Wondermom » Recipes » Dinner » The Best Tex Mex Chicken Soup Recipe
by Corinne Schmitt
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This Tex Mex Chicken Soup is a warm, satisfying meal that’s perfect for Fall. It includes a secret ingredient that lends a wonderful creaminess and mild sweetness to offset the spices. Read on to find out what it is!
During winter I crave warm, hearty meals. I try to avoid really heavy foods though that will add on a winter layer I will have to shed once warmer weather arrives.
That’s why many of my favorite winter recipes are soups and stews. My all-time favorite soup is Tex-Mex Chicken Soup. I use a recipe that I adapted from one I found at Budget Bytes that is actually a pumpkin soup.
I realized that the pumpkin puree created a beautifully creamy texture. It also has just a hint of sweetness which blends deliciously with the chipotle peppers! If you want to try another creamy soup, try Tomato Bisque Basil Soup.
How to Make the Best Tex Mex Chicken Soup
This recipe is very simple but does have a few steps. You could just dump everything in at once, but you’ll get a better result if you take the time to saute and simmer as directed.
You should be able to find everything you need at your average grocery store. The ingredients are pretty basic (the chipotle peppers should be in the Mexican/Latin food aisle).
I just love how colorful this soup is! Look at the bright, pretty colors of the ingredients. It’s just like my Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.
Step 1: Saute the onions and garlic
First, we’re going to pull all that yummy flavor out of the fresh onions and garlic by sauteing them in olive oil for a few minutes.
Step 2: Add chicken and stock
Once the onions are translucent, add your chicken breasts and chicken stock to the pot.
We need to let the soup simmer for another 10 minutes to make sure all of the ingredients are heated through. Once the soup is nice and hot, spoon out servings into bowls and top with cilantro.
You can also sprinkle on cheese and a dollop of sour cream if you want.
The Best Tex Mex Chicken Soup Recipe
Trust me. After you make this once, it’s going to be one of your favorites. Print off the recipe for the Best Tex Mex Chicken Soup below.
Heat olive oil in large stock pot. Add onions and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Add the chicken breasts to the pot and pour in chicken stock. Cover. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove chicken from pot and shred. Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Add the pumpkin puree and diced tomatoes and mix well.
Mince one or two chipotle peppers (depending on whether you want mild or medium spice) and add to the soup. Also add one to two teaspoons of the adobo sauce.
Rinse the black beans and add them to the soup. Add the corn. Add the cumin and chili powder.
It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.
Besides adding vegetables to your soup, another option is to play around with stirring in herbs and spices. If you love food with some zing to it, drizzling in some hot sauce can be a great way to bring on the heat and give your soup an extra edge.
A splash of vinegar or wine can add depth and complexity to the flavors of your chicken noodle soup. Try adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar or a dry white wine for a delightful tangy note. Just remember to add it gradually, tasting as you go, to avoid overpowering the soup.
Whether it's white wine or vinegar, a touch of acid added to the simmering pot will create a richer finished product. That's because acid helps break down the cartilage and other connective tissues in the bones of the chicken, which helps speed up the formation of gelatin in the stock.
While broth and stock both get richer and richer the longer you cook them, the problem is that the chicken meat will dry out and get tough if you let it go too long.
Vinegar – A spoonful of vinegar is a quick fix when you find yourself with a bowl of dull, flat-tasting soup. Just a small amount of acid will brighten up the flavors. 2. Soy Sauce – Soy sauce is another item that's ideal for brightening up and adding depth of flavor to an otherwise dull soup.
Cold-poaching the chicken breasts, then removing them until the end of the cooking process, guarantees a perfectly tender and juicy texture. Using stock reinforces the flavor of the broth, creating a more deeply flavorful soup.
For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.
Why making soup or stew with plain water instead of stock is a great idea. Water is the ideal vehicle to bring all the flavor out of your soup and stew ingredients without imparting any of its own.
Ensure you've added enough salt and black pepper. Too little salt means your soup's flavors will remain hidden. When you know your soup is salty enough, move on to other seasonings like herbs and spices.
All soups and stews must have three major components in order to be tasty: an undercurrent liquid, aromatics, and volumizing ingredients. In every case, they're layered together until all of the flavors meld together in a harmonious, silky balance.
Some of our favorites are Dried Shallots, Dehydrated Red Bell Pepper, Dehydrated Green Bell Pepper, Tomato Flakes, Minced Onion and Roasted Garlic Flakes.
A good soup should be full-flavored, with no off or sour tastes. Flavors from each of the soup's ingre- dients should blend and complement, with no one flavor overpowering another. Con- sommés should be crystal clear. The vegetables in vegetable soups should be brightly colored, not gray.
The homemade soup recipes that are most memorable are ones that require a long simmer, with carefully browned bones, vegetables, and seasoning added in.
You can extract a clean, strong broth from a combination of water and several pantry ingredients. It's all about layering powerful flavor-enhancers that you probably already have on hand—bacon, tomato paste, herbs, peppercorns, a Parmesan rind, and, of course, kosher salt.
Introduction: My name is Duane Harber, I am a modern, clever, handsome, fair, agreeable, inexpensive, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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