Chili's Southwest Chicken Soup Recipe Made From Scratch In 20 Minutes

This Chili's southwest chicken soup recipe combines shredded chicken with perfectly cooked veggies and seasonings to make a flavorful soup that just can't be beaten. Honestly, it's so good you won't believe that it's not from the restaurant itself! Plus, just 4 simple and easy steps are all you need to follow to make it. Sounds pretty great, right?!

The Best Chili's Southwest Chicken Soup

I don't go to Chili's often, but when I do, it's always so I can get their southwest chicken soup. It's just the perfect winter meal when if I'm craving tacos but want something hot and comforting. 

Now, although the one from Chili's restaurant is delicious, I think this copycat version is even better!

For real though, I really think I've outdone myself with this one.

But, not only is this chicken soup jam-packed with flavor - and made with fresh ingredients - but it's so, so easy to make too. In fact, it's so easy, you can make this Chili's southwest chicken soup from scratch in just 30 minutes. Not too shabby, eh?!

By the way, if you're looking for a few recipes to serve this soup along with, these air fryer tortilla chips, this Chipotle guac, and these birria tacos are all great options to make a full southwest dinner out of it!

Ingredients

This Chili's southwest chicken soup recipe actually uses many of the same ingredients in your typical homemade chicken noodle soup.

Here's everything you'll need to make it:

• 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• ½ Onion, chopped
• 1 Celery Stalk, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Chicken Stock or Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp. Chipotle Peppers in Adobe Sauce
• 1 cup Hominy
• ¼ cup Green Chili (green chiles), finely diced
• ½ Lemon, squeezed
• ½ cup Cilantro, finely sliced
• Fried Corn Tortilla Strips
• Shredded Cheese

That's not so bad, right? 

And, as I mentioned, you can use a lot of these ingredients to make regular chicken soup, so you might want to give this Chick-Fil-A chicken noodle soup a try next!

Diving Into the Ingredients

Now, a quick word on the ingredients. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found at most grocery stores in the Latin aisle - they're usually in small cans. A little goes a long way, but don't worry about having to buy a can, you can use it to make this Qdoba chicken recipe sometime.

When it comes to hominy - also known as field corn - this will also be found in the Latin aisle in larger cans. You can buy dry hominy, but it takes a long time to cook. So I recommend sticking with the canned, cooked hominy.

For the shredded cheese, anything you want will work great, like shredded cheddar cheese, Colby jack, or even grated parmesan cheese.

Lastly, feel free to taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Occasionally, I will add some jalapenos, adobo sauce, and use pepper jack cheese to up the heat of the soup.

How To Make Chili's Southwest Chicken Soup

If you've made chicken soup before, then you will have no problem making this copycat Chili's southwest chicken soup recipe. Honestly, even if you haven't made chicken soup before, this recipe is still super straightforward and easy to follow so you should have no problem as well.

Now, just so you know, this recipe for southwest chicken soup makes four large servings. So, if you want to have some soup left over, I recommend just doubling - or tripling - the recipe. It's really, really tasty the day/s after it's made, so we always end up making a double batch when we make it. 

With that said, let's not waste time and get right to the recipe!

Step 1: Cook The Chicken

First, we're going to make the chicken.

To cook the chicken, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add your chicken breast to it. Season the water with salt and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked and has reached an internal temperature of 165°F.

Next, remove the cooked chicken from the water and let it cool. Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, shred it with two forks and set it aside.

By the way, to save some time, you can always use chicken breasts from a rotisserie chicken. I do it all the time, and the soup always turns out just as good.

Step 2: Make The Base

Now it's time to cook the veggies.

So, the first thing you'll want to do is grab a large Dutch oven - or another large pot pot - and heat it over a burner set to medium heat.

Then, add the oil, followed by the onion, chopped celery, green chiles, chipotle peppers, and garlic. Now, sauté everything for 10 minutes on medium heat, or until the onion is soft and translucent.

Next, add the tomato paste and chicken stock to the pot, along with the cooked chicken and hominy.

Step 3: Let The Soup Simmer

Now that everything is in the pot give it a stir to combine.

Then, let all of the ingredients simmer until the chicken stock soup mixture begins to thicken and everything is well mixed. This is right around the time that your family will poke their heads into the kitchen to ask what smells so good!

Step 4: Assemble The Soup

Finally, serve the soup from the large pot in four bowls as a meal, or eight as a side.

Then, to finish off this Chili's southwest chicken soup, add the chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lemon - or lime juice - on top right before serving. And for a little heat, add in the adobo sauce.

Lastly, top each bowl of soup with shredded - or grated cheese - and corn tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips (or corn tortilla chips). The cheese and chips are what I think bring everything together - you just can't eat this soup without those two components.

Enjoy!

How To Store Chili's Southwest Chicken Soup

As good as this soup is - and it's really good - you'll likely end up with some leftovers. Luckily, this Chili's southwest chicken soup tastes even better the next day/s after you make it!

With that said, to store your leftover chicken soup, just place it into an airtight container and store it in your refrigerator for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze your chicken soup for up to 3 months.

By the way, if you're storing the leftover soup, you'll want to wait to put the tortillas and cheese on top until after you reheat it. Otherwise, they'll get soggy and lose their crunch.

How To Reheat Chicken soup

To reheat your southwest chicken soup, I prefer to use the stovetop.

Simply place your leftover soup in a small pot and then set the heat of the burner to medium heat. Then, just allow the soup to simmer until warm, stirring frequently. Once warm, serve it with the fried tortilla strips and shredded cheese on top.

Now, if you're short on time, you can reheat your chicken soup in the microwave as well. Just put the soup in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each one, until thoroughly warm.

Oh, and make sure to place a plate over the top of your soup bowl as it microwaves. Otherwise, as the soup pops and fizzles in the microwave, it can create a bit of a mess.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make Chili's southwest chicken soup from scratch.

This recipe for chicken soup is - I dare say it - even better than the one from the restaurant. And it really is one of the best easy soup recipes you can make.

It's that same warm, comforting bowl of chicken soup with rich southwest flavors that are hard to beat. But, it's just so much fresher and tastier made at home! You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you take your first sip.

As always, if you give this copycat Chili's southwest chicken soup recipe a try, be sure to leave a comment below and tell me how it went.

And, as always, remember to check us out on Youtube, Instagram, and Tiktok, where we are always posting easy recipes.

More Copycat Recipes

If you liked this restaurant recreation, we have a ton of other copycat recipes that are just as delicious!

Give one of these copycat recipes a try next: 

• Texas Roadhouse chili
• Outback mac and cheese
• Olive Garden chicken scampi
• Olive Garden chicken alfredo
• Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets
• Chili's margarita grilled chicken
• Cheesecake Factory spicy chicken chipotle pasta

Print