Chicken Enchilada Soup With Pico de Gallo Garnish

Everything you love about chicken enchiladas served up soup-style. The chicken enchilada soup is made with chicken, corn, and pepper jack cheese and is topped with a simple-to-make fresh pico de gallo and crispy homemade tortilla strips ( <— also easy to make!). This is what to make to stay warm this winter.

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CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP

Creamy chicken enchilada soup, made with pepper jack cheese and topped with a simple pico de gallo and crispy tortilla garnish. I’ve included instructions for roasting a chicken breast (see the notes for details), but the easiest thing to do is pick-up one of those rotisserie chickens at the store. You can also use store-bought tortilla chips to garnish, but making your own crispy strips is easy to do while the soup simmers.

• Author: April @ Girl Gone Gourmet
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Soup

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PICO DE GALLO GARNISH

• 1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 tbsp finely diced jalapeno
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

FOR THE SOUP

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups water
• 8 ounces half & half
• 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

FOR THE CRISPY TORTILLA STRIPS

• 2 white corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the Pico de Gallo: Mix all of the ingredients for the pico in a small bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the soup.
2. Make the Soup: In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook them, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to soften. Add the cooked chicken, corn, salt, and butter. Stir until the butter is melted and then add the flour and stir to combine. Add the water and increase the heat to bring the pot to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer and cook the soup, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the half & half and, after it’s warmed through, add the cheese stirring until it’s melted and smooth.
3. Make the Crispy Tortilla Strips: You can make the tortilla strips while the soup is simmering (before you add the half & half). Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once heated, place one tortilla strip in the oil. If the oil bubbles around the strip go ahead and add a few more. If not, your oil may not be hot enough so warm it a little longer or turn the heat up a bit. Fry the strips in a couple of batches until they are golden brown. Transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel and season them with a few pinches of salt while they’re hot.
4. To Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls. Float a few tortilla strips in the soup and top them with a few tablespoons of the cold pico de gallo.

NOTES

If you need to cook  some chicken because you don’t have any leftover over (or don’t want to buy a rotisserie chicken) just rub a large bone-in skin-on chicken breast with some olive oil and salt and pepper and roast it at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Discard the skin and bones and shred the meat to use in the recipe.

The post Chicken Enchilada Soup with Pico de Gallo Garnish appeared first on Girl Gone Gourmet.