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This simple one-pot soup is the perfect bowl to warm up to on a chilly night. Made with salsa verde, poblano peppers, jalapeños (for just the right amount of heat), and shredded chicken. Add taco seasoning and ground cumin for amazing flavor. Then cream cheese for creaminess. This soup is spicy, creamy, and so delicious. Top each bowl of creamy soup with avocado, plenty of fresh cilantro, sour cream, and lots of salty tortilla chips. I even added a little bit of lime zest too!
It’s soup season! We’ve had some seriously cold temperatures, single digit, temps this week. It’s COLD. I made this over the weekend, and it was so perfect. It really hit the spot.
All of my brothers were in town. And even though they claim not to enjoy soup, they said the taste was awesome. They loved that it was a bit spicy yet creamy and cheesy too. With the broth being a bit thicker, it makes the soup a little heartier. It’s a great comfort food recipe for this time of year!
Originally, I wanted to make a more traditional variation on tortilla soup using diced tomatoes and red enchilada sauce. I’m sure it would have been delicious, but when I didn’t have any red enchilada sauce on hand, I reached for what I did have: salsa verde.
I used two full jars of my favorite salsa verde from Whole Foods, two cans of diced green chilies, a poblano pepper, and some jalapeños.
Onto details
Step 1: cook the onion and peppers
Use a little olive oil or butter and start cooking the onion. Then add the poblanos, jalapeños, cumin, and a few teaspoons of taco seasoning for a truly yummy mix. Let this cook for a few minutes to bring out the flavor in the dry spices.
Step 2: cook the chicken
Next, add the chicken. I like to toss it up with all those spices.
Then pour over the salsa verde, add the diced-up green chilies, and then the broth. Let the chicken simmer away in the broth until it’s cooked through. This will take 15 or 20 minutes.
Step 3: shred the chicken
I like to pull the chicken out of the soup and shred it. Then mix in the cream cheese. If you want to make the soup even creamier, add a 1/2 cup or so of heavy cream.
To finish this off, mix in a big handful of white cheddar cheese and let it melt into the soup.
You can make this in the Dutch oven or crockpot if it’s easier for you. I added directions for both.
Step 4: serve, top, and enjoy
I layer a thick dollop of Greek yogurt with sliced avocado on top. Then a big handful of crushed tortilla chips and lots of fresh cilantro and green onions, some jalapeño pepper would be good to. It’s so delicious!
A wonderful chicken tortilla soup recipe to warm up with!
Make-Ahead, Storage & Reheat
- Make-ahead: soup improves by day 2; keep toppings separate.
- Fridge: store in airtight containers 3–4 days.
- Freeze: up to 2–3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge (dairy may look slightly separated—whisk as it reheats).
- Reheat: warm gently on the stove over low, stirring often; splash in broth/water to loosen as needed.
- Tortilla chips: keep in a bag/container at room temp and add just before serving for crunch.
Looking for other warming winter dinners? Here are a few ideas:
Crockpot Chili Meatballs and Spaghetti
30 Minute Spicy Indian Butter Chicken
Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice
Lastly, if you make this Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Creamy Green Chili Tortilla Soup
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 331 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 poblano, chopped
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2-3 teaspoons taco seasoning
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 3 cups salsa verde
- 2 cans (4 ounce) diced green chiles
- 3-4 cups chicken broth
- 6 ounces cream cheese, melted
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- lime zest and juice
- lots of salted tortilla chips
- yogurt, avocado, and green onion, for serving
Instructions
Stove
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the poblano, jalapeños, cumin, taco seasoning, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until very fragrant. Add the chicken, salsa verde, canned chiles, and 4 cups of broth. Season with salt and pepper. Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.2. Melt the cream cheese in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.3. Pull the chicken out and shred using two forks. Stir in the cream cheese until smooth, then stir in the shredded chicken and cheddar cheese. Cook for 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lime juice.4. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with tortilla chips. Then finish as desired with a dollop of yogurt, avocado, green onions, and cilantro. Enjoy!
