There's a reason this green enchilada chicken soup recipe went viral-it's easy, cozy, and packed with flavor! Tender shredded chicken, a rich and creamy broth, and just the right kick of zesty green enchilada sauce make it irresistible. With Monterey Jack, cream cheese, and salsa verde, it's the perfect balance of comfort and spice-plus, it's high-protein and low-carb!
The backstory.
Forgotten Ingredient = New Family Favorite
I was all set to make my favorite green chicken enchiladas-the chicken was prepped, the cheese was ready, and the enchilada sauce was waiting to be poured. But just as I started assembling, I opened the pantry and-no tortillas. Not a single one. I stood there for a moment, debating whether to abandon ship or make a desperate grocery run, but then inspiration (and hunger) took over. Instead of rolling enchiladas, I decided to turn everything into a soup. I tossed the chicken, broth, and green enchilada sauce into the slow cooker, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.
A few hours later, what came out was pure comfort in a bowl-a creamy, cheesy, flavor-packed soup that tasted just like green enchiladas, only cozier. The chicken was fall-apart tender, the broth was rich and velvety, and every bite had that perfect balance of zesty salsa verde and melty cheese. My family devoured it, and just like that, my go-to Green Enchilada Chicken Soup was born. Now, I make it on purpose-because sometimes, the best recipes happen by accident!
xoxo Kori
The must-make green chicken enchilada soup!
The viral sensation. A few years ago, this soup went viral-millions of views and still holding strong as my #1 recipe. Why? Because it's downright delicious! 🔥
Big flavor, easy prep. Think cheesy, creamy, enchilada goodness-only in soup form! It's rich, satisfying, and ridiculously easy to make with only a few ingredients. Plus, you get to choose your method: slow cooker, stovetop, or Instant Pot!
Super customizable. It's easily adaptable to your family's tastes, pantry staples on hand, or dietary needs! Check out the flexible dietary swaps section below for more information.
What you'll need.
Here is what you'll need to make creamy chicken enchilada soup in your slow cooker or Instant Pot:
Ingredients
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs - either one can be used.
- Green Enchilada Sauce - use my homemade recipe (seriously, try it!) or grab a 28 ounce can.
- Chicken Broth
- Half and Half - half and half or heavy cream can be used.
- Monterey Jack Cheese - if you can, grate your own cheese it melts better than packaged.
- Cream Cheese - cubed and very soft. Soften it in the microwave before adding to the soup.
- Green Salsa (Salsa Verde) - make your own salsa verde (it's easy) or use any favorite brand.
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional Garnish - avocado, green onion, sour cream, cilantro
Special equipment
- 6-quart slow cooker, an Instant Pot, or a soup pot
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
Make it yours.
Here are a few ways you can customize this recipe:
- Spice it up by adding hot sauce, additional salsa, or chili pepper flakes.
- Try adding a can of diced green chiles.
- Add drained canned corn and beans like black beans, pinto beans, etc.
- Fresh vegetables are wonderful in this soup. Add mushrooms, zucchini, sliced carrots when you add the broth.
- Add a quick cooking minute rice, or add a half cup of long grain rice with the broth.
Flexible dietary swaps.
This soup is already a high-protein, low-carb favorite, but it's super easy to tweak based on your preferences or what's in your fridge:
- Dairy-Free? Use a plant-based cream cheese (like almond or cashew-based), unsweetened plain oat milk or coconut milk in place of half and half, and swap in a vegan cream cheese alternative (to keep it creamy). Boom-dairy-free comfort in a bowl.
- Lighter Option? Use fat-free half and half or low-fat cream cheese, and reduce the shredded cheese to 1 cup. You'll still get that creamy vibe with fewer calories.
- Higher Fat/Keto-Friendly? Use heavy cream instead of half and half, add extra Monterey Jack, or top with avocado and a dollop of sour cream for good fats.
- More Veggies? Stir in spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, or riced cauliflower during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. They'll bulk it up without changing the flavor.
- Vegetarian Swap: Sub in white beans (like cannellini or great northern) or chickpeas for the chicken, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Spice Control: Tone it down with mild enchilada sauce or salsa verde-or turn up the heat with jalapeños, hot sauce, or spicy salsa. Your call!
The bottom line: this soup loves a good remix. Make it your own and love every spoonful.
How to make green enchiladas chicken soup
This soup recipe can be made in a slow cooker, Instant Pot, or on your stove. See the recipe card for more detailed instructions. Enjoy!
