Description
Slow Cooker Green Enchilada Soup takes everything you love about salsa verde chicken enchiladas and puts it in soup form. It’s especially easy because it’s a crock pot recipe!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons oregano or Mexican oregano
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 8 ounces green enchilada sauce, divided
- ½ cup diced green chiles
- 2 cups water
- 4 small corn tortillas
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature and cubed
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 4 small corn tortillas (for the strips)
- cooking spray
- salt
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to the basin of a 6 quart slow cooker then add the chopped onion, chicken breasts, minced garlic, and all the seasonings (salt, chili powder, cumin, oregano).
- Next, pour in the chicken stock, green chiles, and half of the enchilada sauce.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3.5 hours.
- While the soup is cooking, tear 4 corn tortillas into small pieces and add them to a blender with the remaining enchilada sauce and 2 cups of water. Blend until completely mixed. Set aside for later.
- After the cook time is up, remove the chicken breasts and use two forks to shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the crockpot.
- Pour the blended tortilla mixture into the slow cooker and mix well.
- Add in the cream cheese and half of the Monterey Jack cheese. Stir and cover. Turn the slow cooker to HIGH and cook for another 30 minutes (or 1 hour on LOW).
- Once done, stir to distribute the cheeses.
- Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, more shredded cheese, cilantro, diced tomatoes, or sour cream as desired.
- For the tortilla strips: Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the remaining 4 corn tortillas into strips, arrange in a single layer, spray with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly brown and crisp.
Notes
- After slow cooking, transfer chicken to a bowl and shred with two forks—it should fall apart easily. For a quicker method, use an electric hand mixer, but watch out for splatter!
- Use rotisserie chicken and cook the soup on the stovetop. Combine all ingredients (except cheese), simmer for 20–30 minutes, then stir in the cheese and tortilla mixture until melted.
- Use softened, room-temperature cream cheese to avoid clumps and help it melt smoothly. For best results, shred cheese from a block instead of using pre-shredded varieties.
- Every slow cooker runs differently. Times given are a general recommendation and should be tested in your own slow cooker and adjusted as needed.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl