Taco flavors infuse zest into this creamy Southwest chicken soup
While many are enjoying pumpkin spice “this and that” with fall’s arrival, I’m breaking out the soup pot.
Soups are a dinnertime win that usually are just as good the next day as leftovers. Depending on the ingredients, soups can be easy and quick, going from pantry to dinner table in 30 minutes.
Or, they can simmer in a Dutch oven low and slow for hours, usually as a stew with a thicker liquid viscosity. As the flavors meld, so too does the aroma in the kitchen – and the anticipation for a bowlful.
Soups also are scalable for a few or many servings. And, they can stretch a small amount of meat into more servings. Yet with toppings and a slice of cornbread, pile of crackers or other sides, everyone leaves the table feeling satisfied. Vegetarian soups can be hearty and filling, too.
The following recipe for creamy Southwest chicken soup is closer to the easy-and-quick end of the cooking meter, using leftover chicken or a grocery store roasted chicken.
Flavors that fill a chicken taco give creamy Southwest chicken soup its zest, but without the tortillas.
The recipe is inspired by Creamy Beef Taco Soup posted recently by Ashley White on the Facebook group Living a Keto Life. The name is a tip of the spoon to the use of a taco seasoning packet.
I thought many of the flavors would work just as easily with chicken – which I had on hand – as for ground beef.
My hunch was right, and shows another advantage to soup: adaptability. They can undergo minor tweaks to major overhauls on the fly, and the results usually will be at least just as good, if not better, with minimal risk of disaster.
I like to customize recipes according to what ingredients are available or in season, which makes soups a common fare at my house in the cooler and cold months.
In this week’s recipe, I changed the name to reflect not only the meat substitute but also how the flavors are indicative of a region, not a specific food.
Other adjustments include changing the stock to chicken and updating the instructions for a traditional pot instead of an Instant Pot because the chicken is cooked.
The creaminess comes from heavy cream and cream cheese, which cool the soup’s spicy bite. Grated Cheddar cheese added at the end of cooking also rounds out the peppery heat.
At service, you can top the soup with more cheese, diced avocados, a dollop of cream and/or broken tortilla chips for added flavor and texture.
However you adapt the soup, I hope you find it a welcome addition to your rotation of family favorites. It is now part of mine.