Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup

This meal is one I cook often, especially when I am going to be gone all day. I can throw everything in my slow cooker, and it is ready by dinner time with no prep. Here’s the easy enchilada soup recipe with chicken that’s one of our favorite easy Crockpot recipes!

I will focus on how to make this as a crockpot recipe. BUT if you wanted to use a pot instead on your stove that is just as simple. I just think slow cooking is so much easier as I don’t have to pay attention to it at all during the day. NO worrying about boiling over for this method.

You only need a few things, it is really quite healthy. Need a vegetarian version of this?? NO problem, just use vegetable broth instead and leave out the meat entirely. It is still so good that even my kids rave about it when it’s served with rolls.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Ingredient Notes

You are going to want to start off with a few medium sized boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half or use pre cooked chicken like rotisserie or leftovers will work with this.

You are going to want to use some good Chicken broth which is better than water to add more flavor of course.

Then you want to bring in the rich flavors with 1 can red enchilada sauce red, 10 oz was used. Choose spicy or mild to your liking.

Add canned black beans, drained and rinsed are great for the ultimate Mexican flavor.

You want kernel Corn that is canned and drained, or 1 bag of frozen kernels works too to add texture and I always like to add veggies into any meal.

Add a can of rotel is best if you like spicy or diced tomatoes work too and I like to add about half of an onion diced, it is a nice touch but optional

This whole pot will make about 6 bowls of soup if you are serving as a main dish. Stays for several hours on the stay warm function so it’s great for Super Bowl too. Grab a loaf of bread, or make my 3 ingredient beer bread right before it’s done and it is a delicious hearty. Pretty healthy too that all 5 of us love!

Ok so this is the first place I had this, maybe you’re the same. It was incredible, for sure, BUT I looked at it time and time again and thought it would be so easy to make myself. Of course it took me years to stop buying it and just threw in what was in the pantry. Literally it was easier than ever.

What got me going was after I had a bunch of shredded chicken on the stove left over in the fridge. You know how I hate wasting food! Felt like I didn’t really need fresh to make this since everything else is canned and already tender. Totally worked like a charm.

How Long to Cook Enchilada Soup in Slow Cooker

I have used all three types; with leftover rotisserie chicken, frozen breasts, and fresh meat as well. Believe it or not there isn’t a huge cook time at all. Seriously. I mean with precooked you could enjoy after 4 hours since you’re just warming it up but typically I will leave for 6 anyway. Which is how long you need for the others.

Enchilada Soup with Frozen Chicken

If I find poultry on sale and stock up I’ll use that because Crockpot frozen chicken even works fabulously well! Literally the timing doesn’t even change, just choose small breasts and separate from one another before adding.

How do you make enchilada soup creamy?

To make our recipe creamy you can add room temperature 1/2 of a package of cream cheese 30 minutes prior to being done. Cut into smaller chunks so the heat melts it and creates a thicker texture to it. A dollop of sour cream is pretty yummy too.

Tips

Let me speak for just a minute though about using frozen meat in any sort of recipe. You can use whole pieces but you really want to have them be boneless and skinless.

The #2 thing to remember is you need them to be separated. If you pull them out of the freezer and they’re in a huge chunk, defrost chicken in microwave to separate.

If you like it spicier, then choose a hotter enchilada sauce, or if you don’t like it as spicy add mild sauce and add a bit more chicken broth to the mix. Adding red pepper flakes or diced jalapeno is another option too for heat.

What should you serve this with?

Tortilla chips are of course optional but will transform this into a chicken tortilla soup. Larger versions are a fun thing to scoop up what’s inside and on the bottom. That is what we do with this and our spicy chicken noodle soup recipe. Then try our Instant Pot enchiladas and enjoy.

How to save leftovers

Have leftovers?? We have a great way to save leftover soup here. You can use this same method for any variety. Saves in blocks and then you can defrost and enjoy it again another day quite easily. To reheat once thawed you just use a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, stir, and add another minute.

Other easy Crockpot recipes you’ll love

Wait, we have more though. Once you fall in love with how easy this one was to make check out a few of our other dishes that are dump and go like this one. If you’d rather make another dinner similar to this one using ground beef try our Mexican ground beef casserole slow cooker or our 5 ingredient crockpot chili recipe for a classic dish.