With fall just around the corner and our hearts and stomachs craving comfort food, I created this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup as a bridge between summer and fall in hopes that maybe fall will speed up its long-awaited arrival.
Isn’t it funny how in fall and winter we long for the warm spring and summer months and then once we have what we have longed for, we then want to trade it all in for cooler, breezier times?
I guess that’s just human nature in all of us; never quite satisfied with what we do have. With this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup, you can have your cake…err…soup and eat it too!
Since this wonderful, hearty soup cooks in the slow cooker, you don’t have to heat the house or the stove up to make it which is perfect during the warmer months.
You can still enjoy the savory comfort of tender chicken enchilada soup that you crave in the cooler months.
Chicken Enchilada Soup Ingredients:
I started with my 4-quart Crockpot Slow Cooker and added in 1 frozen boneless skinless chicken breast, 14.5 oz Organic Whole Kernel Corn (drained), 10 oz Mild Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies, 14.5 oz White Northern Beans, drained (they’re hidden under the chicken here!).
After adding in the ingredients listed above, I diced half of sweet, yellow onion to add it in as well.
You could add half of a purple onion in if you wanted a bit more of a spicy flavor, but if you have young, tender taste buds you’re feeding, I suggest sticking with the mild sweetness of the yellow onion.
Add the diced yellow onion in along with 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 28 oz of mild Red Enchilada Sauce, and 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth.
If you have some homemade chicken or vegetable broth, I highly suggest using that over anything you could buy at the store!
Homemade chicken, vegetable, or bone broth is always a much healthier and tastier option for soups.
Once your corn, tomatoes, onion, garlic, enchilada sauce, and the chicken broth has been added to your Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup, it’s time to spice things up with some seasonings!
I added in 1/4 teaspoon Organic Smoked Paprika, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder.
Once the Chicken Enchilada Soup is cooked and ready, I suggest you give it a taste before serving to see if this amount of seasonings is to your liking.
If you feel it needs more seasoning, go ahead and add it in! (Just don’t taste the soup until AFTER it cooks – remember, there is uncooked chicken in that slow cooker!)
Place the lid on your slow cooker and set the cooking time to 6 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
If your chicken was thawed, set the cooking time to 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Once the cooking cycle is complete, leave the slow cooker on and remove the chicken.
Shred the chicken between two forks, removing any fatty or unsavory parts. Once the chicken is shredded, stir it back into the soup in the slow cooker.
Cube 4 oz of Velveeta Cheese or Pasteurized American Cheese.
This small amount of cheese gives the Chicken Enchilada Soup the creamiest, most delicious flavors!
Place the cubed cheese into the soup in the slow cooker and begin stirring in order to melt the cheese.
Stir until the cheese is completely melted and blended in with the soup.
Now that your cheese has melted, turn the slow cooker off and add in 1/2 cup of milk.
I added the milk slowly, stirring the entire time to make sure it blended in smoothly to the other ingredients.
The addition of the milk to this recipe gives this soup a hearty, creamy flavor that lends a slightly more mild enchilada taste
Now that all ingredients have been added to your Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup, it is ready to serve and devour!
Some side items I would suggest to go along with this wonderful soup are Cheese Quesadillas or a Santa Fe style salad.
You can serve this Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup as-is or dress it up a little with some toppings.
Here’s a list of my favorite toppings Sour Cream, Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt (a healthier Sour Cream Substitute), Shredded Cheese (any kind), Diced Red Onion, Chopped Green Onion, Chopped Cilantro, Sliced Avocado, Sliced Jalapenos, Tortilla Strips, and Corn Chips.
I hope you all have enjoyed your time in my kitchen today and please, stop by soon for another visit!
OTHER PANTRY DINNER RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE:
CROCKPOT FRENCH ONION CHICKEN SANDWICHES
SLOW COOKER CREAMY CHICKEN MACARONI CASSEROLE

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
A savory, warm and comforting soup with all of the flavors of Chicken Enchiladas in a bowl! Something the entire family will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast frozen or thawed
- 28 oz Mild Red Enchilada Sauce taco sauce or tomato sauce can also be used
- 14.5 oz canned Organic Whole Kernel Corn drained
- 14.5 oz White Northern Beans drained
- 10 oz Mild Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or beef broth, vegetable broth, or water
- 1/2 cup milk or nut milk, cow milk, or evaporated milk
- 4 oz cubed Velveeta cheese or any type of cheese you have on hand
- 1 tsp fresh minced garlic
- 1/2 diced onion or 2tbsp dried, minced onion
- 1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Meat Substitutions:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs frozen or thawed
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground turkey
Vegetable Substitutions:
- 14.5 oz frozen corn
- 14.5 oz canned hominy drained
- 14.5 oz canned beans - any kind drained
- 8 oz canned green chilis
- 10 oz canned tomatoes - any type
- 1 1/2 cups bell peppers - any kind seeded and diced
- 1 1/2 cups frozen onions and peppers
Instructions
Place all ingredients EXCEPT the milk and cheese in the slow cooker.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high 6 hours if your chicken is frozen and high 4 hours if your chicken is thawed. You can also cook on low for 8 hours or low for 6 hours.
Once cooked, remove the chicken, turn off the heat, and shred the chicken.
Add the chicken back into the slow cooker along with the cubed cheese.
Stir until the cheese is completely melted, then slowly stir in the milk.
Serve with tortilla strips, sliced avocado, sour cream or nonfat Greek yogurt, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green or red onion, or jalapeños.
Recipe Notes
ADDITIONAL SUBSTITUTION OPTIONS:
- 1 packet of Taco Seasoning or Fajita Seasoning (any brand) can be used in place of the listed spices and seasonings.
- This recipe can also be made without meat, just double or triple the number of beans in the recipe if possible.
We love soup here at the cottage and your chicken enchilada soup looks amazing. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Miz Helen
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words! We love this soup – it’s like a hug in a bowl!
Looks wonderful! I’m sharing this in my recipe gazette today, over 100k subscribers, with a link to your post for the recipe. Thanks for sharing such a yummy one!
Christy,
Thank you so much for sharing my recipe in your Recipe Gazette today! I am honored that you would feature it. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
What a great idea! I’m a little bit behind but I wanted to make sure to check out your post – and thank you for joining the What’s for dinner party. Have a wonderful weekend and hope to see you at tomorrow’s party too!
I noticed great northern beans are listed in the ingredients, but they are not in your step-by-step directions. Do you use them in your soup?
Yes I do! Thank you for catching that – I just forgot to write it into the step by step directions and they’re hiding under the broth and enchilada sauce in the photos. 🙂
do you have an instant version of this?
Hi Kelly!
No, I don’t have an Instant Pot version of this. I have an Instant Pot but don’t use it often. I think you could pressure cook the chicken until cooked through, shred it, then add in all of the other ingredients except the dairy and maybe pressure cook on low for a short time. Once everything else has been cooked, you could stir in the dairy until melted.
Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party! Hope your holidays are wonderful!
You’re most welcome! Thank you for always hosting such a fun link up party!
I have one question Were you supposed to mix it all together?
Hi Grace!
It’s not necessary to stir all of the ingredients together while adding them to the crockpot, however, when you add the milk and cheese, you should stir that in to make sure the cheese melts properly.