Chunky Southwest Chicken Soup
This Southwest chicken soup recipe is made with loads of chunky chicken, fire roasted tomatoes, roasted poblano peppers and a warming blend of seasonings.
Chicken soup is in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen today, my friends! Only you know I can’t make your typical chicken soup. Chicken soup is great, and everyone loves a good chicken noodle soup, but for people like us – we need some extra flavor.
Today we’re giving our chicken soup a southwest spin with a combination of zesty southwest seasonings and roasted poblano peppers. Roasted poblano peppers deliver a huge flavor boost to the soup, and with the addition of the seasoning blend, this is going to be your new favorite chicken soup.
You’ll never be able to go back to mom’s recipe again! Chunky Southwest Chicken Soup!
I like to rough chop all of the ingredients for this recipe to make everything nice and chunky. It’s much more rustic and hearty this way, perfect for the cooler weather to help you warm the bones and fill the bellies. We’re talking awesome comfort food here, my friends, only it’s very healthy and quite low calorie.
Let’s talk about how we make it, shall we?
Southwest Chicken Soup Ingredients
- 6 poblano peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breast or chicken thighs (or both!), rough chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons southwest seasoning blend (see the recipe notes for a homemade version and alternatives)
- 2 14-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes (you can also use fresh or canned diced tomatoes)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- FOR SERVING: Fresh chopped green onion, spicy chili flakes or red pepper flakes
How to Make Southwest Chicken Soup – the Recipe Method
First, we must roast our poblano peppers. You can learn how to roast chili peppers here, or How to Roast Poblano Peppers, but here is a simple broiler method.
ONE: First, set your oven to broil. Set the poblano peppers onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.
TWO: Broil them for 10-15 minutes, or until the skins puff up and char and loosen from the pepper flesh. Flip them halfway through the process to get both sides. Remove them from the oven and let them cool enough to handle.
THREE: Peel off the skins with your fingers, or use a paper towel to gently rub them off. They should remove easily. Chop up the roasted poblano peppers and set them aside.
FOR THE CHICKEN SOUP:
Heat the oil in a large pot. Rough chop the chicken so it is nice and chunky. You want bite sized pieces. Season it with 1/2 tablespoon southwest seasoning blend, then cook the chicken in the pot, stirring, until it is mostly cooked through, 5-6 minutes.
Add the onion and jalapeno pepper. Cook them down for 5 minutes to soften.
Stir in the garlic and remaining southwest seasonings and cook another minute, until you can smell that gorgeous garlic.
Stir in the roasted poblano peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, and chopped chicken.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes to let the flavors develop. You can simmer longer if you’d like. I often simmer for 1 hour.
Serve the chunky chicken soup in bowls and garnish with fresh chopped green onions and red pepper flakes.
Boom! Easy enough, isn’t it? This southwest chicken soup is different from other chicken soups because of all the wonderful seasonings we’re using, and particularly the wonderful, earthy roasted poblano peppers. You can’t match the flavor of roasted poblanos. So good! Such a great recipe.
Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Soup
You can easily make this recipe in a slow cooker or crock pot. Simply roast the peppers and cook down the ingredients per the recipe instructions, then set everything into a slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours, or on high for 1-2 hours, until everything is cooked through and nice and hot.
Serve it up and garnish!
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Southwest Seasonings. Use your favorite store bought blend, or use the following: 2 teaspoons chili powder (ancho powder is GREAT here, as is chipotle powder), 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, salt and black pepper to taste. I also like to sometimes include bay leaves for additional flavor, as well as lemon peel.
- Fixings & Toppings. Try this with shredded cheese and/or a dollop of sour cream or Mexican crema.
- Additions. You can easily add more substance to this soup with other ingredients. Some ideas include black beans or kidney beans, fresh or frozen corn, extra chicken, cooked rice, or some pasta noodles for chicken noodle soup. See below.
- Chicken Noodle Soup. Want to make this a southwest chicken noodle soup? Add noodles! Seriously, the easiest way to make this a chicken noodle soup is to boil some egg noodles or your other favorite noodles until al dente, then add them into the soup for a minute before serving. So good! Homemade chicken noodle soup is the best.
Where Can I Buy Southwest Seasonings?
You can usually find a good blend at your local grocer, or make it easy and buy Southwest Seasonings from Amazon (affiliate link, my friends!).
That’s it, my friends. I hope you enjoy my southwest chicken soup recipe! Extra roasted poblano peppers for me, please!
Try Some of My Other Popular Soup Recipes
- Roasted Poblano Soup
- Loaded Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Cajun Carrot Soup
- Spicy Pumpkin Soup
- Creamy Roasted Hatch Chile Soup
- 30-Minute Sweet Potato Soup
- Cheesy Guajillo-Potato Soup
- Sweet Pepper-Sweet Corn Chowder
- Spicy Sausage Soup
- Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- See all of my Spicy Soup Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
- 6 poblano peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breast or chicken thighs or both!, rough chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons southwest seasoning blend see the recipe notes for a homemade version and alternatives
- 28 ounces fire roasted tomatoes 2 14-ounce cans
- 1 cup chicken broth
- FOR SERVING: Fresh chopped green onion spicy chili flakes or red pepper flakes
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First, we must roast our poblano peppers. Set your oven to broil. Set the poblano peppers onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Broil them for 10-15 minutes, or until the skins puff up and char and loosen from the pepper flesh. Flip them halfway through the process to get both sides. Remove them from the oven and cool slightly. Peel off the skins, rough chop then set them aside.
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Next, heat the oil in a large pot. Rough chop the chicken so it is nice and chunky. Season it with 1/2 tablespoon southwest seasoning blend, then cook the chicken in the pot, stirring, until it is mostly cooked through, 5-6 minutes.
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Add the onion and jalapeno pepper. Cook them down for 5 minutes to soften.
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Stir in the garlic and remaining southwest seasonings and cook another minute, until you can smell that gorgeous garlic.
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Stir in the roasted poblano peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth, and chopped chicken.
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Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes to let the flavors develop. You can simmer longer if you'd like. I often simmer for 1 hour.
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Serve the chunky chicken soup in bowls and garnish with fresh chopped green onions and red pepper flakes.
Slow Cooker Version: Once the garlic is cooked, add everything to a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours, or on high for 1-2 hours, until everything is cooked through and nice and hot.
Southwest Seasonings: Use your favorite store bought blend, or use the following: 2 teaspoons chili powder (ancho powder is GREAT here), 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, salt and black pepper to taste.
Fixings & Toppings: Try this with shredded cheese and/or a dollop of sour cream or Mexican crema.
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Am I missing something ? In the instructions I don’t see where you add the poblano peppers. Is it the same time as the jalapeño? Please help
Jerry, add them in when you add the fire roasted tomatoes, chicken broth and chopped chicken. I amended the recipe to make that more clear. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Made it as stated…loved it as much….enough said
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed it, Robert! This is how I like my chicken soup!
Oh poblanos! I have to make this. This looks like this could fit into a keto diet?
Thanks, Candie! I love this recipe. My recipe calculator estimates 23 grams of carbs per serving, so might put it at the limit. Most of the carbs are from the fire roasted tomatoes, so you might sub in more poblano peppers and cut back on the tomatoes or use a lower carb brand for super keto friendly recipe.
Great minds think alike! Thank you Michael! I was thinking of upping the poblanos to maybe 9, then roasting a tomato, dicing it and making a little mini “salsa” by mixing the green onion and red pepper flakes to serve as a garnish. My husband is on the keto diet, I am always on the lookout for anything keto-friendly.
Perfect! Let me know how it turns out for you! Enjoy.
I made this last night. It started out being based on your recipe, but turned into something else.
I cooked this in my slow cooker, basically throwing all ingredients together. I did make changes though. I used 1 small can diced tomatoes, 2 medium yellow zucchini, peeled and cut into 1/2 moons, the entirety of the Southwest seasoning since I didn’t cut up and cook the chicken breasts. It was done in 3 hours, at which point I shredded the chicken. Wow, it was great! Technically, it wasn’t your recipe since I tried to make it more keto friendly, but it was deeply inspired by it!
Sounds wonderful, Candie! I love the addition of all the veggies, and the shredding of the chicken. Save a bowl for me!
hey Mike.
don’t know what you changed (if you did) but the last couple of days the recipe emails have been coming in. previously i had to check the site daily (which i didn’t, at all, mind doing) but now i can wait for them to come to me.
haven’t done a soup in a while but it’s the weather for it…this looks like it ticks all the hearty boxes.
cheers!
Thanks, Col. I’m sure you’ll like this one! I DID update my email template by simplifying the design, so hopefully that makes a difference in being delivered more properly. I appreciate the heads up!