Chicken Enchilada Soup

With the cold seasons approaching, this will make a wonderful chilly-day meal. The heat in both temperature and taste will warm you right up! I really liked this recipe and will be adding it to my regulars. I've heard that it tastes just like the enchilada soup at Chili's, but I can't say for sure since I've never had that dish. (I'm definitely adding it to my "to-try" list, though!)



1 1/4 cups chicken broth
10 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 cup green enchilada sauce
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I only used a half a teaspoon)
2 cooked, shredded boneless and skinless chicken breasts
1 cup half-and-half
1 tomato, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Combine chicken stock and tortilla strips in a large pot. Cook over medium heat until strips soften and broth thickens somewhat.
2. Stir in enchilada sauces and cumin. Stir in chicken and half-and-half; heat through.
3. Divide among four bowls and garnish with diced tomato, jalapeno pepper, and cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

My version was a little different than the original because I'm limiting my dairy intake while I'm nursing the little guy. Sadly, I had to omit the half and half and the cheese. Luckily, it was still plenty yummy and considerably healthier. By the way, if you're fortunate enough to eat dairy, did you know you can get nonfat half and half? Give that a try to keep the fat content down.

I used the crockpot to make life easy. I dumped the chicken broth, enchilada sauces, and green chiles right into the crockpot and tossed in a frozen chicken breast. I kept the crockpot on low until the chicken was ready to be shredded. Then I added the shredded chicken, corn tortilla strips, cumin, salt and pepper and simmered without the lid for about half an hour.

Using a little bit of canola oil in a skillet, I fried up some corn tortilla strips to add a little crunch. Top with avacados (soooo good in this kind of a soup), tomatoes, cilantro, onion, sour cream, and whatever else you please!