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This green chicken enchilada soup is a cozy broth with shredded rotisserie chicken, and a salsa verde base. It’s the perfect combination of green chicken enchiladas and tortilla soup! You can make this soup in a slow cooker or on the stove top as a delicious meal.
Also known as my “anti-nausea soup” – this recipe got me through intense morning sickness and several migraine attack days. I’ve heard from so many readers it has been very effective for them too as an alternative to a more traditional chicken and brown rice soup.
This chicken enchilada soup would pair well with Spanish brown rice. And don’t miss this vegetarian tortilla soup or slow cooker chicken enchiladas.
The Best Green Enchilada Chicken Soup
During my pregnancy it was really tough to find things that tasted good. One night I was so nauseous I couldn’t cook, so we ordered from a Tex Mex Restaurant – Mesero. I got the Pollo Y Tomatillo, which was essentially a green chicken enchilada soup.
To my surprise, I found this soup did wonders for my nausea! It was even easier to keep down than my easy homemade ginger ale. I recreated the recipe at home, using my recipe for verde sauce from my cookbook.
You’ll love this recipe because:
- Easy – Can be made in a slow cooker or on the stovetop!
- Mild – Great for all palates, you can adjust the spiciness to your liking. As written, it’s very mild.
- Soup for nausea – I’ve had this recipe on my site for years and it’s become a reader favorite – labeled my “anti-nausea soup”. Whether pregnant, a migraine attack day, or many other reasons, it’s helpful to have frozen on those bad days!
This recipe also fits gluten free, dairy free, and a migraine diet.
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients for this green chicken enchilada soup.
- Tomatillos – Best fresh so you can broil them, which softens them and gets a nice, roasted flavor. If you don’t have a broiler, you can also do this over a gas flame/grill, or just bake them in the oven till softened, however they won’t have that charred flavor. If you can’t find whole, fresh tomatillos, you can use canned for this recipe.
- Poblano – A mild pepper that also is great when broiled/charred.
- Cumin, oregano, and coriander – these spices add really great Tex-Mex flavor to the dish. Coriander is the seeds from the cilantro plant and is really great in Mexican dishes. You can find all of these are any grocery store.
- Broth – I recommend Trader Joe’s Hearty Vegetable or make rotisserie chicken broth.
If you’re following the Heal Your Headache Diet and can’t tolerate tomatoes, don’t rule out tomatillos. They actually come from an entirely different plant and are not just green tomatoes.
Recipe Substitutions
Dairy Free – This green enchilada chicken soup is already dairy free, unless you’d like to sprinkle some queso fresco on top.
Gluten Free – I recommend using corn tortillas (or corn tortilla chips) instead of flour for the crispy topping.
Vegetarian and Vegan – This recipe would be great leaving out the chicken. Instead you could add extra vegetables, like corn, zucchini squash, or beans. I would recommend using the Vegetable Broth from my cookbook.
How to Make
Step 1: Make the green enchilada base
My favorite way to make this verde sauce, which is the base of this soup, is to broil the tomatillos with the garlic and poblanos. This gets everything nice, soft, and super fragrant.
- Start by peeling the paper skins off the tomatillos and washing them under warm water to remove any sticky residue. Pat dry.
- Turn the broiler to high heat and prepare a baking sheet with tin foil (this can help with some clean up. You don’t need to remove the skin from the garlic if you don’t want to. It will soften inside the skin and you can easily peel it off once broiled.
- Place the baking sheet about 6-10 inches away from the broiler, depending on your oven.
- Flip the tomatillos half way through. If the garlic and pepper have dark spots on them, remove them from the baking sheet. You want them to be softened and charred in spots, but not burnt all around.
- Cook about 12 minutes total, remove the skin from the garlic and dump everything into your soup pot.
Step 2: Make the soup
Prepare a large dutch oven or soup pot. Add the charred tomatillos, garlic, and poblano to the pot along with the chopped shallots and saute over medium heat about 2 minutes until the shallots have softened.
Add broth, cumin, oregano, coriander, and salt. Stir, then bring a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Step 3: Blend the soup
With an immersion blender, blend the soup in the pot till it reaches your desired consistency (I like mine smooth). Stir in chicken and adjust any seasonings to your liking.
An immersion blender will make your life so easy as you can blend everything right in the pot!
Recipe Tip – Don’t want to add cooked chicken? Place about 1 pound of chicken breasts in the post after blending, then bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through.
Crock Pot Instructions
If using a crockpot to make this soup, begin with the first step of broiling the tomatillos and garlic. Then add all the ingredients to a slow cooker except the chicken. Blend with an immersion blender, or blend the ingredients before adding to your slow cooker.
If using raw chicken breasts, place them in the slow cooker in the blended soup. Heat on low for 4-6 hours. Remove the chicken breasts and shred them with a fork, then return to the soup.
For rotisserie chicken, cook the soup without added chicken and stir in the rotisserie chicken before serving.
