Creamy Southwest Chicken Soup

Perfect soup for a night like this - nothing beats soup on a cold January evening but this spiced version will warm you up. Instead of using heavy cream, we create a roux using the butter and the flour before adding cheese for texture and flavor. We use beer to help the cheese from curdling though it's usually inevitable using cheese on heat. It sweat and separated a little but it was still very delicious.

This recipe from Cuisine at Home makes about 8 cups and the total cook time is about 45 minutes - including the chopping of vegetables and peppers. You can try this in a meatless version adding corn and black beans instead! The nutrition facts include 396 calories, 22g total fat, 23g carbs, 1g fiber and 25g protein.

Grocery List:

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 poblano chile, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. coriander
• 5 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup beer (recipe suggested Corona, but I used Miller Lite b/c it's all I had!)
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese (I used monterrey jack cheese instead)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I got a cooked rotisserie chicken and carved then shredded pieces, works great for the flavor!)
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Start by melting your butter in a large pot. Stir in the bell pepper, poblano, onion, garlic, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin and coriander. Sweat mixture until peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes.


Whisk in 3 tbsp. of flour to help coat the vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, beer and chicken broth until smooth. Bring to a simmer.


Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring to melt completely before adding the next handful. Finally add your shredded chicken and cilantro, sitting on heat for another 3-5 minutes until well mixed together.




Ladle into bowls and you are ready to go! Enjoy friends!