Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

By Addie

"The dish is one of Chili's most raved-about items. I ordered this when I was at lunch with my sister. Had to get two bowls to go!"

Ingredients

• SOUP:
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 lb chicken breast fillets ( approx. 3 fillets)
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1 garlic cloves, pressed, to taste
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup masa harina
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup enchilada sauce
• 16 ounces Velveeta cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• ....................................
• GARNISH:
• shredded cheddar cheese
• crumbled corn tortilla chips
• ......................................
• PICO DE GALLO:
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup diced Spanish onions
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and de-ribbed
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh cilantro
• 1 pinch salt

Preparation

Step 1

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side. Set chicken aside.

Add onions and garlic to pot and sauté over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent. Add chicken broth.

Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic and broth. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.

Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.

Serve soup in cups or bowls, and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips, and pico de gallo.
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REVIEWS: (73)

I worked at Chili's for 10 years, and this recipe is pretty darn close!! I don't think Chili's has onions in it, but I use them anyway for the flavor. I usually 1/2 it, use one can of Chicken Broth (almost 2 cups) and I don't add that much Velveeta...about 3/4 the amt...kinda to taste and consistency. It felt like a cheese "dip" the first time I made it with all that cheese. I also think the Masa ratio is perfect. I add more Enchilada sauce (homemade is the best...it's easy!) for flavor. I've been making this for a while. My 8-yr old loves it! (without the pico, of course) :)) Thank you!!!

This is fantastic, however, I garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled corn tortilla chips and chopped green onions. I do not serve the Pico de Gallo. I half the recipe, and do not use chicken. I keep the masa hirna in the freezer, and put 1/2 cups of encilada sauce in baggies and freeze them! Recipe halfs nicely. I guess I have made it a cheese enchilada soup.

I made this recipe, followed it to the letter. I think it has too much cheese, tasted like a cheese soup. Next time I will cut back on the velvet. Still looking for the one that tastes like Chili's.

My kid loves Chili's only because of this soup!!! I made it tonight.........and it was a hit. I added no salt.....and it was plenty salty..fyi. Thanks for a souper recipe!!!

My husband loves chilli's and goes there for this soup! I have tried many of time to recreate chilli's verison and finally found the recipe! We love it and it is super close to the actual chilli's soup but I did not use the mesa cause i know how thick it can get! What i did was take corn tortillas and put them into my bleander about 6 made two cups and that seemed to be a good amout also i did use a lil more enchilada sauce! I also made my own tortilla strips by cutting up corn tortialls and frying them in a lil olvive oil and salt for the garnish! try sour cream as a garnish also!

This stuff is awesome!!! I used hot enchilada sauce with this (I like the spice!), and instead of chicken, I stewed some steak meat and shredded it. I also used the Mexican Velveta instead of the regular stuff. This soup is very thick, but it won't scorch if you cut the velveta into small cubes, keep it over medium heat or lower, and stir it frequently (every couple minutes or so... believe me you'll want to stand in the kitchen and smell it cooking anyway!). I'll be making this for dinner again very soon! Thanks so much for posting this recipe

Coworker made that soup at work for lunch, wonderful tasting we had to go back for seconds!

Okay. I am addicted to the restaurant version of this soup during the winter. However, this recipe gives me the best of cold weather meal at home. I used 15oz nacho cheese (from the can) which is already melted. I also added twice the enchilada sauce, some cayenne pepper, & Creole seasoning to give it a little kick. Before the additions it was a little bland to me. I love it! It tastes very close to Chili's if not better. Thanks for the recipe!

Tasted delicious, even better the next day.

I've been making this recipe for a while, though I change it up quite a bit. I find the water/chicken broth to Masa ratio for this recipe perfect, which is why I use it as a base. I would never use Velveeta, so I use a shredded mix of Mexican cheeses instead. Usually about 3 cups (I think 2 cups would work fine as well). I also use approximately 2 cups of enchilada sauce instead of just one cup. This doesn't make the recipe too watery. I also add a few dashes of Tapatio hot sauce and quite a few dashes of Mexican chile powders and red pepper flakes. Preferably, I cook it a day ahead and reheat the next day, and the flavours are much more pronounced that way. This won't make the recipe identical to Chili's; however, my husband and I used to be addicted to the Chili's version and now we prefer our own.

Made this soup and followed the recipe completely. Was thick and kind of gritty. For some reason the velveeta cheese did not completely melt down. Did not think it was at all like what I had at Chili's.

This definitely isnt a copy cat recipe of Chilis Enchilada Soup. It tastes more like a gritty (from the Hasa Marina) cheesy soup. I dont believe the soup even has cheese in it. It does have sour cream which isnt even listed as an ingredient in the recipe. I took a taste of this and stuck it in the freezer to put over enchiladas in the future. It doesnt taste bad, but it certainly isnt Chilis chicken enchilada soup!

I made a few changes to this recipe and my family absolutely loved it! Will definitely be making this again!!!!

Awesome soup. I used the whole can of enchilada sauce so that the soup wouldn't be too thick. Garnished with tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Everyone loved it! My son (13) said it was the best soup he had ever tasted. Thank you for sharing.

A very tasty and filling soup. I would add more chicken next time. Maybe a bit more enchilada sauce too. Thanks!

This receipe is excellent. I made a few adjustments with a few ingredients. I added: 1/4 tsp more of chili powder, 1/4 tsp more of cumin, 1/2 cup more enchilida sauce, 2 gloves garlic, and 2/3 TSP butter. I would also add more chicken, say 3 more breasts. I would also not mix the masa harina with water until you need to. It gets very thick, a whisk works well for mixing.

My husband and father go to Chili's once a week just for this soup, so I had to try to make it. They LOVED recipe. The only thing I changed was to add 2 pounds of chicken instead of one.

This was a great recipe. I used leftover chicken and simmered the carcass in the chicken broth with a chopped onion and lots of grated garlic. Then I cleaned the meat off the carcass and made the soup pretty much as listed. I did add a can of drained black beans, a can of drained sweet corn and a can of diced tomatoes. It was delicious! And not too labor intensive...I will definitely make this recipe again!

I have tried SEVERAL recipes and this one comes closest to Chili's. We added a few spoonfuls more of enchilada sauce and about a half cup more of mesa (for personal taste). It was wonderful. My girlfriends and I all love going to Chili's for this soup, now we are all making it at home, when we have get togethers.

I had some of the same experiences as other reviewers have mentioned--the soup scorched almost immediately over low heat and never actually came to a boil due to its thickness. It was more like queso dip than soup. The flavor was pretty good, but not as smooth as Chili's. I'd definitely reduce the masa and the Velveeta next time (if I were to make it again).