Crockpot
- 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, layer the onion, poblano, and jalapeños. Add the chicken, cumin, taco seasoning, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Pour over the salsa verde, canned chiles, and 3 cups of broth. 2. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Shred the chicken using two forks. Stir in the cream cheese, whisking until mixed. Then add the cheddar cheese, cilantro, and lime juice. 3. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with tortilla chips. Then finish as desired with a dollop of yogurt, avocado, green onions, and cilantro. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on November 29, 2023
How do you think I should decrease the spice? I want to make this for my grandparents but don’t want it to spicy! I was thinking no jalapeño??
Thanks! Xo
Hi Jamie! I would omit the jalapeños and some of the seasonings! xT
So so delicious! My local grocery store doesn’t have poblano peppers this time a year, so I just used a green bell pepper and it turned out delicious. I was hesitant to make any of the recipes where you cook the chicken in the broth of the soup, but this turned out to be a super easy weeknight meal that turned out delicious.
Thank you so much Alix! xT
Delicious and so easy! I doubled the chicken since my boys are protein fiends.
Great recipe as always… thank you!
Thank you Amy! xT
Super tasty.
Thanks Laura! xT
Made this in the crockpot tonight and WOW this trumps all chicken tortilla soups I’ve ever made.
I only had 2 cups of salsa verde, used 3 cups of chicken broth and shredded half a block of cheddar cheese and it was magnificent! I also crunched up some xochitl chips on top. I thought it was going to be too thin/runny, but I feel that the shredded cheddar really thickened it up. Bravo Tighean!
Hey Sarah! Thank you so so much! Love to hear that you’re enjoying this recipe 🙂 xT
Does this come out just as good in the crockpot?
Yes, this would work well in the crockpot! 🙂 xT
Yes! I made this in the crockpot for dinner last night, paired with some homemade cheddar jalapeno bread (optional of course but highly recommend! pairs perfectly with the spiciness of the soup) and it was SO good. My family devoured it!
How odd! I left a detailed review the other day, but it seems to have disappeared. I don’t really want to write it all out again, so I guess you’ll have to wonder if we liked it or not! 🙂
And now my review suddenly appeared, after I left this comment. Even odder than before! I had refreshed the page several times and went thru all new and old comments, and it was nowhere to be found. Anyway, we loved the soup!
Hi Helen! Oh I’m so sorry about that! I hope you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 xT
This soup was delicious! I deviated from the directions a bit and sauteed the onion, jalapenos and poblano all together for 10 minutes in 2 Tbsp. olive oil (which is missing from the ingredients!), and only used 3 cups of broth, which was more than enough. I also used the full 8 oz. block of cream cheese, which I had tried to melt in the microwave but which didn’t work too well, so I just whisked the softened cheese into the soup and got rid of the lumps. We loved the soup, and it’s one I’ll definitely be making again!
Thank you so so much! Sooo glad you enjoyed this recipe! Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂 xT
This was so fantastic! A recipe worth bookmarking for sure. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Thank you so much! Sooo happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 xT
How big does my crockpot need to be to make this in it?
so easy and so good, this recipe was awesome, thank you!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
I made this last night and my husband & I really enjoyed it! I think I made the mistake of not fully melting the cream cheese before putting it in, so it had lots of little clumps for awhile but eventually melted down. I only had half the serving of salsa verde so im not sure how much of a difference that makes but still tasty. It turned out a little less creamy, and a bit too runny for me but the flavor was awesome! I did add half cup of heavy cream. How could I thicken it up a bit? Def will add this to my rotation and try to perfect it a bit more. Thank you!
Hi there! Yes, I would make sure your cream cheese is fully melted before adding it into the soup! If you want to thicken it up I would add a little less broth to the soup! xT
Made this today in my crockpot. Delicious! The fresh lime juice and cilantro made it perfect!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
Just made this soup, and we really enjoyed it. It was very easy to make. I used one jar of the Salsa Verde and one can of the chili’s. It was creamy with just enough spice. We love your recipes!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
SO good, I have a nightshade allergy but was able to leave out those and add extra cumin and cilantro. It was so creamy and delicious. I like mine a little thick so I just added a little bit of cornstarch and it worked like a dream!
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT