Chicken Fajita Soup is healthy, easy and full of your favorite fajita flavors. A soup recipe that will make you and your weeknight dinner plans very happy. You could call this a taco soup or a tortilla soup, but I call this full fajita deliciousness in a bowl.
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.
Preparing a meal usually begins with cutting and chopping things. Do you find this part of meal prep comforting, pouring yourself a glass of wine and then savoring every dice and slice?
If so, you’re going to love this chicken fajita soup. If you dislike wielding that knife, not to worry, bell peppers are among the easier veggies to chop and the flavor of this soup is worth every slice.
Before I attended Culinary School, I was a harried chopper. Rushing through the process, making a mess of things. I simply didn’t like it because I wasn’t good at it. But the good news is, the longer you chop, dice or julienne, the better you’ll get at it.
You’ll learn the rewards of evenly cut bell peppers, perfectly diced onions and a julienned carrot. And even the best chefs sing the praises of the flavor benefits of evenly chopped veggies. And of course makes the dish easier to eat and easier on the eye.
The secret is to study the shape of a vegetable and to learn to shape that vegetable into a flat “plank.” Once that is accomplished, the task is easy.
Lots of bell peppers to chop for this one. Simply cut off both ends of the bell peppers, then slice the pepper so you can roll it out and it lay it flat. Cut the veins from the inner flesh, then lay the pepper skin side down. Then cut the peppers into thin slices. Easy peasy.
After the chopping is done, the remaining prep for this chicken fajita soup is a breeze. And becomes a simple dinner easy enough for a weeknight.
Even though I’m a slow methodical chopper, the prep for this soup only took about fifteen minutes.
How To Make Quick Work
- Start with chopping the vegetables. You’ll need one red bell pepper, one yellow bell pepper, one green bell pepper and a poblano pepper. Not necessary, but I always roast my poblano peppers over my stove top gas stove. I love the smoky flavor this brings to any dish.
- Cut the bell peppers into very thin slices, then half those slices horizontally to make the soup easier to eat.
- Slice the chicken breast into very thin slices, just like you would for chicken fajitas.
- Chop tomatoes, if using fresh, or open a can of chopped tomatoes. Drain if using canned.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add chicken slices and briefly sear. Add sliced vegetables and seasonings.
- Add your cooking liquid and let the soup simmer over medium low for thirty minutes.
- Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with grated cheese and tortilla strips. I also addd some chives … just for fun.
Culinary School TIP:
- Chicken breast that is partially frozen makes for an easier slicing project. Just place chicken breasts in the freezer for about 30 minutes before prep.
- Tip from me: Purchase multi-colored tortilla strips from the grocery store. King Soopers keeps them in the produce section because they’re a great topping for salads.
Chicken Fajita Soup Recipe
If you’ve followed my blog for any time, you know that I’m a big fan of vinegar. There’s a splash of vinegar in this recipe, but why? Vinegar is magic. And in my kitchen, it’s as important as salt and pepper.
Plain and simple, a splash of vinegar can brighten, balance and sharpen your food.
This chicken fajita soup is chock full of flavor. It’s absolutely healthy, low carb, and hearty. A perfect soup for any season. And easy enough for a weeknight meal. Does it get any more perfect than that?
I hope you give this fajita soup recipe a try and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite Southwest chicken soup recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Recipes For Mexican Chicken Soup
Along with our favorite Southwest Chicken Soup, here are some other choices for a trip South of the Border.
