Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup is a soup made in a slow cooker with chipotle chicken, vegetables, and rice that definitely has a kick in every bite! Try my 7 Can Chicken Taco Soup for another flavorful soup, but without as much heat.
Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup
I am sure many of you have heard the phrase, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’. It was made popular by U.S. President Truman. Well, that is what came to mind when I tasted this Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup. However, I would rephrase it to read, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, keep your spoon out of this soup’! This was definitely spicy on my palate, but, of course, it all depends on your tolerance of spice.
Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup Ingredients
Again, this spicy chipotle chicken soup is spicy (according to my midwestern tastebuds), but you can always make it hotter by adding more chipotle peppers or jalapeno peppers.
Chicken Thighs: I used chicken thighs for this recipe. Go for boneless, skinless thighs. Thighs are dark meat and more flavorful than chicken breasts. However, for a healthier option, you could use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce: These sauced peppers give the chicken the flavor and a little bit (well, a lot) of a kick. You can find cans of peppers in the Latin foods section at your local grocery store. I only used the sauce from the 7-ounce can of the peppers. You can always puree the peppers and add the entire can if you can handle that! (However, I would test the recipe as written first.)
Rice: Make sure you are using instant rice in this recipe.
Toppings: The toppings I listed (cheese, sour cream, and homemade pico de gallo) are optional. However, I sure needed the sour cream to offset some of the spice from the soup!
How to Make Spicy Chipotle Soup
This recipe is made in the slow cooker, which I love! It’s nice knowing the crockpot will be doing most of the work as I can go about my day.
Start by placing the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into the bowl of a slow cooker. Top with the sauce from the can of chipotle peppers in adobe (just pick out the peppers), corn, beans, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, and chicken broth. Cover and let cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
After the chicken has cooked (the internal temperature of the chicken should be 165°F), remove it from the slow cooker. Use a couple of forks to shred the chicken and add it back into the crockpot. Add rice and cook on high for 10-15 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as any recommended (or preferred) toppings.
Can I Make this Soup on the Stovetop?
Yes! You can use a large pot to get this soup made and served. Your best bet is to use a rotisserie chicken (which is already cooked). Make sure you cook the chicken ahead of time if not using rotisserie chicken. Add the chipotle pepper sauce, coriander, cumin, garlic, salt, oil, corn, beans, tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, and chicken broth to the pot. Cover the pot and let simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes. After the soup is heated through, add the rice, cover the pot again, and cook on high heat for 10 more minutes (or until the rice is tender). Pour the soup into bowls, add your toppings, and enjoy!
Can I Make this Chipotle Chicken Soup Spicier?
Yes! We tested this recipe quite a bit and found there are a few ways to add a little more heat to the soup. One way is to use the peppers from the can of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. Add some or all of the peppers, plus the sauce, along with the garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and oil to the bowl of a blender. Puree until smooth and then add to the soup. You can start small by only using one or two peppers, or if you really like spice. Use the whole can!
Additionally, we found that certain brands of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce packed a little more heat than others. Our favorite to work with was the “Embasa” brand, but we warned, it can get spicy pretty fast!
More Soups
Spicy Chipotle Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 can (7oz) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chipotle peppers removed
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cans (15.25 ounces each) sweet corn, drained, or 1 bag (16 ounces) frozen sweet corn
- 1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup instant rice
- salt and pepper, to taste
- mozzarella cheese, for garnish (optional)
- sour cream, for garnish (optional)
- pico de gallo, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl add the sauce from the can of chipotle peppers (discard the actual peppers), coriander, cumin, garlic, salt, and oil. Mix well.
- Add chicken to the bowl of a slow cooker and top with chipotle mixture.
- Top with corn, beans, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, and broth.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the Crockpot and shred it using 2 forks. Add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker.
- Add rice and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Top bowls of soup with mozzarella cheese, sour cream, and fresh pico de gallo.
Did you make this recipe?
You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.
This came out really well. Heat index was just right for mass appeal with just the adobo sauce although I would use the peppers too if the soup was just for me. Found 5 cups of broth too low and ended up topping off leftovers with added broth (it did not change the overall taste). Also, depending on slow cooker, I don’t think you need 6-8 on low and can probably get away with less time. Taste to be sure but this was an all around winner that’s easy to make and well worth it.