This Mexican chicken soup recipe could literally be made in 10 minutes if you have diced, cooked chicken on hand! It’s a perfectly quick and tasty weeknight dinner. I want to tell you about some unrelated kitchen fails today, but I’ll keep showing you photos of this soup so we all remember why we’re here.
Folks, let me be frank: Not everything I cook is a winner. Since my recipes are simple, I usually can tell how they will be before I actually make them. I don’t usually use complicated techniques or adventurous ingredient combinations, so when I get a recipe idea, I pretty much know how it will turn out. Sometimes I make mistakes though. Either ideas aren’t as good as I hoped, measurements are off, I use the wrong ingredient, or something else goes wrong.
Take last Wednesday for example. I cooked a lot that day, but nothing came out quite right. I got a bread maker and got right to work on making spelt bread. It came out as bread all right, but it was super dense and kind of flavorless. Back to the drawing board on that one, but we still managed to eat it. Something has to be seriously bad before I’ll throw it away. I hate wasting food!
Later I planned to make good ol’ Cream of Chicken Soup with Wild Rice, a classic at our house and one I thought I could make with my eyes closed. In this case, I should have eaten it with my eyes closed because it turned out PURPLE.
Let me just tell you, black rice isn’t the same as wild rice. Black rice is the same as forbidden rice, which turns into purple rice when you cook it. As soon as I dropped that black rice into the pot, I saw a cloud of purple appear and knew what I had done. Again, I sure as heck wasn’t going to waste a perfectly good pot of soup. It still tasted as good as ever, and we all had a good laugh about the color. (It was also perfect for dunking the mediocre bread I made earlier in the day.)
Wait for it. This easy Mexican chicken soup is coming…
For the final fail of the day, I saw a gluten-free chocolate cake mix at the grocery store that day and got a hankering for chocolate cake. I grabbed the mix and a container of chocolate frosting. I figured I could make a quick cake with store-bought ingredients and satisfy my cake craving without too much work. I’m talking about a cake mix here, and I messed it up!
I have only made single-layer gluten-free cakes, but this time I decided to get fancy and make a two-layer cake. That’s not hard, right? As it turns out, it actually is hard when wheat isn’t involved. Those cakes completely crumbled apart when trying to maneuver them. The top layer broke into three big pieces and a bunch of crumbs.
I figured I’d just glue it together with frosting, so I kept on frosting that sucker until it looked somewhat like a cake. Then we decided to add some sprinkles to distract from the falling off parts. My oldest claimed that he was a sprinkles expert, so I stepped aside while he poured a huge mound of blue sugar on top of the cake. I told him that was his piece, and he was downgraded from sprinkles expert to sprinkles apprentice. When it came time to eat that cake, it was so dang sweet from all the frosting and sprinkles that I couldn’t even finish my piece.
By the end of that day, I questioned if I should even be a food blogger. How could I mess up such easy things?? I needed to make something delicious and foolproof to boost my confidence. This Mexican Chicken Soup is IT. You can not mess this up. I really can’t think of a way. (Don’t challenge me on that.)
It is so tasty, easy, quick, and all the other adjectives I love when I’m talking about a dinner recipe. Whether you need to feel like a rock star in the kitchen or just want a no-brainer recipe after a long day, make this soup!
In-a-Hurry Easy Mexican Chicken Soup
This tasty chicken tortilla soup could be made in as little as 10 minutes if you have cooked chicken on hand. Perfect weeknight dinner!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes with chilies like Rotel
- 14 ounces seasoned black beans rinsed and drained
- 14 ounces whole kernel corn drained
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried cilantro or 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves, minced
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- crushed tortilla chips
- sour cream optional
- shredded Mexican cheese optional
- hot sauce to taste
Instructions
-
Pour chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, corn, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and cilantro into a stockpot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts to pot, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
-
Remove chicken breasts, shred meat with two forks, and return to pot. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese if desired. Serve with hot sauce to add as needed.
Notes
If you have cooked chicken on hand, stir it into the boiling broth, simmer until heated through, and dinner is done!
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Mexican
Want more super easy recipes that will make you feel like a cooking rockstar? Here you go!
Barbara Karr says
Okay! You´ve motivated me. My pantry needs thinning out and these are great ideas. Send any others you come up with, they will be greatly appreciated!!!!! Barb Karr
Angie S says
That purple soup is a sight to behold! Thanks for taking the picture! :D
I make a what I call “Chicken Taco Soup” that’s very similar to this, and we LOVE it! Another time saver (if you have thought a bit ahead and/or have a well stocked pantry) is to use a can of cooked chicken. Fresh is oh so much better, but sometimes, it is what it is!!!
Andi says
Hi, Angie! I’m glad I could amuse you with that purple soup ;) Yes, canned chicken is a great shortcut! I don’t remember when I started making this soup, but I’m pretty sure the original recipe used all canned ingredients including chicken. Nothing wrong with that! (You can see my post from today for Greek Pasta that talks about how I feel about shortcuts like that.)
Cate @ Chez CateyLou says
Laughing out loud about your purple soup. I’m so glad you included a picture too! So funny! I hate food fails, but they definitely happen. This chicken soup is definitely a winner though! It looks so flavorful and delicious!
Andi says
It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? I’m glad I gave you a good laugh. I agree that fails happen, but who messes up a cake mix?? Thank you, Cate! xo
Laura O| Petite Allergy Treats says
Ha! I’ve had purple finger nails trying to use the rice for another recipe. Great for nutrition but it stains EVERYTHING. Love this easy soup!
Andi says
You make the most beautiful naturally colored food that I’m sure you do amazing things with black rice, Laura! xo
[email protected] Plaid & Paisley Kitchen says
I could eat mexican every day of the week and never get tired! This soup looks so tasty!
Andi says
I never get tired of Mexican food either. Thank you, Chandra!
Tonia from TheGunnySack says
I definitely have days like that too! Luckily we get a few winners along with the losers to keep us going. This soup sounds perfect!
Andi says
Yes, we need the winners to keep our spirits up for sure. Thank you, Tonia!
Beth says
I totally want to get black rice now and make purple soup, hehe!!
Andi says
I bet you could come up with some seriously fun stuff to make with black rice, Beth!
Phillip says
Isn’t everyone in a hurry these days, so any recipe that can be made in 10 minutes is bound to be a hit
★★★★★
The Weary Chef says
I know, right!? You can’t go wrong with a 10-minute dinner (or a little longer if you don’t have cooked chicken on hand). Thanks so much for your visit and comment!