Chicken Enchilada Soup (Creamy, One Pot, 35 Minutes)

This chicken enchilada soup is everything I like about a pan of enchiladas without the rolling, the baking dish or the hour in the oven: a red enchilada-sauce broth, a pile of shredded chicken, black beans and corn, and a swirl of cream cheese and cheddar that turns the whole pot creamy. It is 35 minutes in one pot (or six hours in the crockpot while you ignore it), and every bowl lands at 36g of protein. It sits right between my chicken tortilla soup and my cheesy chicken enchilada casserole in the fall rotation, and it is the one my family asks for by name.

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Why this creamy chicken enchilada soup tastes like the real thing.

• The broth is actual enchilada sauce, not a tomato soup with chili powder. A can of red enchilada sauce plus chicken broth is the base, with toasted chili powder and cumin on top of it. That is what makes it taste like the inside of my easy chicken enchiladas rather than a generic soup recipe with a Mexican-ish name.
• Cream cheese makes it creamy without a roux or a can of condensed soup. Four ounces of cream cheese whisked into the hot broth at the end gives you a velvety, slightly tangy soup — the same trick I use in my creamy chicken tortellini soup. The cheddar goes in after, off the heat, so it melts smooth instead of stringy.
• 36g of protein a bowl, and it is a true one pot meal. A pound and a half of chicken breast poaches right in the broth, then gets shredded and goes back in with a can of black beans. With the cheese it comes to 36g of protein a serving — run it through the protein calculator if you are tracking. No second pan, no oven, and the crockpot version is a literal dump-and-go.

Here's what you'll need.

Here is everything that goes in — use a red enchilada sauce you would actually eat on enchiladas (mild or medium), and block cream cheese rather than the whipped tub so it melts in cleanly.

Here's how it all comes together.

STEP 1 — Toast the aromatics and spices.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Cook the diced onion for 4 minutes until soft, then add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and a pinch of salt and stir for 60 seconds. Toasting the spices in the oil is the difference between a soup that tastes deep and one that tastes dusty.

STEP 2 — Add the sauce, broth and chicken.

Pour in the enchilada sauce, chicken broth and the can of diced green chiles, and nestle the whole chicken breasts into the liquid. Bring it to a boil, then drop to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook 15 to 18 minutes until the chicken reaches 165°F.

STEP 3 — Shred the chicken.

Lift the chicken onto a board and shred it with two forks — it should pull apart easily. Return it to the pot with the drained black beans and the corn, and simmer 5 minutes so the beans heat through and the chicken soaks up the broth.

STEP 4 — Make it creamy.

Cut the cream cheese into cubes and stir them in over low heat, whisking until no streaks remain, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the shredded cheddar a handful at a time, and stir until it melts. Taste and add lime juice and salt until it pops.

STEP 5 — Crisp the tortilla strips and serve.

While the soup simmers, cut 3 corn tortillas into thin strips, toss with a teaspoon of oil and a pinch of salt, and air fry or bake at 400°F for 6 to 8 minutes until golden. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the strips, more cheddar, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

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Things I learned while testing this recipe.

• Poach the chicken in the broth, do not pre-cook it. The first time I made this I used rotisserie chicken and it was fine — but poaching raw breasts in the enchilada broth seasons the chicken all the way through and leaves the broth richer. If you are using rotisserie chicken, add it in step 3 and cut the simmer to 10 minutes.
• Cube the cream cheese and whisk it in over low heat. A whole cold block dropped into a boiling pot leaves little white lumps that never melt. Half-inch cubes, low heat, and a whisk get it smooth in 2 minutes. Letting the cream cheese sit on the counter for 20 minutes helps too.
• Add the cheddar off the heat. Cheddar boiled into soup turns grainy and stringy. Kill the heat first, add it in handfuls, and stir. It melts into the soup instead of clumping on the spoon.
• Taste the enchilada sauce before you buy a second can. Brands range from barely spiced to properly hot. I use a 19-ounce can of mild red sauce plus my own chili powder, which keeps it kid-friendly; a medium sauce plus a chopped jalapeño with the onion is the grown-up version.

Why this is my favorite crockpot recipe for a busy week.

• The crockpot version is dump-and-go. Put everything except the cream cheese, cheddar and corn in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3. Shred the chicken in the pot, stir in the corn and cream cheese, cover 10 more minutes, then add the cheddar off the heat. It is the same crockpot recipe rhythm as my crockpot crack chicken.
• It gets better on day two. Like most soups, the flavors settle overnight. I make it Sunday and it feeds two of us lunch through Wednesday — a 36g-protein lunch that reheats in 3 minutes beats anything I would buy.
• It freezes without splitting. Cream-cheese soups freeze far better than heavy-cream soups. Freeze it flat in bags for up to 3 months, thaw overnight, and reheat gently with a splash of broth. Add fresh tortilla strips and it is indistinguishable from fresh.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

• Cottage cheese flatbread — a high protein flatbread to tear and dunk instead of chips
• Cowboy caviar — spoon it on top for crunch, or serve it with chips on the side
• Air fryer smashed potatoes — crispy, salty and perfect next to a creamy soup
• Mediterranean quinoa salad — something cold and bright to balance the richness
• Cottage cheese cookie dough — the high protein dessert that finishes a soup night

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days — store the tortilla strips separately so they stay crisp. It freezes for up to 3 months; cool it completely, freeze flat in zip-top bags, and thaw overnight in the fridge.

Reheating: Reheat on the stove over medium-low with a splash of chicken broth, stirring until steaming — do not boil it or the cheese can separate. The microwave works too: 2 to 3 minutes, covered, stirring halfway. Add fresh toppings after reheating.

More easy comfort food soup recipes...

Chicken tortilla soup White chicken chili Creamy chicken tortellini soup Taco soup

Looking for more one pot comfort food? Yesterday's cheesy ground beef and potatoes skillet is the 30-minute skillet version of a no-plan dinner, and the cheesy chicken enchilada casserole is where this soup's flavors came from.

More high protein, high fiber comfort food

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