Southwestern Chicken Soup becomes a creamy treat using a can of cream of chicken soup. This ground chicken soup includes Hatch chile peppers and Muenster cheese. This is an easy and hearty soup that your family will love.
Soup is the “right” thing to eat this time of year and as I write this, I’m reviewing how our lives have been over taken by brothy, creamy, hearty creations.
This week started with Crockpot Beef Stew With Mushrooms, perfect for a Sunday dinner. And one snowy night prepared our favorite Beef Chili.
And we ended the week perfectly with this recipe for easy Southwestern Chicken Soup.
Table of contents
What’s so Special About this Soup?
This is an exceptional Southwestern chicken soup recipe and a great soup using ground chicken. It’s not only easy, but wonderful in flavor.
If you’re soup people like us, I’d recommend this one.
As with most soups, once the chopping and dicing is done, the stovetop easily finishes the meal with ease.
This ground chicken soup is everything you’d expect with a cream of chicken soup but with the addition of bell pepper, tomato, and chile peppers.
And if you’ve never cooked with Muenster cheese you’re in for a real treat. Muenster cheese is inexpensive and a hero in the melting department. It adds an extra punch of creamy to this soup.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 medium onion
- 1 orange bell pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon New Mexico chile powder
- 4 ounces Hatch chile peppers, roasted peeled and chopped
- Frozen corn
- 1 can diced tomatoes, fire roasted diced tomatoes work well here.
- 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
- Milk, full fat.
- Muenster Cheese
About Ground Chicken: Using ground chicken can be a nice break from ground beef. It’s lighter in taste, fat and calories and holds up in the heartiest of recipes. Unless labeled as ground chicken breast, ground chicken is made with both dark and white meat. I prefer the blend as adding a little fat equals a moist texture and more flavor.
Ingredients Substitutions
- Bell Pepper: I like orange bell pepper because of the color. Red or yellow bell peppers would work well here. You can use a green bell pepper, but the flavor will be stronger rather than sweeter.
- Garlic Powder: Substitute 2 cloves fresh garlic either pressed through a garlic press or fine diced.
- Chile Powder: If you don’t have a variety of New Mexico chile powder, use Ancho chile powder.
- Corn: You can substitute canned corn or fresh corn cut from the cob.
- Tomatoes: Substitute 2 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped and juice included.
- Milk: If you don’t want to use milk, substitute chicken broth.
- Cheese: Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese would work well here. Queso Asadero, found in the Mexican dairy section of your grocery store is a good melting Mexican cheese.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is shimmering add ground chicken. Cook chicken until just starting to take on some color. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook until chicken is mostly done and vegetables are tender. About 7 minutes.
- Step 2: Add garlic powder, cumin, and chile powder. Stir well. Add chile peppers, corn and tomatoes. Simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.
- Step 3: Add soup and milk and mix well. Simmer on low for 15 minutes. Add cheese and stir until melted.
Serve this ground chicken soup immediately and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
FAQ’s
It’s easy if you own a food processor. Just cut a combination of chicken breast and chicken thighs into large chunks and put it in your food processor. Secure the lid and then pulse to grind. You’ll save a bit of money that way. Remember that every convenience that your local butcher provides adds a few dollars and cents to the price per pound.
I’m not a fan of freezing dairy based soups. The dairy can tend to separate and can compromise the texture of the soup when trying to reheat.
Absolutely. As with any soup, the flavor seems to enhance the next day. Make this ground chicken soup ahead and reheat stove top on low heat until nice and steamy.
How To Serve This Southwestern Chicken Soup
- Cilantro: This soup truly benefits from a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.
- Tortilla Chips: My favorite way to eat this soup is to crumble a few tortilla chips on top. Adds just the right amount of crunch.
- A dollop of sour cream, and a shake or two of your favorite hot sauce would work well here.
Tip For Success
- Don’t use a low fat milk product. Low fat milk tends to separate during the cooking process. A milk high in fat will hold up to heat better.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
More Southwest Soup Recipes
If you love this creamy Southwest Chicken Soup, you’ll most certainly want to take a look at these recipes.
And if you’re looking for more soup recipes, don’t miss my soup category. You’ll find lots of ideas, including the most popular soup recipe on my site for Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Beef Chili.
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Southwestern Chicken Soup with Ground Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 medium onion chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 orange bell pepper chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon New Mexico Chile Powder or ancho
- 4 ounce chile peppers Roasted, peeled and chopped. Or Jalapeno chile roasted and chopped (or 1- 4 ounce can chiles)
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 14 ½ ounce diced tomatoes canned, undrained
- 10 ¾ ounce condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups Full fat milk
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 cup muenster cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil. Once the oil is shimmering add ground chicken. Cook chicken until just starting to take on some color. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook until chicken is mostly done and vegetables are tender. About 7 minutes.
- Add garlic powder, cumin, and chile powder. Stir well. Add chile peppers, corn and tomatoes. Simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.
- Add soup and milk and mix well. Simmer on low for 15 minutes. Add cheese and stir until melted.
- Serve immediately and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Don’t use a low fat milk product. Low fat milk tends to separate during the cooking process. A milk high in fat will hold up to heat better.
Nutrition
Southwestern Chicken Soup with Ground Chicken … It’s what’s for Dinner.
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 love all the add-in int his beautiful bowl of soup, Lea Ann! Anything to spice up winter right now is much appreciated 🙂
Hi LeaAnn, love all soup recipes you have been gracious enough to share. Also those hatch chilies happen to be my favorite, enjoy the special flavor they add.
Lea Ann, you have me craving a big bowl of that right now! I just made split pea and froze half of it for another day. Maybe I’ll do the same with this. I love those green chiles.
Yup, it’s January, so we’re eating soup. Had it last night for dinner, as a matter of fact. And will probably have some again tomorrow. So we need recipes! This looks great — tons of flavor, and something a bit different. Thanks!
This looks really good Lea Ann – hard to beat anything with green chiles and cilantro.
You are so right…this is the perfect time and weather for soup, and this one looks delicious!