Mexican Chicken Soup brims with tender chicken, fresh vegetables, and southern spices. The unique cilantro, cheese, and chip topping seals the deal!
Mexican Chicken Soup is not your grandma’s chicken soup, no offense to Gran! Say goodbye to soggy noodles, dull broth, and microscopic bits of chewy chicken. This hearty recipe offers pleasantly spiced corn, bean, and tomato veggie broth with enough personality to carry you through the next six dinner parties! Nourishing chunks of chicken complete the broth, and the tasty toppings are just gratuitous goodness.
What’s more, this low sugar low-fat recipe is on the heart healthy spectrum! (For Mexican Chicken Soup calories and other nutritional details – scroll down.) So the next time someone calls your zealous relationship with the soup “unhealthy,” just point them to the ingredient list!
For more deliciously satisfying South of the Border dishes, try my Mexican Meatballs, Mexican Taco Chili, or Mexican Spaghetti!
WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT THE RECIPE:
- It’s packed with flavorful veggies!
- I love broadening my family’s culinary horizons.
- It has enough kick to keep me sitting up straight but not enough to knock me over!
- This recipe fills my house with wonderful aromas.
What is Mexican Chicken Soup?
I won’t go into detail about the Aztec rituals that gave birth to this soup, let’s just say it’s colorful! Bottom line, the dish has a rich religious history.
Today we welcome it into our homes (with increasing regularity) as a spicy chicken soup abounding with veggies, beans, and corn. It’s a great complete meal.
SAVE THIS MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP
TO YOUR MEXICAN FOOD OR SOUP BOARD FOR LATER
WE’D LOVE TO BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!
What Ingredients Do You Need To Make Mexican Chicken Soup?
My Mexican Chicken Soup recipe uses six halved chicken breasts that you will need to dice after cooking. You will also need to pick up a yellow onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper to sauté in olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, chili powder, oregano, paprika, and cumin.
The savory broth also contains a can of diced tomatoes, a jar of mild salsa, a drained can of whole corn, two cans of drained and rinsed black beans, and some chicken broth. Top your flavorsome creation with a cup of chopped fresh cilantro, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, and coarsely chopped tortilla chips. This sounds like a lot of ingredients, but none of them are too fancy or hard to come by!
How Do You Make Mexican Chicken Soup?
To make a Mexican Chicken Soup Ina Garten herself would admire, you cook the chicken, sauté the fresh veggies with the spices, then boil the remaining ingredients for around 90 minutes. Sprinkle on the toppings, and serve!
Step By Step: How To Make Mexican Chicken Soup
1. Place chicken in a pot.
2. Add water and salt. Bring water to a roaring boil. Remove from heat and cover tightly for 30 minutes or if there’s no longer pink in chicken. Remove chicken from pot. Let it cool and then dice.
3. Saute onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeño in a large pot until very soft.
4. Add garlic and saute.
5. Add salt, black pepper, chili powder, oregano, smoked paprika, and cumin.
6. Saute for about 1 minute.
7. Add all the remaining ingredients, except chicken.
8. Add chicken broth, and simmer for 1 and a half hours.
9. Add chicken and heat through. Add garnishes. Serve.
For some more low-stress chicken challenges, check out my Mexican Pollo Asado and Mexican Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken.
Mexican Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken Breast Halves Cooked and Diced
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
- 1/2-1 Jalapeno Pepper, Seeded and Finely Chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic, Chopped
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Chilli Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Smoked Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Ground Cumin
- 64 Ounces Chicken Broth
- 1 (14.5 Ounce) Can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 (16 Ounce) Jar Salsa, I Use Mild
- 1 (11 Ounce) Can Whole Corn, Drained
- 2 (15 Ounce) Black Beans, Drained and Rinsed
Toppings:
- 1 Cup Fresh Cilantro Chopped
- 1 Cup Monterrey Jack Cheese Shredded
- Tortilla Chips Coarsely Chopped
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add chicken and cover with 1 inch of water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt. On medium-high heat, bring water to a roaring boil. Remove from heat and cover tightly for 30 minutes or until there's no longer any pink in chicken. Remove chicken from pot, let stand until cool enough to handle, then dice.
- Sautee onion, red pepper, and jalapeno in a large pot until very soft. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add salt, black pepper, chili powder, oregano, smoked paprika, and cumin. Saute for about 1 minute.
- Add all the rest of the ingredients except for the chicken. Simmer on medium-low heat for 1 1/2 hours to allow all the flavors to develop. Add water, as needed, to the soup if it gets too thick. Add chicken and heat through. Garnish soup with cilantro, tortilla chips, and cheese. This soup is even better if made and refrigerated a day ahead of serving.
- If you are in a hurry, don't worry about the simmer time. The soup is still wonderful if you heat everything through after you saute the veggies. I like the long simmer because I like the canned veggies to soften and the flavors to really merge.
Nutrition
Recipe Notes For Mexican Chicken Soup:
Variations: Some folks enjoy Mexican Chicken Soup with rice, and others favor Mexican Chicken Soup with avocado. I would suggest cooking the rice separately (with a dash of the spices added to the water) and adding it along with the chicken near the end of the recipe. The avocado should also be added along with the chicken. Some people also prefer Mexican Chicken Soup with hominy (the ground corn used in grits) in place of whole corn.
Spice level: Up the spice level by using a spicier salsa, multiple jalapeños, or more paprika. Tone it down by cutting the jalapeño and paprika portions! (Click here for a refresher on cutting jalapeños.)
Can You Make Mexican Chicken Soup Ahead Of Time?
Yes! In fact, I recommend doing so! This authentic Mexican Chicken Soup tastes even better when it’s a day old. It will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days.
How Do You Freeze Mexican Chicken Soup?
If you plan to freeze a large portion of this Mexican style chicken soup, you might want to trim the sauté and cook times a bit to keep the veggies within the range of ideal consistency.
Aside from that, just cool the soup, portion it into airtight freezer containers (omitting the toppings), label them, and freeze for up to three months.
What Do You Serve With Mexican Chicken Soup?
Anything slightly sweet and starchy would pair perfectly with this Mexican Chicken Soup recipe. Try cornbread, Mexican rice, or sweet rolls! You could also go for a Mexican coleslaw or potato salad.
More Chicken Soup Recipes…
- Chicken Taco Soup
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Arroz Con Pollo Peruano
For something totally different, check out this creamy chicken soup recipe from Little Pine Low Carb!
More Savory Soups…
- 15 Bean Soup
- Italian Sausage Soup
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Beef Barley Soup
- My Favorite Tortilla Soup
- Taco Soup
- Beef Noodle Soup
More Mexican Dishes…
- Taco Meat Recipe– With just the right amount of spice, my Taco Meat Recipe is ready in 20 minutes! No need to wait for Taco Tuesday! With this recipe, anytime is Taco Time!
AJ says
January 4, 2019 at 7:26 pmSo amazing during the winter months to have something so warm & yummy
Lindsey says
January 4, 2019 at 4:15 pmThis soup is SO amazing!