I combined my chicken tinga tostadas and Tex-Mex rice into a soup!
Thank-you Mom.
Sometimes you give me the best ideas.
Tender cubes of chicken, rice, and corn swimming in a mildly spiced broth with confetti-sized pieces of onion, red bell pepper, black olives, and salsa.
I chopped everything smaller than usual including the chicken so you can’t help but get a little of each thing in every single spoonful.
I like to finish it off with a handful of cheddar cheese and tortilla chips for crunch.
This is mildly spiced with chili powder, oregano and thyme and dependant on what type of salsa you add. I use mild.
You can make it hotter by adding cayenne, a tablespoon of chipotle peppers in adobo or a fresh red pepper or two. If you go the spicy-hot route you may also want to add a squeeze of lime at the end.
The rice soaks up a lot of the broth as it sits so if you’re not planning to eat most of it right away you can cook the rice on the side and add it to your individual bowls.
I prefer to cook my rice right in the soup that way it can absorb all the wonderful flavors. You can mix a bit of water or more broth into it if it thickens too much.
Soup is one of the most deliciously satisfying things in the entire world! I’m happy to say I officially turned my family into soup lovers.
Soup lovers who, like me, hate canned soup now. Once you get used to eating homemade it’s hard to go back to the canned variety because you get spoiled.
Almost every time I make a new soup my Mom claims it’s the best I ever made.
I love that.
This soup? It’s making a second appearance in my house in less than a week.
Maybe I’ve convinced you to make it too.
I hope so.
| Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Soup | Print |
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- coarse salt and fresh black pepper
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 red or green bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup finely chopped black olives
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 + ½ teaspoons
chile powder - 1 teaspoon dried oregano(preferably Mexican), crushed between fingertips
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup uncooked long or medium-grain white rice, rinsed well in a wire strainer with cold water
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup salsa
- ⅔ cup fresh or frozen corn
- fresh chopped cilantro
- lime wedges
- shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- tortilla chips
- In a large soup pot heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Season the chicken well and cook, stirring often so all sides get browned. Remove to a dish and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot over medium-low heat and saute the onion, pepper,
garlic and olives together 5 minutes, season well with salt and pepper and stir often. - Mix in the
chile powder, oregano, thyme and rice, cook 3 minutes. - Stir the chicken back into the pot and add the broth,
salsa and corn. Bring to a simmer and cook 30 minutes. Stir and taste often - seasoning as needed. - Serve with toppings like cilantro, cheese, sour cream, lime and tortilla chips if desired.
Hi. I have a question about the ingredient chile powder. Wondered if you are referring to chili powder which is a blend of chile and cumin and other seasonings or actually chile powder which is a single ingredient powder of some sort of chile? Thank you.
Chili powder! Sorry for the confusion Teri! But if you like it extra spicy you could use a chile powder like chipotle to really spice it up.
I made this recipe today. It is absolutely awesome! Super easy and very flavorful. Added a can of black beans. Everyone love it. Thanks for the great recipe
That’s GREAT Sue! Thank you!! I’m glad it was a hit – love that you added black beans! 🙂
This is a staple in our house! My family practically counts down the days when they see it on the weekly menu. We’ve been using fideo noodles (found in the Hispanic aisle) instead of rice and it works just as well. In fact, we’re having this tonight because someone isn’t feeling well. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Emma!! Great idea to use fideos instead of rice! I’ll have to try your version next time I make it! I’m glad it’s a big hit with your family! 🙂
Have you made this recipe with rice that has already been cooked? If so, did it turn out okay and how many cups of cooked rice would you use? Thanks!
You can use cooked rice Kelsey! It would be about 1 and 1/2 cups!
i really want to make it today.
You left out when you would add the uncooked rice? Probably along with the chicken brooth and salsa?
Hi Elli! It’s in step #3! You add it with the spices and toast it a little before adding the broth and salsa – it gives it more flavor that way. Enjoy!
How embarrassing! I can’t believe I didn’t see it in step 3,
Thank you for the fast reply.
Well….I made the soup an hour ago and it turned out sooo yummy! Definitely a keeper! Perfect for cold grey rainy autumn days. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe.
Oh no need to be embarrassed! I overlook things like that all the time! I’m glad you made it and liked it. That makes my night! Thanks a lot for trying it Elli!
Best chicken tortilla soup I’ve ever made or eaten! I make it all the time now. I put in a can of rotel and a dash of cayenne pepper to spice it up a bit. 🙂
Thank-you Mandy! That’s great! Love your additions! 🙂
I made this with ground chicken and it was great! It sat a few hours waiting for my husband to get home for dinner so it got really stick. I ended up adding and additional 2-3 cups to make it more soup like. Still really good and low calorie! I recommend!
