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A rich and flavorful chicken enchilada soup, made healthier with lots of veggies. We love to top this soup with crispy tortilla strips, cheese, and cilantro. This soup is a perfect option to warm up to on a chilly day!

A bowl of chicken enchilada soup garnished with lime, cheese, and cilantro.

Contents

My Favorite Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe

I adore soups, and soup weather has hit in Oregon! My first soup of the year is almost always this one. It packs in a ton of Mexican flavors, has lots of protein, and uses the last of the summer veggies.

Soups are always more fun if they include topping options! This is a fun one to load up. I bake corn tortillas until they are crispy, and use them rather than using chips. We also love to add a squeeze of lime, cheese, cilantro, and hot sauce.

However you top it, you’re sure to love this soup!

This Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe works because:

The broth is made with tomato paste and tons of spices to give it all the flavors of a thick and rich enchilada sauce.
A pre-cooked chicken makes adding the protein to this soup quick and easy. (Or go ahead and roast your own chicken and make your own chicken broth! Ideas for that down in the next section.)
Adding peppers, zucchini and corn make this a one-bowl meal.
Go wild with the toppings! Sour cream and avocado would also be amazing.

What You’ll Need:

A Whole Chicken (use a precooked rotisserie chicken to save time! The chicken is used to make a homemade chicken broth and for the meat in the soup. Use shredded chicken and boxed chicken broth to save time.)
Olive Oil
Yellow Onion
Canned Diced Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Spices: Paprika, Chili Powder, Cumin, and Mexican Oregano
Green Bell Pepper
Carrots
Sweet Corn (or frozen corn)
Zucchini
Coconut Sugar
Lime Juice
Suggested Toppings: Crispy tortilla strips (or tortilla chips), fresh cilantro, red onion, and cheddar cheese.

*This Chicken Enchilada Soup is made without beans. If you like using beans in your soups, try black beans or pinto beans.

The ingredients needed to make chicken enchilada soup shown with labels.

This soup makes a great leftover-turkey recipe! Simply substitute shredded leftover turkey for the chicken. You can even make your own turkey stock with the carcass and use it in this recipe!

You might also want to make these Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potato Enchiladas or these Leftover Turkey Collard Wraps.

How to Roast a Chicken and Make Homemade Chicken Broth

To save time, most often I use a pre-roasted chicken from the store and some cartons of organic chicken broth.

If you have more time on your hands, or a whole chicken hanging out in your freezer, you can make this soup entirely from scratch.

First, prepare the chicken by defrosting it, and rubbing it down with lots of salt and pepper. Place it in a baking dish, and add a cover or cover it with foil, and bake it at 425º F for about an hour. The internal temperature when the chicken is done should be 165º F. If your chicken is large or small, the baking time will vary. Read this post on a simple roasted chicken if you’ve never done this before!

Once your chicken is baked and has cooled, you can pull all the meat off the bones. Place what’s left of the chicken in a large stock pot, and fill it with water. Boil the chicken carcass for 2-3 hours at a low simmer. Strain the chicken bones and skin fragments from the broth.

How to Make Chicken Enchilada Soup

Step 1: In a large soup pot, add avocado oil and onion. Saute until the onion has softened, about 7-10 minutes.

Step 2: Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices and salt into the pot, and stir to combine.

Step 1 shows to soften the onions, and step 2 shows adding the tomatoes and spices.

Step 3: Into the soup pot, add the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Step 4: Add the peppers, carrots, and chicken, and continue to simmer another 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.

Step 3 shows adding the chicken broth and simmering the soup, and step 4 shows to add the chicken, peppers, and carrots and continue simmering the soup.

Step 5: Add the zucchini and corn, and stir in. Turn the heat off to allow the veggies to stay crisp.

Step 6: Add tortilla strips (if using) to bowls, and ladle the soup over them. If desired, top with cheese, cilantro, and additional lime wedges. Avocado and sour cream are awesome toppings as well!

Step 5 shows to add the zucchini and corn last, and step 6 shows to serve the soup with crisp tortilla strips and toppings.

How to Bake Tortilla Strips

Step 1: Cut the corn tortillas in 1/4 inch thick strips.

Step 2: Add the tortilla strips to a baking dish, and lightly spray them with avocado or olive oil. Sprinkle them generously with sea salt. Bake the tortilla strips for about 12 minutes, or until starting to brown and evenly crispy. Allow to cool to completely crisp up.

Step 1 shows to cut the tortilla strips, and step 2 shows to bake the tortillas until crispy and browned.

Variations and Substitutions

Shredded Chicken:

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken: If you are not starting with a whole chicken, you can add whole chicken breasts to a crockpot and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours. Shred the chicken breasts to use in the soup.
Chicken Thighs: Make oven baked chicken thighs. Once the chicken has cooled, remove the meat and shred it to add to the soup. This recipe needs meat from about 8 chicken thighs.

Freeze this Soup: Make this soup, but leave out the zucchini. It freezers wonderfully. When reheating, consider adding zucchini in it to give it a pop of crisp freshness.

Make this a Beef Enchilada Soup: Instead of chicken, and 1 1/2 pounds of browned (precooked) ground beef. It’s wonderful like this! Swap the chicken stock for beef stock, if preferred.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup: If you love a creamy version of this, add 1 block of cream cheese to the soup when adding the carrots, peppers and chicken. Allow the cream cheese to melt into the soup to make a creamy enchilada sauce base.

Other Mexican Soup Recipes:

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