- Leftover Chicken Soup using Rotisserie Chicken
- Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Southwest Garbanzo Bean Soup with Chicken
- White Bean Chili with Chicken (Award Winning)
And if you love making soup, don’t miss my Soup Category. Lots of soup stew and chili recipes to browse. You’ll find the most popular chili recipe, Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Chili. And one of our favorite easy recipe is this one for Chicken Poblano Soup. It will brighten your day.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
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Chicken Fajita Soup
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 1 large sweet onion sliced
- 1 small green bell pepper sliced thin
- 1 small red bell pepper sliced thin
- 1 small yellow bell pepper sliced thin
- 1 large poblano pepper chopped.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder heaping
- ¼ teaspoon New Mexico Chile Powder or Ancho, or 2 – 3 drops hot sauce
- 2 cups tomatoes fresh, chopped. Or 1 14 ½ ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained
- ½ cup water
- 1 ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- shredded cheese for garnish
- tortilla strips for garnish
Instructions
- Cut the chicken, bell peppers into thin strips, then half those strips for bite size pieces. Roast the poblano pepper over the grates of your gas stove. Cut off the ends of the poblano, remove the veins and seeds, most of the charred skin and chop. Roasting the poblano brings a smoky element to the soup. If you don't want to roast, just remove veins and seeds and chop.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken strips to sear. Don't overcrowd the meat, complete this process in two batches if necessary.
- Once the chicken has briefly seared, add the peppers and onions and sprinkle with cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix well.
- Stir in the chili powder and hot chile powder or hot sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are partially cooked. About 5 – 7 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and water. Cook until bubbly. Stir in the broth. Bring to a boil.
- Simmer over medium low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in cider vinegar and serve.
- Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with cheese and tortilla strips.
Notes
- Chicken breast that is partially frozen makes for an easier slicing project. Just place chicken breasts in the freezer for about 30 minutes before prep.
- Purchase multi-colored tortilla strips from the grocery store. King Soopers keeps them in the produce section because they’re a great topping for salads.
- If you’ve followed my blog for any time, you know that I’m a big fan of vinegar. There’s a splash of vinegar in this recipe, but why? Vinegar is magic. And in my kitchen, it’s as important as salt and pepper. Plain and simple, a splash of vinegar can brighten, balance and sharpen your food.
Nutrition
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I have a question on step 6 & 7 of this recipe. In 6 you say to add the vinegar and serve, then, in 7 you are to simmer over medium low heat for 30 minutes. Are you to add the vinegar then simmer or simmer and add the vinegar just before serving. Sorry if this is a silly question but this recipe looks so good I want to do it justice when I make it. Thank you
Thank you so much for your note. And yes, there was a mistake in the recipe.
Add the vinegar after the soup has simmered. Just stir it in before you serve it.
Vinegar as an acid, helps stabilize the flavors and bring them together. It’s a great ingredient for any tomato based dish. Just as important as salt, in my opinion. If needed it tames that strong tomato-y bite out of canned tomatoes.
Sorry for the inconvenience. And again thanks for letting me know, I’ve corrected the recipe.
Even though it is not quite soup weather here in Arizona, this soup was delicious!
HA! Is it ever soup weather in Arizona? 🙂 Actually I can eat soup year around.
Thanks so much for the note Sandra. And I’m so glad you enjoyed that soup.
Thank you!
Lea Ann, if I had the pep to run out to the store right now for the missing ingredients, this would be on my table this evening! What a wonderful soup. Funny about the evenly chopped and sliced vegetables, I was thinking about that very thing just last evening when I was cutting a bell pepper just as you described. Sometimes I’m happy with the food processor diced veg, and other times I’m a stickler for doing it by hand, evenly.
I need to give this a try! Looks so delicious!
This is my kind of soup! What’s even better is that my family will love it too!
Thanks so much Dorothy.
Vinegar really is magic — just a little can really unlock a lot of flavor. We’re starting to crave soup again (change of weather and all of that), and this would be perfect. Thanks!
I’ve been looking for a fajita soup and I am so happy that you posted this, it looks amazing.
I cheat and buy the Trader Joe’s frozen sliced three peppers for quick fajitas and that will make this soup super easy.
You are my favorite food blog.
Hi Jean and thanks for your note.
And a big thanks for that Trader Joe’s tip. I’ll look for those next time I’m there. Let me know what you think about the soup. We loved it and the flavor outstanding.
Please use a quality chili powder blend. I make my own and always have a stash of it in the pantry.
Good looking soup Chef but our continued mid 90 temps has me in no mood for it – I’ll save for later. I keep getting failed to deliver when I respond to your Sunday emails – any thoughts?