Thank-you Joan! Yes – the rice will soak up the broth when left to sit. I’m glad it turned out ok and was a hit!
Substituted leftover turkey for the chicken and it was very tasty. This dish is excellent for using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving! Will definately make this again!
Thank-you! Glad to hear it was a hit using turkey!
I’m making a batch of this to freeze. Should I freeze it with the rice, or make the rice separately upon defrosting?
Hi Aimee! I would probably make the rice fresh but that kind of defeats the purpose of freezing it. . . I think it would be ok if you added it ahead of time. Thank-you for making it!
Can this be frozen?
Sure!
I made this soup this week, and I LOVE it! It’s just me, so I kept the leftovers the fridge, and ate like a queen for like 3 days. My coworkers were jealous, because I had the most delicious smelling lunch! I will definitely make it again this week, maybe add some black beans!!
Thank-you Anne! I’m glad it was a hit! It would be really good with black beans too!
Do you think this would be just as good with brown rice??
Hi Lindsay! You can make this with brown rice! I think it would be just as good.
I made this tonight and it was very tasty. Great flavor meld. Definitely use the low-sodium broth. I only had full-sodium… it was still good, but a little too sodiumy. Also, I am a novice, it took me closer to double the prep time. I think I would leave out the olives next time just to knock off some time. Or just eat them whole as I’m cooking.
This is really a delicious soup. We had it last night, 2 days later as leftovers, and of course it was even better. I added some water and a little more chili powder and oregano to cut down the salt from the salted broth. And realized next time, I will throw the olives in the food processor with the onions. I really like step 3… seasoning the vegetables and rice before adding the liquid. Very cool!
Thanks for making the soup Kim! You really have to be careful of how much salt
you add because the olives add a lot of salty flavor and the salsa has salt in it too.
If you found the broth too salty for your taste you could swap a cup or two of it out
for water and the soup should still turn fine. Thanks again! Have a good weekend!
This sounds fantastic! I’ve been making more soups lately (my husband used to consider soups “a perfectly good meal that someone threw water on”, but he has come around since I’ve been cooking for him!) and this one looks like a great one to try!
That is so funny about your husband Ashley! I never heard soup described quite like that!
I’m glad he’s come around to them!
This tex mex chicken soup will good for any day Reeni. I will show to my hubby.
My husband loves tortilla soup and this looks like a tasty variation on that. I am going to give it a try this week. Do you have a favorite brand of salsa that you use? I keep trying different brands of jar salsa but haven’t found one I really like.
Have you tried Rick Bayless Frontera Salsas? They’re a little pricey but I really like them. I also like. . . I think it’s the tostitos one? I’ll check and let you know for sure. I just bought a new brand too I never tried I’ll let you know how that is too.
It’s going to get cold this weekend, so this will be perfect!
One pot satisfying meal. Flavorful and delicious.
I’m pretty crazy for soup– I think this one would be super amazing with beans subbed in for chicken, because that’s how I roll. Also, didn’t know there was Mexican Oregano? (or different kinds of oregano in general, actually!)
Hi Kelly! You can find the Mexican oregano in the market near the Spanish/taco section – usually there is a small display with bags of spices and chiles.
Wow, this sounds wonderful. I love the flavors and the rice in this soup. Sounds like it would be a nice hearty soup.
This looks like my kind of satisfying meal on its own…a great way to eat rice as I don’t like rice much for their lack of taste. The soup would make them very flavorful and delicious!
I’d love some of this today!
What a great combinazion, dear:) Two tasty recipes come together in a really tasty soup. I like it. Bye, have a wonderful week
I am definitely convinced! I like how small you chopped everything in this soup! We generally have a similar dish -ingredients in bilgger size, and we have rice as a side dish. Adding rice into the soup is a great idea! It absorbs all the flavors in this way, as you say. Pinning it to my must try recipes list!
I love turning one type of food into another…classic salads into pizzas, casseroles into soup. It somehow makes the dish so much more fun! This soup looks like it’s good for the soul! Love that it was your mom who gave you the idea!
I’ve always liked chicken and rice soup and this looks yummier. Yesterday all I wanted was a bowl of chicken noodle soup but I think this would have tasted a whole lot better. I confess my soup yesterday was from a can
wow this is so comforting and delicious, Reeni. Love tex mex flavour.
Oh my, that sounds and looks 10 x wonderful! Fantastic, everything about it rocks. I’d almost call it a chili.
I think I could eat soup just about every day…and this one looks very happy-making. Definitely going on my “to do” list 🙂
What a great idea!
Such a great soup and the broth looks so nice and rich with flavor – I love that. I also like that you chopped your veggies up really small like confetti.