Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup
Creamy, cheesy and mildly spicy, with torn corn tortillas melting into the broth so every spoonful tastes like a chicken enchilada.
- 400 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.44 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 corn tortillas, torn into small pieces
- 1 can red enchilada sauce, 10 oz
- 1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles, with the juice
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1½ lb chicken breasts
- 4 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1 cup Mexican blend cheese
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
Each serving has about 440 calories, 39 g protein, 34 g carbs and 17 g fat, and costs about $2.44 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No Mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, and the beans, and tear the tortillas into small pieces.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Put the onion, garlic, beans, tortilla pieces, enchilada sauce, tomatoes with green chiles, water, bouillon cubes, corn, cumin and chili powder in the slow cooker and stir.
Dolly’s tip: The tortillas melt away as it cooks and thicken the soup, the way masa does in a real enchilada.Nestle the chicken breasts into the liquid, cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours.
Timer: 360 min
Lift out the chicken and check it: 165°F in the thickest part, or white with no pink inside. it with two forks.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Stir the chicken back in with the cream cheese and cheese, cover and cook for 15 minutes, then stir until smooth and creamy.
High heatTimer: 15 min
Taste for salt and serve topped with sour cream and cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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