!
So glad you loved this. Thanks for the feedback and review
This recipe is delicious! My whole family, even my two boys, ate this up and even went back for more! It is super easy to make too. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback
This recipe is AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing it. This soup has become a favorite in our house and I make it often. In fact, this soup was so good that I have a newfound appreciation four soup in general ♀️
so glad loved it. It is also our favorite
This recipe looks amazing. I am not vegetarian but I am challenging myself to one month of vegetarian meals. Do you have any suggestions for a chicken substitute or could I just omit it?
Thanks
You can just omit it. There will be enough protein with the beans. Maybe add more beans.
Amazing! I added a little extra garlic than the recipe calls for and puréed the can of tomato’s beforehand (my family frowns when they see tomato chunks), omitted the celery, didn’t have any on hand. Didn’t blend it since I had already puréed the tomatoes. And when I added the chicken stock I also added a can of enchilada sauce (Yum!). Threw in the cup of cheese at the very end and the angels began singing. Hubby and kids DEFINITELY approved! Thanks so much for this recipe!
So awesome. Thank you