Meatloaf and Melodrama

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Southwest Chicken Soup

This Southwest Chicken Soup is full of flavor, easy to prepare and has a hint of spice.  And, you can put it together without a ton of work!

spicy-chicken-soup-recipe-with-chipotle-seasoning

 


I love chicken soup, and I would happily eat it all year long if weren’t so darn hot here most of the year. I grew up eating my mom’s homemade soup, which is honestly wonderful but does take a lot of time to prepare. I also have an easier speedy version that I serve when I don’t have tons of time to cook.

The other day, it was cold and rainy here in the desert — perfect soup weather! So of course, I knew exactly what to make for dinner, and believe me, I was so excited! My kids thought I was crazy, but hey, I’ve been waiting for this weather!

Now, whenever I use my mom’s chicken soup recipe, I boil chicken parts, strain the broth, remove and cut up the chicken and chop up fresh veggies. Like I said, it’s a lot of work. 

My super easy version uses leftover cooked chicken and boxed broth, but I this time I tried something different. I used two small rotisserie chickens from our local market, boiled the carcasses to get a very tasty broth and then added the meat. Since the chickens were already roasted, there wasn’t any fat to strain off, and of course they added tons of flavor.

I also sauteed some onions, Anaheim chili peppers, corn and garlic together to really bring out their flavors before adding them to the broth. 

So there’s a little bit more work involved with this method, but the result is definitely worth it. And, it’s still less work than making it completely from scratch.

recipe-for-southwest-chicken-soup-using-rotisserie-chicken
 

 

How to Make Southwest Chicken Soup

southwest-chicken-soup

Southwest Chicken Soup

An easy chicken soup with a hint of spice that you can make without a lot of work!
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Author: Dee

Ingredients

  • 2 rotisserie chickens
  • Water
  • 2 celery stalks chopped
  • 1 Anaheim pepper seeded and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup baby carrots sliced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle seasoning
  • 1 pound egg noodles optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Avocado lime and chopped jalapeno peppers for garnish, if desired
  • Egg noodles

Instructions

  • Remove most of the meat from the chickens, and boil in a large stockpot filled with water for about 20 minutes.
  • Remove carcasses from water.
  • Add the meat from the chicken, along with carrots and celery.
  • In a separate pan, saute the corn, garlic, onions and Anaheim peppers in some butter or olive oil until slightly brown, then add to soup.
  • Stir in the cilantro, chipotle seasoning, salt, pepper and egg noodles (if desired), and let simmer until noodles are done and ready to eat.
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spicy chicken soup in a bowl


We usually serve some type of pasta with the soup. You can add egg noodles to the soup before serving, but what I sometimes like to do is serve it in a separate bowl. This way, you can choose the amount of pasta you want with your soup, and it’s also a great way to use up leftover pasta. Some of us like a lot of pasta, and some of us are all about the broth!

Right before I serve the soup, I like to top it off with a few avocado slices and a drop or two of lime juice. And if you’re feeling adventurous and you want some extra spiciness, go ahead and add a few jalapeno pepper slices.

add lime juice to chicken soup


So for leftovers, I added some organic chicken stock the next day, and the soup was just as good. So if you want to skip boiling the chicken altogether, you can just use store bought broth instead. You could also skip sauteing the veggies, but I don’t recommend it — this step really adds a ton of flavor!

southwest-chicken-soup-recipe

Of course, the weather warmed up again, but for that brief moment, we got to enjoy this amazing Southwest chicken soup.

Thanks for stopping by today!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Dee,
    What a great idea to use rotisserie chicken for this soup…it sounds delicious! I have to say though…your pictures are so eye catching that it makes me want to eat it now 😉
    Have a great weekend.
    ~Lori

    Reply

  4. I used to live in Arizona and I loved/hated that it was usually too warm for soup. I'm sure your Southwest version would make it worth it no matter the temperature – it looks amazing!

    Reply

  11. I love how many ways you can make chicken soup… And I'd just been trying to convince someone to use that rotisserie chicken for soup. Sometimes skipping just one step makes the rest possible.

    Reply

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