Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup

If you’re a fan of Southwest flavored soups, you’ll likely enjoy this recipe! It’s easy and has similar healthy ingredients to tacos, but the green chiles and salsa verde will get you out of the ‘taco’ flavors and into something refreshingly different. If you’re making one pot anyway, you might as well double the recipe to freeze some for later!

 

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 ounces fire roasted green chiles (No green chiles? See substitution tip below)
  • 3 cups shredded chicken
  • 1 cup green salsa or salsa verde
  • 10 ounces green chile enchilada sauce
  • 32 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
  • 8 ounces cheddar and/or jack cheeses grated

Instructions:

  • Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat and cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 30-60 seconds.
  • Add green chiles, chicken, salsa, chicken stock and enchilada sauce and bring to a boil.
  • While waiting for the pot to boil, rinse cannellini beans and put into a bowl. Using a potato masher or strong fork, mash the beans until all of them are broken, it’s okay if a few whole beans are left.
  • Stir the beans into the soup pot and once boiling, cover with a lid and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
  • Add cheese and continually stir when adding so no clumps form. Stir until cheese is completely melted.
  • Garnish with sour cream, plain yogurt, more cheese, cilantro, fresh tomatoes, tortilla strips, avocado slices or whatever you like!

Tips:

  • If you like your soups to be runnier vs. thick, omit the cannellini beans. If you like really thick soups that are more of a stew consistency, add more mashed beans or reduce chicken stock by 8 ounces.
  • In the absence of green chiles, I have substituted a can of Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies.
  • Make a double or triple batch, cool and freeze for delicious soup you simply thaw and reheat.

Credit goes to Yellow Bliss Road food blog for the original idea for this recipe. I made several substitutions, above, based on my own preferences but if you want to make your version creamy with cream cheese rather than beans, check it out here. The photos above show my substitution of Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies but include the cream cheese. Even when cutting up the cream cheese prior to adding, I could never get it it melt thoroughly, thus, the substitution of the white beans which is healthier anyway!

Need more recipes that are fast and flavorful but don’t require a lot of time? Schedule a free consultation or call 651-895-0774.

 

Addie Kelzer is a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant. She believes that by making fitness and good food practical, her clients will hold the power to positively change their health and the health of those closest to them.