This Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe comes together in only 30 minutes and makes for one of the easiest and most flavorful soups you’ll ever make! Full of shredded chicken, black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, green chiles and enchilada sauce, this creamy soup will keep you full and satisfied.
When life gives you enchilada sauce and shredded chicken but no tortillas (so sad, but sometimes it happens), it’s time to make some chicken enchilada soup!
This is a fun riff on my red chicken enchiladas recipe. It’s got all the basic enchilada ingredients, plus a little more veggies to make it a full meal.
Watch how to make Chicken Enchilada Soup
Chicken Enchilada Soup Ingredients
- Enchilada sauce: You can use 2 10-ounce cans of red enchilada sauce or you can make your own (which I highly recommend). The flavor of homemade enchilada sauce is 10 million times better than any store-bought version I’ve ever tried! Here are two homemade options – Easy Enchilada Sauce made from chili powder or Authentic Red Enchilada Sauce made from whole dried chiles.
- Shredded chicken: You can use any leftover shredded chicken you have in the fridge or make your own using this shredded chicken recipe. If you don’t have time to make your own from scratch, you could also buy a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it at home.
- Masa harina: This is the secret ingredient that gives the soup that distinct corn tortilla flavor that everyone loves! You can typically find this near the other flours in the grocery store or in the Hispanic foods aisle. Learn more about masa harina here.
- Canned goods: Canned black beans, diced green chiles and fire-roasted tomatoes make this recipe super quick and easy to throw together.
- The secret ingredient: Cream cheese! Just a little bit (about 4 ounces) makes this soup creamy and irresistible.
How to make Chicken Enchilada Soup
The first thing you’ll need to do is saute some onions, jalapenos and garlic in a large pot or Dutch oven until the onions become translucent.
The jalapeno is completely optional and can be left out if you don’t want to add any extra spice.
Next, add in the masa harina and cook it for about 1 minute to get rid of that raw masa flavor.
Then, add in the shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, chicken broth, all the canned good and a touch of salt. Stir everything together to get rid of any lumps of masa that may be at the bottom of the pot.
Cook everything for about 10 minutes or until the soup begins to simmer.
Once the soup is simmering, remove it from the heat and stir in the cream cheese. Continue stirring everything together until the cream cheese has completely dissolved and melted into the soup.
Feel free to add in some more broth if the soup has thickened too much. And if you want to make the soup even creamier, you can totally add in some more cream cheese!
I served this soup in some bowls with crispy crunchy tortillas strips and chopped cilantro, but you could serve it with homemade tortilla chips and chopped green onions as well!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and stem removed (optional)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1/2 cup masa harina
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 1/4 cups red enchilada sauce (authentic version, easy 10-minute version, or 2 10-ounce cans)
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 14-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 4-ounce cans green chiles
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 4 ounces cream cheese
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, jalapeno (if using) and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, until onions become translucent.
- Add masa harina and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add chicken broth, enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, black beans, diced tomatoes, green chiles and salt.
- Stir together to combine and cook for about 10 minutes, uncovered, until the soup begins to simmer. Make sure to stir the soup occasionally to make sure the masa harina gets fully distributed throughout the soup.
- Remove the Dutch oven or pot from the heat and add the cream cheese. Stir it into the soup until it completely dissolves and melts.
- Serve immediately with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Video
Isabel’s Tips:
- To make it spicy – Mix in 1/2 teaspoon cayenne at a time and taste until it’s to your liking.
- Shredded chicken – To make this even faster, you can use any leftover or rotisserie shredded chicken (or even turkey!) you have in the fridge. I made my own shredded chicken using this recipe.
- To freeze – Let the soup cool down completely and transfer to your favorite airtight freezer containers or bags.
Nutrition Information
Loved the Chicken Enchilada Soup. So easy with roasted chicken from the store and Frontera enchilada sauce. I’ve made it 3 times this year and it gets rave reviews every time. And it’s even better the next day.
This was absolutely delicious!
Absolutely delicious! We were licking our bowls! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.