Slow cooker method (easiest)
Slow cook
Add chicken breast or thighs, green enchilada sauce, and chicken broth. Slow cook until the chicken is tender and easily shreds apart.
Shred the chicken
Remove chicken, shred and return to the crockpot.
Add remaining ingredients
Add half and half, jack cheese, softened cream cheese, and green salsa. Turn the crockpot to warm and stir until the cheeses are melted.
Instant pot method (fastest!)
- Add chicken, enchilada sauce, and broth to your Instant Pot.
- Seal and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Quick release, shred chicken, stir in remaining ingredients, and enjoy!
Stovetop method (weeknight-worthy!)
- In a large stockpot, add chicken, broth, and enchilada sauce. Simmer until chicken is done and can easily be pulled apart. Remove chicken and shred.
- Add shredded chicken and remaining ingredients. Stir and heat soup until it is warm and the cheese is melted.
How to enjoy it.
- Adjust salt, pepper, and salsa to taste. Use hot sauce to increase the heat.
- Delicious topped with avocado, cilantro, green onion, and sour cream.
- Give your kids some scooped tortilla chips and let them scoop up their soup.
- Crush tortilla chips over the top to add some crunch.
If you love chicken soup, be sure to check out these easy, healthy chicken soup recipes!
Kori's tips.
- To add heat, use more green salsa or a green chili hot sauce.
- Make sure your cream cheese is very soft before adding it to the soup. Cold cream cheese will not melt very well. You can even soften it in the microwave before adding it to the soup.
- For best "melt-ability", always grate your own cheese. Pre-packaged grated cheese is often coated in potato starch, which helps prevent sticking inside the package. Unfortunately, this also keeps it from melting very well.
FAQs
Red enchilada sauce is made with red tomatoes, red chili peppers, onions, and other spices.
Green enchilada sauce is most often made of diced green chili peppers (such as anaheim peppers, hatch, jalapeno, etc.), garlic, vegetable stock, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Additional jalapeno peppers may also be added for more spice. Sometimes recipes will add tomatillos as well.
Both use very similar ingredients, but green enchilada sauce is cooked, and salsa verde uses raw ingredients. Not all green enchilada sauce recipes use tomatillos (but some do), whereas most salsa verde recipes use tomatillos.
Typically green enchilada sauce is made of spicy and mild green chili peppers, onion, garlic, cumin, and other seasonings. Sometimes a recipe will add tomatillos as well - but not always.
Yes. Here's how to make Instant Pot Green Enchilada Chicken Soup:
Cook your chicken on high pressure with 1 cup of broth for 8 minutes. Do a quick release after 10 minutes. Remove chicken and shred.
Set Instant Pot to saute medium, and add remaining broth, shredded chicken, green enchilada sauce, salsa, and heat until warm.
Add cheese and remaining ingredients. Stir until cheese is melted.
Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce if desired. Enjoy!
Yes! Here's how to make Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup on your stovetop:
In a large stockpot, add chicken and broth.
Simmer until the chicken is done and can easily be pulled apart.
Remove chicken and shred.
Add shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, half and half, jack cheese, cream cheese, and green salsa to the pot. Stir and heat soup until it is warm and the cheese is melted.
Season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve with additional green salsa, hot sauce, and sour cream on the side. Enjoy!
Yes. This soup can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe, airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat slow. Fats from the dairy may become separated; add additional milk or cream as needed.
Yes. You can use fat-free half and half and you can reduce the cheese to 1 cup without sacrificing taste.
Adding olive oil and additional cheese will increase the fat in this recipe. You can also use heavy cream in place of half and half. Topping the soup with avocado and sour cream will also increase the fat.
Can I ask you a favor?
If you tried this recipe, let me know! I'd love for you to come back and give the recipe a 5 star rating and leave a review in the comments! 🙂 Let's stay connected, so please follow me on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! Subscribe to my newsletter to get healthy fresh recipe ideas every week!
📖 The recipe.
Green Chicken Enchilada Soup - Creamy and Cheesy!
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 recipe green enchilada sauce (or a 28-ounce can store-bought sauce)
- 24 ounces chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half or heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
- 4 ounces cream cheese (cubed and softened - warm in the microwave if needed)
- 4 ounces green salsa (salsa verde)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- In a 6-quart slow cooker, add chicken breast or thighs, green enchilada sauce, and chicken broth.
- Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or until the chicken is tender and easily shreds. Remove chicken and shred.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the pot along with, jack cheese, very soft cream cheese, half and half, and green salsa to the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker to warm and stir until the cheeses are melted.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce or additional salsa to taste.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Cook your chicken on high pressure with 1 cup of broth for 8 minutes. Do a quick release after 10 minutes. Remove chicken and shred.
- Set pot to saute medium, and add remaining broth, shredded chicken, green enchilada sauce, salsa, and heat until warm. Add cheese and remaining ingredients. Stir until cheese is melted.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce or additional salsa to taste.
Stovetop Instructions:
- In a large stockpot, add chicken and broth. Simmer until chicken is done and can easily be pulled apart. Remove chicken and shred.
- Add shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, half and half, jack cheese, cream cheese, and green salsa to the pot. Stir and heat soup until it is warm and the cheese is melted.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce or additional salsa to taste.
Video
Kori's Tips
- This recipe makes a mild to medium spice soup. To add spice, use additional green salsa or a green chili hot sauce or diced jalapenos.
- Make sure your cream cheese is softened before adding it to the soup. The quickest way to soften is to remove it from the package and place in a microwave-safe bowl for a few seconds at a time on low - until very soft.
- MUST TRY: Be sure to try our new homemade Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe - it's easy and delicious!
- VARIATIONS: Feel free to add diced vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, or onions. Add jalapeno pepper if you like more heat. You can also add black beans, white beans, or corn. So many possibilities!
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: This is delicious topped with avocado, cilantro, green onion, and sour cream.
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
Keep the good eats going.
- Green Chili Pork Stew Recipe
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- White Chicken Chili (Slow Cooker)
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
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- Instant Pot Low Carb and Keto Chicken Soup
- Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup with Beer Brats
- Easy Tomato and Basil Soup
- Creamy Buffalo Chicken Soup Recipe
- Do you love enchiladas? Be sure to try these green enchiladas with chicken, and this lightened up version, as well as seafood enchiladas, and carne enchiladas.
Jennifer
This soup was amazing!!! I did add a can of great northern beans. I also made some extra spicy roasted tomatillo salsa for the side. We ate the soup topped with cilantro leaves and cheese and added some tortilla chips as we ate. If we wanted more heat we just added that tomatillo salsa I made with habanero and serrano chilis.
I will definitely make this again. It's going into my normal soup rotation but next time I'll add one more can of beans and maybe a few torn up corn tortillas to thicken it a bit. Loved this soup!!
Kori
Great, love your ideas for adding beans and corn tortillas! Also the tomatillo salsa, yum. So happy you loved the recipe! 🙂
Hannah Keith
What is the serving size? Thanks 😊
Kori
Hello! Approximately 1-1/2 cups, but it depends on how much liquid built up in your slow cooker so I can't be exact. The recipe serves 12. Hope you love it!
Kim Tawney
This is now one of my family’s favorite recipes. It turned out beautifully and so flavorful. This will be on rotation in our house!
Kori
So happy your whole family loved the Green Enchilada Chicken Soup! 🙂 Thank you so much!!
J. Nevitt
I’ve made this before and it is fantastic! Want to make it again but it doesn’t say how much green enchilada sauce to use.
Kori
28 oz. Sorry about that there was some sort of technical glitch when I added the link to my enchilada sauce recipe. It was there it just wasn't showing, anyway it's fixed now. 🙂
Doug
Delicious. Yum.added jalapeno, and cauliflower rice. Typed with cilantro, avocado, and sour cream. Probably best thing I've put in my mouth since I started keto.
Kori
Awww thank you so very much!! I'm super happy you enjoyed the soup. Love your idea of adding jalapeno and cauliflower rice. YUM. Hope you come back and try out more of my recipes! 🙂
Jenni
I just ran across your recipe and made it for dinner. Absolutely delicious everyone loved it thank you so much
Kori
You are so welcome! Thanks for trying the recipe out and I'm happy they all enjoyed it!
Linda Gaulke
This soup is incredible! Thanks for sharing.
Kori
You are so welcome! Thanks for trying the soup out and glad you enjoyed it 🙂 I've got lots more yummy soups where that came from!
Kimberly W
Has anyone used shredded rotisserie chicken for this instead? If so how long did you cook it in the crock pot?
Kori
Hello! You could totally use rotisserie chicken for this recipe. You wouldn't need to cook it very long in the slow cooker as you just need to blend the flavors and have the soup hot enough to melt the cheeses. Maybe 2 hours on low?? You could also just heat it on your stove too if you're in a hurry. Keep in mind that when you cook raw chicken the juices from all that chicken are cooking in the soup giving it tons of flavor and extra juices. If you use rotisserie chicken you may need to add additional chicken broth and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper). Let me know what you think about the soup! 🙂 -Kori
Morgan
Omg, so good! Was a huge hit with the whole fam. Can’t wait to make it again.
Kori
Oh great! Thank you so much!! So glad you all loved it! 🙂
Teri
This is my new favorite soup! I can’t believe how delicious it is! I used Pepper Jack cheese (shredded it myself as suggested!) to give an extra little kick!
Thank you 😊 for perfection ❣️
FYI I did make this in my instant pot using boneless chicken thighs.
Kori
I'm so happy you loved the soup! 🙂 Thank you so much!! I've got more great soup recipes make sure to check them out. I bet you'd like the Chicken Fajita Soup 🙂
Susan
Delicious, easy & a winner for this crazy winter storm in Houston! I am set for leftovers while we hunker down. Thank you!
Kori
Thank you! I'm glad you have a warm and cozy soup to get you through the storm. Hope everything is okay! Stay warm!
Mary
The soups is delicious! But we wanted something s little heartier, and need to still keep carbs at bay. I tried adding cauliflower, not so great. Then I tried adding zucchini. It was great! The next time I added zucchini and yellow squash.. Absolutely delish! I like to add some colored peppers, too, lovely big chunks of yellow, red, and/or orange pepper. Green was okay, but the colored peppers, WOW!! Thanks for a super simple soup base that is absolutely delicious!!
Kori
Thank you!! 🙂 Love all your ideas!! The last time I made this I added fresh sliced mushrooms and diced zucchini to the slow cooker with the chicken and it was amazing. That is the beauty of this recipes - it's totally adaptable. 🙂
MJ
Can I use cream cheese from a tub instead of the brick cream cheese?
Kori
I believe you can, yes! Depending upon what type of cream cheese that you have, some are more whipped than others, you may have a slight difference in consistency. Make sure to fully soften the cream cheese before adding it so it will melt easier. 🙂
Kworkman
I made this last night and it was good definitely a recipe I will be making often.
Kori
Great, thank you! Glad you enjoyed the soup! Thanks for trying it out 🙂
Shawn
I don't know how keto it is as I don't care about that part, but I have made this WONDERFUL soup twice now, the first according to the recipe, and EVERYONE LOVED it! The second time, apparently there was a run on green enchilada sauce in my ton and no one had any so i used red, and it tasted great as well! Very yummy! thank you for sharing this!
Kori
You are so welcome - and thank yoU! I'm so GLAD you love the recipe! 🙂 Thank you also for mentioning the red enchilada sauce. I frequently have people asking if they can substitute but I haven't made it myself yet.
Elsa
The list of ingredients has 1 cup of half and half
But I don’t see anywhere in the instructions when to add it. I’m assuming it is when you put the shredded chicken back in. Great recipe, I will definitely be making it again
Charity Schmidt
Has anyone ever added white beans to this soup to make it a little more hearty and like white chicken chilI?
Kori
Yes white beans are quite good in the soup! I've also added mushrooms and diced zucchini too. It's fun to change it up
Julia
Hi. I could not find the green enchilada sauce so I got the red. Do you think it will still taste ok using the red? Has anyone did this?
Kori
It will definitely be a different taste and color but I think since you have everything you should give it a try anyway! You can always play around with other ingredients if you need to. It's really just a different type of chili that used (red vs green). I think it will be good. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Shawna R Willcox
When do you add the heavy cream?
Kori
Hello! When the recipe calls for half and half which is after it's pressure cooked and when you are ready to add the cheese, cream cheese, etc. Enjoy! 🙂
Scott D
This soup has become one of our favorites. It is not a real time consuming meal to make. One small shortcut I did was to use chicken breast tenders. It cuts the slow cooker time down to 3-1/2 to 4 hours and the chicken is very tender. I also like the fact that you can control the heat with the amount of salsa put in. We like a little more spice so 8oz was perfect. Great soup! Thank you for this recipe!! I’m new to this site so I’m excited to try more recipes and share!!
Kori
Hello! I'm so glad it's one of your favorites! It's one of mine (and my whole family) too 🙂 Love your idea with the chicken breast tenders. I created this soup to be simple and easy so it can work for most people. It's not too spicy because as with most households there are spicy lovers and mild lovers. This way each can "Spice" it up how they want - it's to add heat but not take it away.
I was going to add this to the post soon, but recently I've been adding mushrooms and diced zucchini at the start of the slow cooking - so delicious. Another reader adds carrots and celery. Some people add drained black beans and corn too. So many options. Got lots of recipes for you to try, let me know if you need me to point you in the direction of anything particular! Have a good ay