A change from your typical red enchilada soup, this Green Chicken Enchilada Soup is filled with your favorite chicken enchilada flavors. Top with cheese and tortilla chips for even more flavor!
Love a good Mexican inspired soup? You can also try this Taco Soup or Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup.
If you are a fan of Mexican food, this Green Chicken Enchilada Soup is for you. I love a good traditional Chicken Enchilada Soup. But I thought it would be fun to do a soup based off of my favorite kind of enchiladas – the ones that are filled with cheese, chicken and green chiles. I can’t think of a better combination!
This soup is a thick soup (just how I like them!) but you can always add more water or broth to thin it out, if desired. I usually serve it as is when we eat it, but if we have leftovers, I’ll add in some additional liquid.
This is the perfect soup for any enchilada lovers!
Ingredient Notes
Make sure to read through the full ingredient list in the recipe card below.
- Masa Harina: If you’ve never heard of masa harina, you are probably not alone. While it is not a hard ingredient to find, (most supermarkets carry it!), unless you are making a lot of Mexican food, you may have never bought it. It is basically dehydrated corn dough. You would use it to make corn tortillas. But it also works really well as a thickener for soups, which is why I use it here. Not only does it thicken the soup, but it gives you that tortilla flavor throughout the soup.
- Enchilada Sauce: I have only ever made this recipe using store bought green enchilada sauce. No matter what you use, just make sure it is a sauce that you love, because the flavor will really come through.
- Green Chiles: I really love green chiles, so we use 2 cans. If you aren’t as big of a fan, you can cut this back to 1 can.
- Spices: I use a basic blend of spices – just Chile powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Feel free to add in some of your favorite Mexican spices, though.
- Cheese: We love this with Monterey Jack cheese, but any easy melting cheese will work. You will also use cream cheese to make the soup nice and creamy.
- Chicken: I love using cooked, shredded chicken, and it works well in this recipe. You can also use a rotisserie chicken, or just cook up some chicken as the soup cooks and add it in at the end.
How to Make Green Chicken Enchilada Soup
STEP 1: Sauté the onion in the oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven until softened. Add in the garlic and cook another minute.
STEP 2: Stir the chicken broth into the soup pot.
STEP 3: Mix the masa harina into 2 cups of the water. You want to whisk this to make sure there are no lumps.
STEP 4: Pour that mixture into the soup pot, along with the rest of the water, the enchilada sauce, and the green chiles. Then mix in the spices. Let this all cook together until it starts to thicken.
STEP 5: Add in the cheese and the cream cheese. You’ll want to use a whisk at this point to whisk the cream cheese in fully until it’s melted.
STEP 6: Add the chicken into the pot, and cook until the chicken is warmed through. Sere the soup topped with your favorite toppings, if desired.
Tips and Tricks
This soup will continue to thicken up as it cools. If you don’t like the soup as thick, you can add extra chicken broth or water.
You can also make this vegetarian by using vegetable broth and leaving out the chicken.
Store any leftovers in a container in the refrigerator. You may need to add extra liquid when reheating.
More Favorite Soups
Turkey Noodle Soup
Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup
Crockpot Potato Soup
Black Bean and Ham Soup
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Green Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 3 cups water* divided
- 1 cup masa harina
- 1 (10 oz) can green enchilada sauce
- 2 (4 oz) each cans diced green chiles
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Chile powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Pepper to taste
- 4 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- Optional toppings – more cheese, crushed chips, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeños, etc.
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken broth.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 clove garlic, 1 quart chicken broth
- Combine 2 cups of the water with the masa marina, whisking until smooth. Pour into the pot, along with the remaining cup of water, enchilada sauce, and green chiles. Season with the salt, Chile powder, cumin, and pepper to taste.3 cups water*, 1 cup masa harina, 1 (10 oz) can green enchilada sauce, 2 (4 oz) each cans diced green chiles, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Chile powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, Pepper
- Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until thickened.
- Stir in the Monterey Jack an the cream cheese. Cook until both cheeses have melted, whisking as needed, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and cook until heated through.4 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese, 4 oz cream cheese, 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- Serve topped with additional toppings, if desired.Optional toppings – more cheese, crushed chips, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeños, etc.
MaryAnn Craven says
I just made this and it was a HUGE hit!!! I had never made anything like it before but it was easy and turned out great. I followed the directions exactly, except I only used 1/2 tsp. of cumin and I think I used more chicken and more onion…didn’t measure. My husband had eaten the tortilla chips I had purchased for the meal so I had to make them from some corn tortillas at the last minute. I highly recommend this recipe!!! 🙂
Deborah says
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for the review!
Cara says
Thank you for posting this recipe! I have some Hatch chiles that I wanted to use in a soup, but every other recipe for a thicker enchilada soup also called for a pound of cheese…this is exactly what I was looking for!
Kristy says
This was an amazingly delicious recipe. I did make a fresh green chile enchilada sauce instead of using the canned, and also used fresh roasted green chiles instead of canned, and this soup was a hit! I had so many people asking for the recipe. My 11-yr old cousin (who is a picky eater) actually ate 2 huge bowls of this. I definitely will be adding this recipe to my list of go-to soups.
Deborah says
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Eric Raines says
Just finished this for dinner with the family… it was exceptional, loved the thickness of the broth. Ended up with about a TBS each of the salt, cumin, and chili powder and a 1/2 TBS or so of black pepper. Big hit, even the 6 year old loved it and had no problem with the slight level of spice.
Deborah says
Thank you so much for letting me know – I’m so glad that you and your family loved it!