This Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe is so creamy, thick, and easy to make. 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.
Enchilada soup is one of the most flavorful soup recipes that are not only filling and comforting, but it is also full of flavor and a crowd-pleasing soup recipe that will put a smile on everyone’s face. They are loaded with beans, chicken and all the Tex-Mex flavors you love all in one delicious bowl of soup. This easy to make Creamy Chicken Enchilada soup is perfect for any night of the week especially on a busy weeknight when you just need dinner ready in no time.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP
This chicken enchilada soup recipe is made on the stovetop. We will also be showing you further on how to make it on your crockpot, slow cooker, and instant pot.
Note: Recipe calls for cooked shredded chicken. Either get a storebought 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!
CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP TOPPINGS:
Some optional toppings you can add to your creamy chicken enchilada soup are
- Chopped avocado
- Sliced jalapeño
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Green onions
- Lime wedges
- Sour cream or yogurt etc.
How to cook chicken for enchilada soup
Cooking the chicken is quite simple. It would be easiest to use a rotisserie chicken but you can certainly cook your own. We recommend using skinless and boneless chicken breasts.
- Add chicken into a pot full of water
- We like adding some sort of herbs to give the chicken some flavor. Use half an onion and a bay leaf. sometimes we use a cinnamon stick but not for this particular recipe.
- Allow boiling for about 15-20 minutes until you easily insert a knife or a fork through the chicken.
- Then, drain in a colander and let it cool off
- Finally, using your hands or forks, shred chicken.
How to make chicken enchilada soup using an instant pot, crockpot or slow cooker
There are other ways to make chicken enchilada soup other than using your stovetop. Here are other ways to cook up your soup.
Chicken enchilada soup using an Instant Pot:
- Using the saute option, add the oil or butter in the instant pot, then add the onions, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and cook until softens, about 5-6 minutes.
- If using raw chicken, add 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.
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Then, place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal. Using the “manual” setting, cook on high pressure for 10-12 minutes.
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Allow the instant pot to natural release for 10 minutes or so before doing a quick release.
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Finally, remove the lid from 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 and then add it back into the soup. Mix and serve.
How to cook chicken enchilada soup using 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, garlic and cook until softens, about 5-6 minutes.
- Transfer to crockpot or slow cooker and add in 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 portion of the soup towards the end. Blend it and then add it back into the soup. Mix and serve.
How do you thicken chicken enchilada soup
To thicken your enchilada soup, mix about 1-2 tablespoon of whole wheat flour with some cold water and add over 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.
How to store chicken enchilada soup
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.
We want to let you know right now that this is the best chicken enchilada soup recipe out there. We love it so much and hope you love it too! Please come back and give us some feedback on what you think of this easy enchilada soup. Leave us a comment below and don’t forget to rate it!
Love Soup? We have loads more amazing soup recipes to check out:
- Italian Chicken Veggie Soup
- Creamy Chicken Broccoli Soup
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup
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Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Butter or Ghee or avocado oil
- 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 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Dried Oregano
- 15 oz Diced fire-roasted Tomatoes 1 can
- ¼ Cup Tomato Paste
- 4 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- 14.5 oz Red Kidney Beans drain and rinsed, 1 can
- 14.5 oz 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 butter or ghee (add avocado oil if using) in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and cook until softens, about 5-6 minutes.
- Stir in 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 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 beans, corn and shredded cooked chicken.
- Stir to combine and boil for a couple of minutes, just to heat it all up.
- Then pour into bowls and top with shredded cheese or your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Fresh, frozen, or canned corn
- Oil- avocado, olive oil, or vegetable oil
- Try Shredded turkey, ground chicken or ground turkey
Connie D says
Made for my son and daughter in law. They make it regularly and so do I. It’s excellent!!
Rena says
Perfect. Glad they loved it.
Anne rogoff says
If using chicken breasts from scratch, please don’t boil them. Instead, use breasts with skin and bones, brush skin with salt and pepper, coat lightly with oil and bake at 350 for 20-40 minutes, depending on the size, on a cookie sheet.Let cool, remove skin and bones , and shred. The chicken will have much more flavor!
An Ina Garten tip.
cheryl says
Great thick soup…more than enough for my husband and me so we can have leftovers tomorrow! Very tasty…i dont have an imersion blender so we just cooked a little longer, added the cheese and stirred it in….i did add diced jalapeno and chives. Im going to snack on it all night!!!
Rena says
Drooling! Glad you liked it.
Jess says
Ummmm this soup is PERFECT. So yummy! Love that it’s flavors-of-Latin-America, but it’s not black bean soup, but it’s not tortilla soup, but it has black beans, and it has chicken – it’s just awesome. AND my 4 year old loves it?! He probably got in more veggies in one sitting than ever in his life thank you!
Rena says
This is so awesome. Thanks for the feedback. Glad he loved it
Kristy says
I am making right now! Cannot wait…it smells fabulous. Do you drain the beans and corn … it just says rinse.
Rena says
Yes. Definitely drain and rinse. I will fix it. Thanks
Hannah Kneeland says
For someone on a diet, this was SO good!!! So many veggies, and AMAZiNG comfort food for fall! I’m thinking next time, I might just half the recipe. It’s a bit much food for a single person. Ha ha.
Rena says
Freeze them in individual size containers. I am glad you loved it.
Aloha says
Love it but is cup of cheese for topping only? There’s no direction for it.
Rena says
Yes, Its topping.
Connie Puckett says
Mine was not smooth or creamy after beating with a hand mixer or in Kitchenaid stand mixer. I could not beat as much as I would have liked because soup started flying over the counter and stove. (haha) There are still pieces of onion and tomato and pepper in the soup. I also noticed the skin of the tomato or pepper came off. Did anyone blanch their veggies before cooking?
Rachel says
I used an immersion blender. I also tilted my pot to make sure the blender was completely in the sauce.
Susana says
My family loved this soup! However as a vegetarian, I didn’t add the chicken. I did add another can of beans for the extra protein. I also added 1 up heat corn tortilla that tore into pieces to add the tortilla flavor of an enchilada. So yummy!
Rena says
Glad you loved it.
Dionne says
My husband said this is the best soup I’ve made so far! I’m making it a second time this month per his request
Maggie says
How much is a serving?
Rena says
Hi Maggie. That’s one bowl or 2 cups