Easy Mexican Chicken Soup

Easy, quick meal in under an hour. Use a prepared rotisserie chicken, add a few canned ingredients and some spices, heat it all up and you are ready to go!

My daughter, Katie, made dinner for us one day and was in and out of the kitchen in about 40 minutes, declaring that the soup was ready. I gave her the evil eye because everyone knows that chicken soup takes a lot longer than 40 minutes. It’s the law! I thought for sure that she was up to no good.

Katie told me what was in the soup and my brain couldn’t figure out what she was telling me. I had her repeat the ingredients and then I had to look at the written recipe. How on earth can a handful of ingredients turn out so amazingly tasty AND in such a short amount of time? PLUS, it tasted suspiciously like Cafe Rio chicken soup.

The bottom line answer is that most of the cooking is done by other people. The chicken? One of those roasted marvels from Costco. The chicken broth? Again, Costco to the rescue with their boxed chicken broth. The salsa verde? A jar from the grocery store. The beans? Canned, also from the grocery store.

Other than opening two cans and a jar, shredding the chicken, and peeling back the seal tab on the chicken stock, the only work that is required is chopping and sauteing an onion, measuring out a few spices, and bringing the whole shebang to a boil for a few minutes. Alternatively the soup can be cooked in a slow cooker for four hours on low. It is great for busy days when there is not much time for cooking, and let’s face it, there are a lot of those days in our lives.

For some great additions, try a spoonful of pico de gallo or fresh salsa, a dollop or two of guacamole, and a sprinkle of Mexican-style cheese such as cotijo. Monterrey jack works well, too! To keep things simple, the pico and guacamole can be purchased, ready -to-go. Crumble on some crushed tortilla chips or, if you have them, some crispy tortilla strips. No tortilla strips? They can be made super quick like I did in Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Print Recipe

Easy Mexican Chicken Soup

Easy, quick meal in under an hour. Use a prepared rotisserie chicken, add a few canned ingredients and some spices, heat it all up and you are ready to go!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 16 cups

Calories: 264kcal

Author: Terri @ that's some good cookin'

Ingredients

• 1 medium or large onion, medium diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from Costco)
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 16 ounce jar roasted salsa verde
• 2 15 ounce cans cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper, to taste

Suggested Toppings:

• pico di gallo
• guacamole
• a squeeze of lime
• crispy tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chip
• cotija crumbles or shredded Monterrey Jack
• sour cream

Instructions

• In a 6-8 quart pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and saute until the onions are translucent. (Drain oil, if desired.)
• Add the remaining soup ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, then lower heat enough to keep soup at a simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with toppings as desired.

Notes

To cook in slow cooker: To the crock of a slow cooker, add the sauteed onions, chicken, chicken broth, salsa verde, beans, cumin, and salt and pepper.Turn slow cooker on low and cook for four hours. All nutrition numbers are for the soup without any toppings.

Nutrition

Calories: 264kcal

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