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–+ servings
A bowl of chicken enchilada soup garnished with tortilla strips, lime, and cheese.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Chicken Enchilada Soup

A flavorful and spicy broth, packed with roasted chicken and vegetables. Top with crispy baked tortilla strips for the complete enchilada experience.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 6 bowls
Calories: 417kcal
Author: Michelle Miller

Ingredients

Soup

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • 1 medium onion finely diced
  • 1 15- ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 6- ounce can tomato paste
  • 6 cups chicken stock (sub vegetable broth)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube (I use Rapunzel, optional to add flavor)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder*
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano** (sold in the Hispanic section of most grocery stores in plastic bags)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 carrot diced
  • 2 bell peppers (I used 1 green, 1 yellow)
  • 1 1/2 cups corn removed from cob, or frozen
  • 1 zucchini sliced and quartered
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken shredded (from roasted chicken, or shred 2 cooked chicken breasts or thighs)
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • cilantro (garnish, optional)
  • cheddar cheese (garnish, optional)

Tortilla Strips

  • 8 thin corn tortillas
  • olive oil spray
  • sea salt

Instructions

  • Add avocado oil to a large soup pot, and saute onion until it's translucent, about 7-10 minutes.
  • Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices and salt into the pot, and stir to combine.
    Onions being sauteed in a pan, and another shot showing the tomatoes and spices added to the pot.
  • Into the soup pot, add the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 minutes.
  • Add the carrot, bell peppers, and chicken, and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the peppers, carrots, and chicken, and continue to simmer another 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
    The soup with the chicken broth added. Another pot showing adding the carrots, peppers and chicken to the soup pot.
  • Add the zucchini and corn, and stir in. Turn the heat off to allow the veggies to stay crisp.
  • 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!
    Adding the sweet corn and zucchini to the pot, and then a bowl of tortilla soup shown with garnishes.

Tortilla Strips

  • Slice tortillas in strips. Lay out on a cookie sheet, and spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in a preheated oven at 425º F for about 10 minutes, watching carefully to not burn. Turn oven off, and allow tortilla strips to sit in the heated oven to continue crisping.
    Showing cutting tortillas and toasting them on a baking pan.

Video

Notes

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.
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.
 
*The type of chili powder you use will strongly influence your soup base. If you're using one you're not familiar with, add it slowly. Some chili powders have more spice than others and can become overwhelming!
**Mexican oregano has a very unique flavor. If you can find it, it's worth seeking out. If not, sub regular oregano.
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!

Nutrition

Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 930mg | Potassium: 1298mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 4971IU | Vitamin C: 79mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 5mg