Chicken Enchilada Soup

This Chicken Enchilada Soup can be made on the Stove Top or the Crock Pot and is easy to make with chicken breast, thighs, or leftover chicken! It’s creamy, it’s cheesy, and it’s made with simple ingredients. Perfect for cozy soup weather.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is definitely one of my favorite cozy soups to make in the Fall and Winter months. It’s fun to play around with different ingredients. I like to UP the spice factor with some spicy cheese and an extra pinch of cayenne, but you can steer clear of spicy ingredients if preferred and just keep it mild.

This is a great recipe to make with chicken breast, chicken thighs, or even leftover chicken. Check out how to make it below and don’t miss my PRO tips below!

How to Make It

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Sauté onions, peppers, and garlic in olive oil/butter until softened. Add seasonings, enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, corn, hot sauce, chicken broth, and chicken. 

Boil gently for 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken and use 2 forks to shred. Return to soup. Add softened cream cheese and stir to combine.

Stir in the shredded cheese and serve!

Crock Pot Method

• Soften onions, peppers, and garlic in butter on the stovetop. Transfer to Slow Cooker along with all remaining ingredients except for the shredded cheese, cream cheese, and garnishes.
• Cook on low for 6 hours. (I recommend low heat to keep the chicken juicy and tender. Cooking it over higher heat makes it tougher. If necessary, it can be cooked for 4 hours on high.)
• Turn off heat. Remove the chicken, shred it, and add it back to the soup.
• Gradually mix in the softened cream cheese and shredded cheese and stir to incorporate.

Pro Tips

Cheese:

• To soften the cream cheese quickly: Heat 2 cups of water in the microwave. Place cubed cream cheese in the microwave and close the door. Let it soften for 5 minutes.
• Feel free to spice it up with 1/2 cup Cabot Hot Habanero Cheese or another kind of spicy cheese if you like heat. (This would be in place of the Monterey jack.)
• Shred the cheese from a block, it will melt and taste much better than packaged shredded cheese.
• Make sure the base isn’t too hot when the cheese is added or the dairy will separate and the consistency will be grainy.

Chicken:

• Cooking the chicken: You can let the chicken simmer over very low heat for a longer period of time. This makes the chicken extra juicy and the broth extra flavorful. Bone-in chicken thighs may also be used and create a very flavorful broth. If you plan on simmering for an extended period of time, add the black beans and corn when you remove the chicken from the soup to shred it.
• Using rotisserie or leftover chicken: 2 cups cooked chicken can also be used. You can add it at the same point as the chicken breast is added in the recipe and simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors blend, but no need to bring it to a boil.

Enchilada Sauce:

• An 8 oz. can of tomato sauce may be used as an alternative to enchilada sauce but I prefer the depth of flavor that enchilada sauce adds. My homemade enchilada sauce tastes great in this soup.
• You can also try my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe which is similar to this and doesn’t require any enchilada sauce.

Storage

• Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (This soup freezes well!)

Tools For This Recipe

(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.

• 4-Quart Dutch Oven– this is the perfect size for this soup. 
• Box Cheese Grater– Shredding from a block tastes and melts much better than packaged cheese.
• Pinch Bowls– for measuring out ingredients ahead of time.

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Chicken Enchilada Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

4.97 from 115 ratings

Servings: 11 cups

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This EASY Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe can be made on the stove top or in the Crock Pot! Use chicken breast, chicken thighs, or leftover chicken along with simple pantry ingredients.

Ingredients

Seasonings

• ▢ ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 1 pinch cinnamon
• ▢ 1 pinch cayenne, optional

Soup

• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 yellow onion, diced
• ▢ 1 jalapeno pepper, diced with seeds removed
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 10 oz. red enchilada sauce
• ▢ 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• ▢ 15 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 15 oz. canned whole kernel corn, drained
• ▢ 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
• ▢ 4 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (or 2 small.), see notes if using cooked chicken
• ▢ 4 oz. cream cheese, cubed and softened
• ▢ 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• ▢ ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded. (Can also use more cheddar.)

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Instructions

• Prep Work: Combine the seasonings and set aside. Take out the cream cheese and allow it to soften. (See notes for a quick way to do that.) Shred cheddar and Monterey jack cheese from a block and set aside.
• Heat butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and the peppers. Soften for 4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
• Add all remaining ingredients except for the cream cheese and shredded cheese.
• Bring the soup to a gentle boil and allow the chicken to slowly cook through (a rapid boil will make it tough). About 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken and use two forks to shred. Return it to the soup.
• Reduce heat to low. Stir in the softened cream cheese until combined, then stir in the shredded cheese until melted.
• Taste and add any additional seasonings as needed, then serve!

Notes

Cheese:

• To soften the cream cheese quickly: Heat 2 cups of water in the microwave. Place cubed cream cheese in the microwave and close the door. Let it soften for 5 minutes.
• Feel free to spice it up with 1/2 cup Cabot Hot Habanero Cheese or another kind of spicy cheese if you like heat. (This would be in place of the Monterey jack.)
• Shred the cheese from a block, it will melt and taste much better than packaged shredded cheese.
• Make sure the base isn't too hot when the cheese is added or the dairy will separate and the consistency will be grainy.

---

Chicken:

• Cooking the chicken: You can let the chicken simmer over very low heat for a longer period of time. This makes the chicken extra juicy and the broth extra flavorful. Bone-in chicken thighs may also be used. Any variety of bone-in chicken creates a very flavorful broth as well.
• If you plan on simmering for an extended period of time, add the black beans and corn when you remove the chicken from the soup to shred it.
• Using rotisserie or leftover chicken: 2 cups cooked chicken can also be used. You can add it at the same point as the chicken breast is added in the recipe and simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors blend, but no need to bring it to a boil.

---

Enchilada Sauce:

• An 8 oz. can of tomato sauce may be used as an alternative to enchilada sauce but I prefer the depth of flavor that enchilada sauce adds. My homemade enchilada sauce tastes great in this soup.
• You can also try my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe which is similar to this and doesn’t require any enchilada sauce.

---

Crock Pot Method

• Soften onions, peppers, and garlic in butter on the stovetop. Transfer to Slow Cooker along with all remaining ingredients except for the shredded cheese, cream cheese, corn, black beans, and garnishes.
• Cook on low for 6 hours. (I recommend low heat to keep the chicken juicy and tender. Cooking it over higher heat makes it tougher. If necessary, it can be cooked for 4 hours on high.
• Turn off heat. Remove the chicken, shred it, and add it back to the soup along with the corn and black beans.
• Gradually mix in the softened cream cheese and shredded cheese and stir to incorporate.

---

Storage

• Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (This soup freezes well!)

Nutrition

Calories: 242kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 36mg, Sodium: 697mg, Potassium: 433mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 670IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 154mg, Iron: 2mg

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Author: Stephanie