Leftover Chicken Taco Soup is an easy way to spice up leftover chicken and create an entirely new meal! This easy chicken taco soup recipe is just so satisfying & flavorful, with a bit of underlying heat.
Tacos are my comfort food. Anyone else? While we’ve all been home lately, I’ve found myself cooking up many variations on this theme… culminating in today’s Leftover Chicken Taco Soup recipe.
This filling soup really hits the spot, I’ll tell you! And, it’s a great way to make good use of leftovers after roasting up a chicken — use the bones to make broth, chop up a little cooked chicken, and combine these with a few pantry staples (plus just a couple of fresh ingredients).
As we talk about leftover chicken taco soup today, we’re going to cook up variations on a theme — and continue to use up what we have, reducing both food waste and our trips to the store. So:
- The other day I roasted a whole chicken, made broth overnight in the Crock-Pot with the carcass, and chopped up some leftover cooked chicken for use in future recipes.
- The next day, I made a pot of chicken soup using most of the broth and some of that leftover chicken.
- The day after that, I felt like tacos — but lacked both tortillas and ground beef. I did, however, locate half a bell pepper and the last of a can of chipotles in the fridge.
- Combining those fridge finds with pantry staples, the last of the leftover broth, and the last of the leftover chicken, I slightly modified this older taco soup with ground beef recipe to simmer up today’s leftover chicken taco soup.
Two pots of chicken soup in two days? Heck, yeah! They’re two completely different meals, especially when you top today’s chicken taco soup recipe with some shredded cheese, and scoop it up with tortilla chips.
Leftover Chicken Taco Soup
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 of a sweet bell pepper, finely chopped (I used yellow)
1/2 of a medium yellow onion (or one small one), chopped
2 tsp minced garlic (about four cloves)
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo, chopped
2 cups (16 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1.5 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can corn, drained
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
Chop the onion, bell pepper, and chicken.
Heat olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Saute bell pepper and onion for about seven minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.
While the onion and pepper are cooking, chop the garlic and chipotle pepper. Rinse and drain the beans, and drain the corn.
After sauteing the onion and pepper, stir in the garlic and chipotle and saute briefly over medium heat.
Stir in all of the other ingredients. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, stirring occasionally.
Serve with your favorite toppings; I highly recommend shredded cheddar and chopped green onion.
Taco soup is just so satisfying
Yes, I did make this most awesome soup in my most awesome lightweight ALDI Dutch oven, which I’ve been using non-stop for soups & chilis lately. (Plus, the red just makes me happy!) So good and so comforting, you guys: The sweetness of the corn and bell pepper really pop against the smoky spiciness of the broth, while the beans & chicken provide plenty of filling protein.
Leftover chicken taco soup is naturally gluten free — and the leftover, leftover chicken taco soup reheats nicely for lunch the next day.
Leftover Chicken Taco Soup, printable recipe
Leftover Chicken Taco Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 of a sweet bell pepper finely chopped (I used yellow)
- 1/2 of a medium yellow onion (or one small one) chopped
- 2 tsp minced garlic about four cloves
- 1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo chopped
- 2 cups 16 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 can black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 can corn drained
- 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tsp sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop the onion, bell pepper, and chicken.
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Saute bell pepper and onion for about seven minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.
- While the onion and pepper are cooking, chop the garlic and chipotle pepper. Rinse and drain the beans, and drain the corn.
- After sauteing the onion and pepper, stir in the garlic and chipotle and saute briefly over medium heat.
- Stir in all of the other ingredients. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, stirring occasionally.
- Serve with your favorite toppings; I highly recommend shredded cheddar and chopped green onion.
Recipes in the real world
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Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!