Serving Suggestions
One of my favorite ways to serve this dish it to add a little bit of thinly shredded cabbage slaw in the middle, or sour cream (or blended cottage cheese for a sub).
As a full meal, I suggest pairing with this Spanish brown rice, mozzarella queso and chips, and a simple butter lettuce salad.
If you’d like to do an enchilada feast, try it with these healthy beef enchiladas or ground turkey enchilada casserole. It would also pair well with these shrimp tacos or grilled flank steak tacos.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerator – This soup will store well for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, place in a medium pot with a lid and reheat over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Freezer – Store this green enchilada chicken soup for up to 6 months in a double sealed freezer bag. To defrost, place the bag in the fridge overnight or in warm water.
Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup FAQ
This recipe will also work with canned tomatillos, or you can use salsa verde as a base. You will need about 24oz of salsa verde to substitute out the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic. I like Tacodeli, found at Whole Foods.
Add shredded cheese on top like monterey jack, or stir in a little bit of cream cheese.
If you’re low on time, just use crushed tortilla chips in place of the baked tortilla strips!
Cozy Soup Recipes
Gluten Free
Chicken and Brown Rice Soup
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Green Chicken Enchilada Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
Green enchilada base
- 1 pound tomatillos
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1 poblano, de-seeded and sliced in half
Soup
- 2/3 cup chopped shallots
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 pound cooked, shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- fresh tortillas or tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat broiler to high heat. Remove paper skins and stems from tomatillos and wash under warm water to remove sticky residue. You can leave the garlic skin on for broiling. Place the tomatillos, garlic, and poblano on a baking sheet and broil about 6-10 inches away from heat for 6 minutes. Flip tomatillos and remove the poblano and garlic if softened and charred in spots. Peel skin off garlic. Continue broiling the tomatillos until softened and charred in spots, another 6 minutes.
- Add the charred tomatillos, garlic, and poblano to a large pot or dutch oven along with the chopped shallots and saute over medium heat about 2 minutes until the shallots have softened. Add 4 cups of broth, cumin, oregano, coriander, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Bring the soup to a boil over medium high heat, then decrease the heat to low to simmer for 10 minutes. Add chopped cilantro. With an immersion blender, blend the soup in the pot till it reaches your desired consistency (I like mine smooth). If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully transfer the soup to a blender. You may need to work in 2 batches. Stir in chicken and adjust any seasonings to your liking.
- For homemade tortilla strips – Preheat the oven to 400 degrees ℉. Brush both sides of the tortillas with oil (olive oil or avocado oil), then slice into strips and bake for about 7-10 minutes until light brown, flipping halfway through. They'll crisp up as they cool.
Notes
- Canned tomatillos can be substituted for fresh, but fresh are preferable. You can also use about 24oz salsa verde or green enchilada sauce as the base instead of the fresh tomatillo blend, but flavors will vary!
- Chicken breasts can be cooked in the soup if not using cooked chicken. Blend the soup ingredients till smooth before cooking, then add in the raw chicken and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks (it should shred easily if cooked through) , then return to the pot.
- For vegetarian/vegan, simply leave out the chicken.
- If short on time, use crushed tortilla chips instead of the homemade strips.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Really good 😋😋😋
Clean ingredients
Great taste
My teens really like it too
I suffer from VM. I’ve struggled with finding relief. I was looking for a green chicken enchilada soup recipe and was blown away when I saw your story about VM.
I felt like there wasn’t any hope.
After reading your story I feel like there is hope.
Love this! I didn’t have a broiler but it came out delicious anyway.
Good to know it works that way too!
This recipe is fantastic. My wife (not a migraine sufferer) says it’s her favorite soup.
In a recent batch I threw in some hominy.
Thanks for the recipe. It’s fantastic.
Thanks so much, Jim! Great idea on the hominy.
Another VM compatible hit by Alicia! My only criticism is that when I used the immersion blender to mash it all up, hot broth splashed up on me multiple times. I will probably blend the tomatillos, etc before adding the broth next time to reduce the chance of getting burned.
Thanks, Amanda! If you keep the immersion blender under the liquid, it should not squirt out at you! I recommend maybe a smaller and taller pot if you have it. Will help with that.
Just made this soup and I loved it. Would you believe I had not heard of Poblano peppers and wasn’t quite sure what a tomatillo was before following your recipes? Thank you for the introduction! I also liked the Green Eggs no Ham on page 46 of the cookbook. Now I will have to try the salsa verde enchiladas for sure.
This recipe is wonderful and has great flavor! I think next time if going to add some queso fresco and avocado to the top (if that is allowed on the VM diet?). I didn’t have an immersion blender but a normal blender worked just fine. I just got diagnosed with vestibular migraine about 2 weeks ago after a 4 month battle of doctors thinking it could be vestibular migraine but were not sure. Your website has been so so so helpful! Does your cookbook have different recipes than your website?
Thanks Lauren!! I believe there are maybe 3-4 that crossover from the website but the cookbooks are mostly new recipes.