Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
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You need this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup in your weeknight dinner rotation. Tender chicken protein, warm and melty cheese, and jam-packed with veggies, this dinner is fast, easy, and budget-friendly. It also feeds a crowd—double it for your winter gatherings and they’ll lick the bowl clean!
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
No matter their age, every single one of my family members LOVES this simple Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup. Everyone can customize their soup (more cheese! Tortilla strips! Hot sauce!) to get it exactly how they want it. It definitely hits all those cravings for Mexican food without the hassle of takeout or rolling your own enchiladas. I love being able to throw this soup together in my slow cooker before the day gets crazy, and then a delicious dinner is magically ready in the evening. We use Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup a lot during the busy fall and winter months, when we may not get a chance to sit down for dinner together between school and practice and other obligations. Everyone can fix their own bowl of soup when they’re ready (and they’re eating veggies to boot!).
The real star of this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup is the Italian dressing. You may not think of Italian dressing when you think of enchiladas, but the tangy dressing makes this soup stand out from all the others that only use broth and spices. You can use the packets, but I usually keep Italian dressing in the fridge since it’s the perfect marinade and sauce for so many things.
Customizing Your Crockpot Enchilada Soup
There are so many ways to remix this soup for your taste. Here are a few ideas that I’ve tried or seen other chefs do:
- Speed things up with rotisserie chicken added towards the end of cooking.
- Try different types of salsa—like Mango Habanero!
- Swap the Italian dressing for actual canned enchilada sauce (green is our favorite, but red is delicious if you like more heat!).
- Use lightly browned ground beef if you prefer red meat to poultry.
- Melt cheese over chips and dip into the soup!
- Meal prep this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup by mixing the chicken, liquids, and spices in a Tupperware or Ziploc, then freezing. Pull the mixture out to thaw the night before, then throw in your Crockpot with the canned ingredients in the morning.
Follow Easy Cooking Zone
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breast halves
- 2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 2/3 cup chunky salsa (I use Pace Chunky Hot Salsa)
- 1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup Masa Harina
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 (14 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 2/3 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
- Salt and Pepper , to taste
For Serving (all optional, but I'd say sour cream is a must):
- Additional shredded Cheddar and Monterrey Jack Cheese
- Diced avocados
- Sour Cream
- Chopped cilantro
- Chopped green onions
- Tortilla Chips or strips
Instructions
- Place chicken in a slow cooker. Pour chicken broth, tomato sauce, salsa and Zesty Italian Dressing over chicken. Sprinkle in chili powder, cumin, onion powder and garlic powder. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 6 hours.
- Once cooked, remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside. Prepare a roux in a saucepan by heating olive oil over medium heat then stirring in Masa Harina (mixture will be thick), slowly pour in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is very thick and it reaches a gentle boil (it should be like the consistency of a porridge). Pour mixture into slow cooker and whisk until smooth.
- Add in corn, Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Cheddar Cheese and Monterrey Jack Cheese. Shred chicken and stir into soup. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any salt at all I didn't think it needed it just pepper). Allow to cook about 10 minutes until all ingredients are heated through. Serve warm garnished with additional shredded cheese, diced avocados, sour cream, cilantro, green onions and tortilla chips.