You guys, it’s soup season again! And in Billings, the temperatures are dropping so quickly, I just want to drop everything and make soup! Soup, soup, soup, soup, soup.
I kicked off soup season (can I say “Soup-tember” without sounding overly cheesy?) with this one that’s been on my Pinterest board for a while: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup. Everyone in the family liked it, especially the kids when we added even more cheese and sour cream to the top of their bowls. I had leftovers for lunch a few times; I just love making a big pot of soup and eating off of it for the rest of the week. My kids don’t know any better yet, either.
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup (original recipe here)
In your slow cooker, combine:
1 large yellow onion, diced 1 bell pepper, diced (green, yellow or red – I used a handful of baby bells) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup shredded carrots (not in the original recipe, but a great way to get some extra veggies into your diet) 1 can Ro-tel or other canned tomatoes with chiles 4 c chicken broth/stock 1 1/4 lbs raw chicken breasts OR leftover cooked chicken already in chunks (if you cook your soup long enough, you can just plop the breasts in frozen) 2 c frozen corn 1 can black beans (optional) 1 Tablespoon chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 5-6 hours. When the chicken is cooked, take it out and shred it with forks and add back to the soup.
Add:
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese 1 c sour cream 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (this is optional, but I added it so the soup would taste thicker and creamier. Use a small ladle to pull out some of the broth, whisk the cornstarch in and then stir it all into the soup.
Cook for another hour (leave the lid off if you want it to thicken up even more!). Serve with more shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado slices and tortilla chips.