Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup

Whenever we travel I love trying out new restaurants.  And when I find a dish I absolutely love I try to recreate it at home. Disneyland and Disney World have some of the most amazing chefs, every time we go I find myself craving certain dishes when we get home.  The Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup reminds me of the soup they serve at Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe at Disney California Adventure Park.  I’ve made a few tweaks to make it more kid friendly but I’ll let you know how to tweak it back to make it spicy again.

For this recipe, you’ll need the following –

1/4 C Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
5+ Yellow Corn Tortillas, sliced into strips
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 C Corn (frozen works well)
5 C Chicken Broth
1 (15 ounce) can Tomato Puree
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 1/4 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 tsp Flour
1/2 C Water
2 1/2 C Chicken, cooked and shredded
1/2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 C Sour Cream
1 C Mild Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
1/2 C Black Beans, drained and rinsed
Cilantro, Sour Cream, and Cheese for topping

Kitchen Supplies You’ll Need –

Large Stock Pot
Baking Pan
Measuring Spoons and Cups
10 inch Skillet
Tongs
Paper Towels
Spatula
Ladel


This recipe moves pretty fast and is fairly simple. The most time-consuming step is the baked, shredded chicken. But you can do that the night before. For this recipe, I’m going to assume the chicken is already cooked. If you need help baking chicken I have a post on how to do it.  Just pop over here and follow the directions.

The first thing we are going to do is make your tortilla strips. This part can be messy and it takes just a few minutes so have your towels set up ahead of time.  Heat 1/4 C of the Vegetable Oil in the skillet. When it’s hot, place the sliced Yellow Corn Tortilla in the oil for about 2-3 minutes, until they are golden. Then move them to the paper towels to dry and set aside.

Everything else we will be using the large stock pot for. Pour the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil into the pot, using medium to heat the oil. Once heated, add in the onion and continue cooking over medium heat until translucent. The timing on this step will vary depending on how thick the onion is but it should take anywhere from 3-7 minutes.

Once the onion is translucent, add in garlic, bell pepper and frozen corn to pot. Cook for an additional 2 minutes over medium heat.

Next, stir in the chicken stock, tomato puree, salt, pepper, chili powder, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Bring this to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.  If you want a spicier soup you can add a can of green chilis or a little hot sauce at this step. But for those that want a mild soup leave it as it is.

While that’s simmering take a small bowl and mix the flour and water together. You’ll want to use a whisk to stir it together until smooth. Pour this into the soup and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 4 minutes.

Add the chicken and bring it back up to a simmer. Then add in the heavy cream, sour cream, cheese and black beans. Let it cook for a few more minutes to blend the ingredients together.

Once it’s all heated, ladle into bowls and garnish with the tortilla strips, sour cream, cheese, and cilantro. You don’t have to use any of them or you can use just one or two of them. Peyton only used cheese and the tortilla strips in her soup while I used all them.

This soup serves about 6-8 people. We had plenty of leftovers and they did reheat well. I just made fresh tortilla chips the next day to go with the leftovers.