Sopa Ranchera, A Southwest Chicken Soup recipe that is hearty and healthy with chicken breast, potatoes, and hominy. Brimming with warming Southwestern spices, this is a bowl of clean-eating comfort food without sacrificing flavor.
We’ve been eating like lumberjacks. It started sometime in mid-September. The calorie and fat flood gates were opened and it’s been a steady river of deliciousness since.
Its come to a screeching halt and it’s time to take a break, eat clean and healthy over the next couple of weeks, so that the Holiday food gluttony be welcomed with confidence and cheer.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, the easiest way to eat clean without skimping on flavor is a big bowl of soup. Lots of broth, lots of vegetables and lean meats make for a satisfying “feel good about yourself” meal.
Here’s a recipe that I found in the January 1999 issue of Cooking Light Magazine and it’s been one of our favorites over the years.
This Southwest Chicken Soup is hearty with potatoes, corn, zucchini, hominy and chicken breast and seasoned with your favorite warming Mexican spices. A flavorful bowl of soup that’s easy to make.
You don’t see a lot of recipes for chicken soup with zucchini, so keep this one in your back pocket for late Summer when zucchini is abundant.
Don’t forget a squeeze of lime just before serving. You’ll love a kick of zesty citrus to brighten flavors and finish the dish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken Broth
- Canned Chopped Tomatoes: I like Red Gold Petite diced tomatoes for soup recipes. Their small size is perfect for blending well with other vegetables. Disclaimer: Red Gold hasn’t provided me any incentive to mention their product.
- Onion: Sweet or Yellow
- Hominy: I like to use frozen hominy, however it can be hard to find. Use dried posole, soaked over-night and precooked. Or canned hominy.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast: Boneless skinless chicken thighs will work well here.
- Frozen Corn is preferred, but canned corn will work here.
- Potatoes For this recipe, we’re using russet potatoes. The reason is that they are a starchier potato. We’ll be using the cooking water to supplement the broth, which will enhance flavor and texture.
- Zucchini: You can use regular zucchini or a Summer squash.
- Cilantro If you don’t like cilantro, simply omit it from this recipe.
- Spices: Garlic Powder, Ground Cumin, New Mexico Chile Powder, Mexican Oregano
Mexican Oregano is preferred for this recipe. It's peppery, grassy, earthy flavor is a good compliment for Mexican Food. If you don't have Mexican Oregano, substitute Marjoram. Known for its aroma and delicate flavor, its related to oregano and will bring a sweet undertone to any recipe.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add oregano, cumin, chile powder and garlic powder; sauté until fragrant, about one minute.
- Step 2: Add cooked potatoes, 2 cups of the starchy cooking water, 4 cups chicken stock, hominy, chicken, corn, salt, canned tomatoes and zucchini; cook 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro; and cook 2 minutes longer.
- Step 3: To serve: Ladle soup into bowls, and top with a dollop of sour cream. Other great toppings are finely chopped raw onion, cilantro, shredded cheese and tortilla strips. Serve with lime wedges.
Seeking out and using New Mexico Red Chile Powder will increase not only the depth of flavor, but the unique spicy element in this Southwest Chicken Soup. The Hatch Chile Store in New Mexico is a good place to shop. A good quality cumin from a quality spice shop like Savory Spice will add a pure cumin experience.
All soups taste better the next day. Why? That overnight rest in the refrigerator allows the ingredients and spices to marry and blend. Even though the soup is no longer cooking on the stove, they are still marinating and breaking down as they rest. Just as they would during a very slow cook.
Tips for Success:
- Potatoes: You can use other waxier potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes, but they won’t leave as much starch in the cooking water. Russet Potatoes are the starchiest potatoes available and will provide flavor and slight thickening to the soup. If you use Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, you won’t need to peel them. They have a thinner more delicate skin. Russet potatoes must be peeled.
- Don’t overcook the soup. Zucchini is a delicate vegetable. Once added the soup will only need to cook for a few minutes.
- If using dried hominy or frozen posole, you must cook it before adding to this soup. Dried hominy will have to be soaked overnight and then cooked in enough liquid to cover for a couple of hours or until tender. Frozen posole doesn’t need to be soaked overnight, but does require a 2-hour cooking time.
Storage
- Store this Southwest Chicken Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat stove-top or microwave.
- This soup will freeze, but keep in mind the texture of the zucchini may become compromised (watery) once thawed.
What To Serve With This Soup
A salad is always a great side dish to serve with soup. Take a look at this Southwest Salad, brimming with black beans and southwest flavors. Or a lighter salad like this Baby Kale Salad with Green Apples. And Guacamole Made In A Molcajete is always a good choice for a starter course.
I hope you give this hearty ranch style Southwest chicken soup recipe a try. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly hearty and very healthy.
Southwest chicken soup is a delightful and satisfying culinary experience that brings together the vibrant flavors of the Southwest with the comforting warmth of a hearty soup.
More Southwestern Chicken Soup Recipes
And don’t miss the ever classic and popular recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup.
And if you love soup as much as we do, don’t miss my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of warming recipes including a couple of the most popular on my site for Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Beef Chili and Giada’s Ground Chicken Chili. And one of our favorite stew recipes for Green Chile and Pork Stew.
And if you're looking for a soup recipe to cook when you don't feel like cooking, check this one out for Taco Soup with Ranch Dressing.
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Sopa Ranchera, Southwest Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil olive, canola or vegetable oil
- 1 small sweet onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano dried
- 1 teaspoon New Mexico Red Chile Powder or cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 Cups chicken stock
- 2 Cups Starchy water from cooked potatoes
- 2 medium Russet potatoes cubed and cooked, water reserved
- 1 15 ounce can Hominy drained
- 2 Cups boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded or cubed
- 1 Cup frozen sweet corn or 1-15 ounce ounce canned corn. Drained.
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 small zucchini quartered lengthwise and and cubed
- 1 15 /12 ounce can diced tomatoes
- ⅓ Cup chopped fresh cilantro
- toppings:
- sour cream
- finely chopped onion
- chopped fresh cilantro
- shredded cheese
- limes wedges
- multi-colored tortilla strips
Instructions
- In a saucepan, cover the cubed potatoes with salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes, reserving the starchy water to add to the chicken broth to make 6 cups liquid.
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes.
- Add oregano, cumin, and garlic powder and chile powder. Sauté until fragrant. About one minute.
- Add cooked potatoes, 2 cups of the starchy cooking water, 4 cups chicken stock, cooked hominy, chicken, corn, kosher salt, canned tomatoes and zucchini; cook 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro; and cook 2 minutes.
- Ladle soup into bowls, and top with a dollop of sour cream. Other great toppings are finely chopped raw onion, cilantro, shredded cheese and tortilla strips. Serve with lime wedges.
Notes
- Potatoes: You can use other waxier potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes, but they won’t leave as much starch in the cooking water. Russet Potatoes are the starchiest potatoes available and will provide flavor and slight thickening to the soup. If you use Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, you won’t need to peel them. They have a thinner more delicate skin. Russet potatoes must be peeled.
- Don’t overcook the soup. Zucchini is a delicate vegetable. Once added the soup will only need to cook for a few minutes.
- If using dried hominy or frozen posole, you must cook it before adding to this soup. Dried hominy will have to be soaked overnight and then cooked in enough liquid to cover for a couple of hours or until tender. Frozen posole doesn’t need to be soaked overnight, but does require a 2-hour cooking time.
Nutrition
Sopa Ranchera, Southwest Chicken Soup …It’s What’s for Dinner.
This chicken soup recipe was first published in November of 2013, and updated December 2023, with new photos and step by step instructions.
