Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup is a creamy dump-and-go dinner with tender shredded chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and plenty of real enchilada flavor. Ladle it into bowls and add your favorite toppings.
Why You'll Love This Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe
Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup is the kind of dinner you can start before work and come home to simmering and ready to serve later. Everything cooks together, then each bowl can be finished with whatever toppings your family likes.
- Dump-and-go dinner: Add the main ingredients to the slow cooker, turn it on, and let it cook while you get on with the day.
- Creamy enchilada flavor: Cream cheese, red enchilada sauce, tomatoes with green chiles, and warm spices give the soup a cheesy, saucy flavor.
- One-pot meal: Chicken, beans, corn, and broth cook together into a filling soup that only needs toppings at serving time.
Ingredients Overview
This soup uses easy grocery-store ingredients: chicken breasts, chicken stock, red enchilada sauce, black beans, corn, tomatoes with green chiles, onion, garlic, and cream cheese. The cream cheese gives the soup its creamy base without needing a separate sauce.
Fire roasted corn adds a little extra flavor if you have it, but regular frozen or canned corn works too. Pick mild, original, or hot tomatoes with green chiles based on how spicy your family likes dinner.
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
The ingredients cook together in the slow cooker until the chicken is tender enough to shred and the cream cheese melts into the broth. The step-by-step photos below show the order and texture to look for as the soup cooks.
Pro Tip
Cut the cream cheese into a few pieces before adding it to the slow cooker so it softens and blends into the soup more easily.
Step 1: Add the chicken, onion, bell pepper, garlic, black beans, corn, olives, seasonings, salt, and cream cheese to the slow cooker.
Step 2: Pour in the chicken stock, diced tomatoes with green chiles, and enchilada sauce. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Step 3: Remove the cooked chicken and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker.
Step 4: Stir until the cream cheese is fully melted into the broth. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, tortilla strips, shredded cheese, sliced avocado, or cilantro.
Serving Suggestions
Serve slow cooker chicken enchilada soup with warm bolillo rolls, flour tortillas, or a bowl of cilantro lime rice on the side. Tortilla strips or tortilla chips, sliced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges are all good toppings for each bowl.
For a bigger Mexican-style dinner, add arroz verde (Mexican green rice), a Tex-Mex corn salad, tortilla chips and pico de gallo or guacamole so everyone can finish their soup the way they like it.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few easy ways to adjust this soup:
- Use chicken thighs: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well if you prefer darker meat in slow cooker soups.
- Adjust the heat: Use mild, original, or hot tomatoes with green chiles depending on how spicy you want the soup.
- Use regular corn: Fire roasted corn adds extra flavor, but regular frozen or canned corn works fine.
- Skip the olives: Leave them out if your family does not like black olives, or serve them as a topping instead.
Tips For Success
A few small choices help the soup cook evenly and stay creamy.
- Use thawed chicken: Thawed chicken cooks more evenly in the slow cooker and is easier to shred when done.
- Drain the beans: Drained black beans keep the broth from turning muddy or too thick.
- Choose the right Rotel heat level: Tomatoes with green chiles come in mild, original, and hot, so pick the one your family will enjoy.
- Stir well at the end: Cream cheese may look separated at first, but it smooths into the hot broth after stirring.
- Use cooked beans only: Canned or previously cooked black beans are fine, but dry beans should not be added directly to this soup.
Storage Options
Let leftovers cool before packing them into containers.
- Refrigerate: Store leftover chicken enchilada soup in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: Freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months, leaving room at the top for the soup to expand.
- Thaw: Thaw frozen soup overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheat: Warm gently on the stovetop or in the microwave, stirring often so the creamy broth comes back together.
Related Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chile Corn Salsa
- Mexican Pickled Onions
- Traeger Chicken Kabobs with Chipotle Marinade
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Add cooked shredded rotisserie chicken during the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking, just long enough for it to heat through and absorb some of the soup flavor.
Yes. Use mild tomatoes with green chiles and mild red enchilada sauce. Keep jalapenos, hot sauce, and spicy toppings on the side so each person can add heat to their own bowl.
Yes, but the soup will not be as creamy. You can leave it out for a brothier soup, or stir in a little sour cream after cooking if you still want a creamy finish.
Cream cheese can stay in small pieces until it gets hot enough and is stirred well. Cut it into pieces before cooking, then stir the soup thoroughly at the end to help it blend into the broth.
Yes. Green enchilada sauce will give the soup a tangier flavor, but the slow cooker method stays the same.
Yes. Use a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Simmer the soup gently until the chicken is cooked through and easy to shred, then return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir until the cream cheese blends in.
Let the soup cook uncovered for a few minutes after stirring, or mash a small amount of the beans into the broth. The soup will also thicken slightly as it cools.
Mexican Recipes
Get The Recipe!
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
Equipment
- Slow Cooker, 6 - 8 quart
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups frozen corn or 15 oz can of fire roasted corn
- 15 oz can black beans drained
- 2.5 oz can sliced black olives
- 10 oz can diced Rotel tomatoes
- 10 oz can red enchilada sauce
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1½ lb boneless chicken breasts about 3
Instructions
- Chop the onion and the bell pepper. Mince the garlic. Put all three in a slow cooker. Add the corn, black beans, olives, chili powder, ground cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper, and cream cheese. Add the chicken breasts on top.1 medium onion, 1 medium green bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 2 cups frozen corn, 15 oz can black beans, 2.5 oz can sliced black olives, ½ teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 8 oz cream cheese, 1½ lb boneless chicken breasts, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Add the chicken broth, can of Rotel tomatoes, and can of enchilada sauce.10 oz can diced Rotel tomatoes, 10 oz can red enchilada sauce, 2 cups chicken broth
- Set slow cooker on Medium or High for a 4 hour cook, Low for a 6 to 8 hour cook.
- Remove chicken half way through and shred it with two forks on a chopping block. Return to slow cooker to simmer and finish cooking.
- Stir until the cream cheese is fully melted into the broth. Ladle into bowls and add sour cream, tortilla strips, shredded cheese, avocado, or cilantro.
- Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream, tortilla strips, and shredded cheese.
Notes
- Use thawed chicken: Thawed chicken cooks more evenly in the slow cooker and is easier to shred when done.
- Drain the beans: Drained black beans keep the broth from turning muddy or too thick.
- Choose the right Rotel heat level: Tomatoes with green chiles come in mild, original, and hot, so pick the one your family will enjoy.
- Stir well at the end: Cream cheese may look separated at first, but it smooths into the hot broth after stirring.
- Use cooked beans only: Canned or previously cooked black beans are fine, but dry beans should not be added directly to this soup.
Nutrition
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