Southwest Chicken Enchilada Soup is full of all the southwest goods we have all come to love. Black beans, corn, and tomatoes, amongst a few other things, make this soup so heart and satisfying. The best thing about this soup, aside from it being so dang good, is how easy it is to make! Not only are we using all the canned goods, meaning no real prep needed, but we are also using the instant pot to make this super easy and effortless.
The enchilada sauce in this soup is key. I highly recommend my enchilada sauce for this. It is so easy to make and I know you will want to make it over and over again. When you make homemade enchilada sauce you are guaranteed to have a sauce made with clean ingredients and full of flavor! You only need a few ingredients for it:
Chicken Broth
Tomato sauce
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cumin
Optional: Cayenne or Chipotle powder for extra heat; arrowroot powder or cornstarch to thicken if desired.
Once you make the enchilada sauce from scratch, you will not go back! With that said, you can absolutely use a canned or jarred enchilada sauce and this Southwest Chicken Enchilada Soup will turn out just as delicious and comforting!
This is the perfect soup to make a big batch for the week, to make for a potluck, or simply when you need a quick and easy meal. As someone who works full time and sometimes has no desire to cook, (yes even as a food blogger!), I love having the option to make something so quick and easy for dinner. Open a few cans of veggies, throw in some chicken breasts, flavor it with some delicious enchilada sauce, pressure cook for a few minutes, and dinner can be done in no time!
Southwest Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- ½ (15 oz) can pinto beans drained. *See note
- ½ (15 oz) can black beans drained. *See note
- 1 (15 oz) can corn drained
- 1 (4 oz) can green chiles not drained
- 1 (14-15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 corn tortillas cut into stripes
Enchilada Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- salt to taste
- ¼ cayenne or chipotle powder optional for extra heat
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder optional to thicken
Instructions
- Add everything except tortillas and olive oil to instant pot.
- Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes while you make the tortilla strips.
- Add oil to skillet and place over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add tortilla strips and salt to taste. Fry until crispy, about 5 minutes making sure you flip halfway through.
- Manually release pressure.
- Pull out chicken breasts and shred. Place chicken back into pot and salt if needed.
- Serve and top tortilla strips and other toppings such as cheese, cilantro, jalapenos, and lime.
Enchilada Sauce
- Whisk all ingredients together, except arrowroot powder, in a sauce pan and whisk over medium heat.
- In a small bowl add a couple of tablespoons of sauce and add arrowroot powder to sauce. Mix well until all arrowroot has dissolved. Add mixture to sauce, mix well, and whisk over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
Just made this and it is delicious! It will definitely be one I make again! Your Enchilada Sauce is yummy too, so I’m happy I made a double batch!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! The enchilada sauce is a game changer. Thank you!
Hi! I’m new to your site and have loved drooling over and trying these recipes! We don’t have an instant pot, how would you modify this for those not cooking in an instant pot? Good ole fashion crock pot?
Thank you!
Hi Elissa! Crock pot works great! My girlfriends have made in in their slow cooker and put everything in before leaving for work. Low on 8 hours and high on 4 would work great. Let me know if you try it out!