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
This may be the best soup I’ve ever made! I expected that I would need to add additional seasoning but it was terrific as is. I used Whole Foods brand red enchilada sauce and one jalapeño and it was just the right spice level. This recipe is going into my regular winter rotation.
Thank you so much, Annika!
Excellent recipe! Thank you for pointing out how to make the enchilada sauce.
I think this soup is a really good one and I did add a lot of cumin and cayenne to my soup. Otherwise I made it mostly how by the recipe directions. I ended up using all of my enchiladas soaking water in the soup. The cream cheese does Addie certain luxuriousness to it.
This is a great recipe! It’s so flavorful and has become one of our favorite go-to meals. We love it! But is there a way to make it more mild so it’s not so hot and spicy? Is it the red enchilada sauce that’s making it so hot? If you know of a different kind of enchilada sauce we could use to help make it more mild that would be awesome! Thanks so much!
Hi Bethany! Depending on the enchilada sauce you used there’s a few things you can do. If you used the authentic enchilada sauce, then you can omit or reduce the chile arbol. If you used the easy ten minute sauce, you can reduce the amount of chili powder. If you used a store bought sauce, we recommend using a mild sauce. I hope this helps!
I made this tonight and will definitely go into the dinner rotation. It was sooo delicious I think I will go have seconds;)
First time making a soup like this and I’m simply in love! The masa and fresh chopped jalapeno, garlic and onion along with scratch made enchilada sauce….its game over with this recipe! I haven’t even served it yet I’m waiting spoonfuls in the kitchen! I’m garnishing with avacado, lime wedge and cilantro
Hi Kelly! Thanks, we are glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Excellent! But had to use my blender to smooth out the masa harina with all the ingredients.
So yes…. this is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made just as listed, except for no beans. We are not black bean fans. Everything else just as- cooked everything but for chicken and cream cheese. House smelled amazing!! Then I ran the immersion blender through just to smooth it out a bit. Added chicken and cream cheese and poof… Best soup EVER. Thank you so much! Will be making this for years to come.
Can you make this in the crockpot? My Masa harina is precooked.
Hi Kelly! Yes, you can!
Can you make this in the crockpot?
This is the second time I have made the enchilada soup! Love it and so does my family!
We enjoy all the recipes!
I cooked the chicken in one cup of chicken broth with a dash or two of cumin, pepper and salt for 6 minutes once it finished cooking I shredded the chicken and then added it back into the instapot while I finished the rest of the recipe. Soooo good!
I even had left over chicken for chicken enchiladas 😋
This soup is the best new soup recipe I’ve tasted in a long time! I couldn’t get enough of it. I used your method for shredded chicken and authentic enchilada sauce. That put everything over the top good. I only recently discovered you and this was my first recipe choice. A total winner.
Thank you!
Added a dash of cumin for a little more bite! TASTY! 😋
Needless to say “It’s a Keeper”
This was easy to make and delicious! I made it as our lunch soup for the week and just heated it and added tortilla chips and cilantro.
I’m kind of a new cook and tried this because it looked easy. It was so delicious I felt like a pro. We invited a neighbor over for a bowl and she came back the next day to ask for more. It made a lot and we ate every drop. My wife said, “I’m really going to miss this when it’s gone”. Success!
This was so good! My mother in law has had her go-to chicken enchilada soup recipe for years but had to ask for this recipe after trying this one!
Loved this soup. So quick, easy, and delicious! Great recipe for a cold evening after work.
Thank you so much, Melissa!
Too awesome. I need to make this soup. Also, your red pozole recipe gets me lots of compliments.
Awesome!!! Phenomenal, so quick and the whole family thought it was delicious! Thank you!
I am very excited to try this recipe. It sounds so delicious! I just need to buy some Masa Harina. 2 questions: How long will Masa Harina keep once opened? Can Greek Yogurt or sour cream be substituted for the cream cheese?
Thank you.
You can keep masa harina in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for 9-12 months. Sour cream or greek yogurt can also be used as a substitute in this recipe. The flavor won’t be exactly the same, but it will still be delicious. Enjoy!