A hearty and delicious soup that’s fit for anyone that likes a bit of spice, creaminess, and chunks of fantastic ingredients spread throughout each and every bite. A soup that captures all of the flavors of an enchilada, without the tortilla and added carbs – perfect for anyone on a ketogenic diet!
It’s preferred that you make your own chicken stock from leftover bones you have, but if you’re in a pinch of time, you can go with College Inn broth or more expensive (organic) broth over at Whole Foods/Trade Joe’s. The lime at the end will add just the perfect amount of acidity to compliment the sweetness that the tomatoes bring.
It’s always best to use as many fresh ingredients as possible, as there’s not too many ingredients and they all bring their own unique flavors to the party. For the meat, I prefer using a mixture of both breast and leg meat, but that part is totally up to you. Just remember that the more breast meat you use, the less fatty the final macros will be.
If you want to make this as an entree, feel free to add more chicken to bulk it up. Top it off with some shredded cheddar cheese or some sour cream. That will increase both the fat content and the protein content, along with making it more hearty and suitable for a dinner course!
So, what’s your favorite soup to make that’s packed full of flavor? Let us know in the comments below!
Yields 4 (1.5-cup) servings of Chicken Enchilada Soup
The Preparation
- 120 grams celery
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 6 ounces cooked chicken, shredded
- 1/2 medium lime, juiced
The Execution
1. Dice 3 stalks of celery (cut the tips off of each end) and 1 medium red bell pepper. Mince the 2 teaspoons of garlic (about 2 cloves) and get your cilantro out.
2. In a pot, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat.
3. Once the oil is hot, add celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Let this cook until the celery softens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once celery is cooked, add 1 cup diced tomatoes and stir well. Let this cook for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add spices and additional salt and pepper if needed. Stir this up and leave for a 1-2 minutes.
6. In the mean time, chop up the cilantro (make sure you cut the stems off). You’ll need about 1/2 cup in total.
7. Add 4 cups chicken broth and cilantro to the pan. Stir everything together.
8. Bring the soup up to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Let this simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Measure out the cream cheese and add it to the pan. Stir in well and bring to a boil again. Once boiling, turn to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
10. Shred the chicken with a fork. You can either cook this fresh as you’re making the soup or you can use leftover rotisserie chicken like I did.
11. Once simmered, add chicken to the pan and squeeze the lime juice over the top. Stir together until everything is mixed.
12. Serve up with extra limes and sour cream! You can additionally garnish with shredded cheese, extra bell pepper, or fresh cilantro.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Chicken Enchilada Soup. Each serving comes out to be 425 calories, 36.1g fats, 7.8g net carbs, and 16.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 120 gram celery | 19 | 0.2 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| 1 medium red bell pepper | 36 | 0.4 | 6.9 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 1.1 |
| 2 teaspoon fresh garlic | 8 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
| 1/2 cup fresh cilantro | 2 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| 3 tablespoon olive oil | 358 | 40.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 cup fresh tomatoes | 30 | 0.3 | 6.4 | 2 | 4.4 | 1.5 |
| 2 teaspoon cumin | 15 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| 1 teaspoon dried oregano | 4 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 1 teaspoon chili powder | 8 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper | 3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| 4 cup chicken broth | 60 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 0 | 4.4 | 6.4 |
| 8 ounce cream cheese | 776 | 77.1 | 9.3 | 0 | 9.3 | 14 |
| 6 ounce cooked chicken | 374 | 22.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.1 |
| 1/2 medium lime | 10 | 0.1 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.2 |
| Totals | 1702 | 144.3 | 40.9 | 9.8 | 31.1 | 65 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 425 | 36.1 | 10.2 | 2.4 | 7.8 | 16.2 |

Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
- 120 gram celery
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 teaspoon fresh garlic
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup fresh tomatoes diced
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 8 ounce cream cheese
- 6 ounce cooked chicken shredded
- ½ medium lime juiced
Instructions
- Dice the celery and red bell pepper. Mince the garlic and measure out the cilantro.
- Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat.
- Once hot, add in the celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Let cook until the celery has softened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the celery is cooked, add in the diced tomatoes and stir well. Let cook for 2–3 minutes.
- Add in the spices and any additional salt and pepper if needed. Mix and let cook for an additional 1–2 minutes.
- In the meantime, finely chop the cilantro, removing the stems.
- Add the chicken broth and cilantro to the pan. Stir everything together.
- Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Measure out the cream cheese and add it to the pot. Stir it in well and bring the mixture to a boil again. Once boiling, turn the heat back down to low and simmer for 20–25 minutes.
- Shred the cooked chicken with a fork.
- Once the soup has simmered, add in the chicken and squeeze over the lime juice on top. Stir together until everything is mixed.
- Serve and enjoy!














I love the deep, bold flavor, the textures, and that the process is not too involved. I've never been a soup-lover, but this is definitely my favorite soup EVER. I do add extra chicken and reduce the broth a bit for a thicker soup so that we can scoop it with chips; the kids like that. I love this soup so much that I make a huge batch every other month or so, and I freeze many bowls of it to offer friends, folks in need, postpartum families, and for stressful or lazy nights. We pop a block of soup in the slow cooker and it's ready for dinner with minimal energy/time used.