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Chicken Poblano Soup is filled with smoky roasted poblanos, southwest spices, sweet pops of corn, and tender chunks of chicken. It’s the perfect way to use a rotisserie chicken or leftover shredded chicken and is ready in under 40 minutes.
I love to top bowls with crispy tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, and shredded cheese. Serve the soup with cheddar jalapeno cornbread to make a perfect light Tex Mex meal that will keep you warm all winter long.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Uses a Rotisserie Chicken – Using a rotisserie chicken or other leftover chicken makes this recipe super easy!
- Flavorful Poblano Peppers – Adding roasted poblano peppers to the soup adds so much flavor.
- The Toppings – I love topping bowls of soup with crunchy tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, spicy jalapeno, sliced radish and even shredded cheese.
Ingredients
This recipe is the perfect way to use a rotisserie chicken or other leftover shredded chicken you have on hand.
- Poblano Peppers – If you can’t find poblano peppers, you can substitute bell peppers. See the recipe tips below in the post for the changes to make.
- Minced Garlic – Fresh minced is best, but you can also use the pre-minced in a jar.
- Spices – Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt, Black Pepper
- Chicken Broth – I prefer to buy low-sodium broths and control the salt level myself.
- Corn Kernels – Fresh or frozen
- Rotisserie Chicken – Shredded to add to the soup. You can also use other leftover chicken.
- Lime Juice – Fresh is best! Roll the lime on the counter with gentle pressure before juicing.
- Additional Ingredients – Butter, yellow onion, celery, red bell pepper, fresh cilantro, and all-purpose flour.
- Optional Garnishes – Tortilla Strips, Radish, Cilantro, Jalapeno, Cheese
How To Make Chicken Poblano Soup
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Char Poblano Peppers – Char the poblano peppers over a gas burner turning often, or under a broiler on a lined baking sheet turning once. Once the skin is black and blistered, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a lid to steam and cool. Rub off the burnt skin and discard the seeds/membrane. Chop up the flesh of the peppers into a small dice.
Cook Veggies – Dice up some onion, celery, and bell peppers and saute until soft, then add garlic and spices and saute for another minute.
Make a Roux. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes. The added flour will thicken the soup once you add the broth.
Finish Soup – Whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil then add in the remaining ingredients. Simmer the soup until heated through, tasting and adjusting the seasoning.
Serve – Serve the soup topped with the garnishes and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Poblano soup is chicken broth-based soup that is loaded with roasted poblano peppers, veggies, and shredded chicken.
A poblano pepper has a mild to medium heat. They are hotter than a banana pepper but less spicy than jalapeno peppers
The skin on poblano peppers can be tough and hard to digest so its best to remove the skin to expose the tender flesh. Roasting the peppers makes the skin easy to remove and brings out the flavor of the peppers.
Helpful Tips
- Chicken – If you do not have a rotisserie chicken, you can roast off some chicken breasts or thighs in the oven and chop them up to add to the soup. You could also poach small pieces of chicken in the broth. Add them after the soup comes up to a boil, and cook for about 8-10 minutes before adding in the poblanos, corn, lime, and cilantro.
- Can’t Find Poblanos? If you can’t find fresh poblanos, you can get a similar effect by charring bell peppers instead. You will get the smokey flavor, but will not have the slight heat that the poblanos bring, so you may want to add a ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
- Removing Pepper Skin – Another good way to remove the charred skin from the peppers is to rub the skin off with your fingers under warm running water. This will help to wash away the skin as you rub it.
- Try Adding Black Beans – To make the soup even more filling, you can add 1 can of rinsed and drained black beans along with the chicken.
Storage and Freezing
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in a container for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in a pan on the stove or in the microwave.
More Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Shrimp Corn Chowder
- Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
- Bacon and Bean Soup
- Egg Drop Soup
Chicken Poblano Soup
Ingredients
- 3 poblano peppers
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion sliced
- 2 ribs of celery diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups corn kernels fresh or frozen
- 4 cups shredded chicken like from a rotisserie chicken
- Juice of 1 lime
- Handful cilantro chopped
- Garnish: tortilla strips, radish, cilantro, jalapeno, cheese
Instructions
- Char the poblano peppers over a gas burner turning often, or under a broiler on a lined baking sheet turning once, and cook until the skin is completely black and blistered.
- Quickly place the hot peppers in a bowl covered with plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid to steam and cool.
- Remove the burnt skin by rubbing it off with a paper towel. Discard the seeds and membrane, and chop the flesh of the pepper into a small dice.
- Heat the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and saute about 5 minutes, or until they have softened. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in flour, cook for about 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the broth and bring to a boil, add the chopped poblanos, corn, chicken, lime juice and cilantro. Simmer until heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Serve bowls of soup garnished with tortilla strips, radish, cilantro, jalapeno and cheese, if desired.
Wow!
This soup is delicious. Very flavorful and nice and spicy. Very easy to make. I have
already make it 3x.
Very comforting on a blustery day. I love it. Thanks, Kristin.
You are so welcome Carolyn! Thanks for stopping by.
This soup is DELICIOUS! It has so many flavors, and that hint of lime just makes it great. It is healthy, too! Takes longer than 35 min. to make; all that chopping. It is worth the wait. You have got to try this one, for sure.
So glad to hear you enjoyed this new recipe! You are currently I neglected to add prep time in, so it’s about 45 minutes of total time.