Description
This Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Soup is a hearty and flavorful dish featuring tender chicken breast simmered with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and a blend of warm spices. Perfect for an easy, comforting meal, this soup is enriched with traditional Mexican flavors and can be customized with toppings like shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and avocado.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced (brown, white, or yellow)
- 1 large red capsicum/bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups (750ml) low sodium chicken broth/stock
- 800g (28 oz) canned black beans, drained (2 cans) or other beans
- 800g (28 oz) canned corn, drained (2 cans) or 500g (1 lb) frozen/fresh corn
- 800g (28 oz) crushed canned tomatoes or 700g tomato passata
- 500g (1 lb) chicken breast
Spices
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Toppings (Optional)
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream or yogurt
- Coriander/cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Avocado, diced
- Corn chips or tortillas, for dunking
Instructions
- Sauté Vegetables: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the diced onion, red capsicum/bell pepper, and minced garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened and translucent, developing their flavors.
- Deglaze and Transfer: Add a splash of chicken broth to the skillet, bring to a simmer to loosen the browned bits, then transfer the entire contents into the slow cooker pot. If using an Instant Pot, perform this step using the sauté function.
- Add Remaining Ingredients: To the slow cooker, add the remaining chicken broth, black beans, corn, crushed tomatoes or passata, and all the spices (oregano, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper). Give everything a good stir to combine.
- Prepare Chicken: Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker and press them down so they are fully submerged in the soup mixture, ensuring even cooking and flavor absorption.
- Slow Cook: Cover and cook the soup on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Alternatively, if using a pressure cooker, cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- Shred Chicken: Carefully remove the cooked chicken breasts from the slow cooker onto a plate. Use two forks to shred the meat finely. Return the shredded chicken to the soup and stir well to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt or pepper if needed.
- Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with your choice of toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream or yogurt, coriander, lime wedges, diced avocado, and serve with corn chips or tortillas for dunking.
Notes
- You can substitute black beans for red kidney beans, or use 1/2 cup dried beans (pre-soaked) instead of canned.
- Tomato passata is a smooth, pureed tomato product found in the pasta section of supermarkets. It is thinner than tomato paste and adds a fresh tomato flavor.
- If cooking on the stove, simmer the soup for 40 minutes over medium-low heat, remove and shred the chicken, then simmer soup for another 20 minutes before adding the shredded chicken back and serving.
- The cooked soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Freeze the soup without toppings for best results.
- Nutrition values are calculated per 800g (about 3 cups) serving, excluding added toppings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 800g (about 3 cups)
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 38 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg
