Green Chile Chicken Soup is an easy Southwestern dinner made with charred poblanos, Yukon gold potatoes and rotisserie chicken, ready in 50 minutes. The pot serves six to eight, and a cup of corn goes in at the end. Cotija and cilantro go on at the table.
Four fresh poblanos get charred over a burner here, so nothing comes out of a can. Leeks replace the usual onion, which keeps the base sweet and mild against the chile heat. That swap is why the soup tastes green rather than sharp.
Char the poblanos until the skins are black all over, then trap them under a towel while they cool. That steam lifts the skin away from the flesh, so it scrapes off instead of tearing. Rush it and you fish bitter black flecks out of the bowl all night.
Green Chile Chicken Soup
Course: SoupCuisine: SouthwesternDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA quarter teaspoon of nutmeg is the ingredient nobody expects, warming the cumin and oregano without announcing itself. A full quarter cup of flour thickens the pot before any liquid goes in, which is more than most soups use.
Ingredients
- For the Soup:
4 medium poblano peppers
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, halved and sliced
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups chopped or shredded skinless rotisserie chicken
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
Juice of 1 lime
- For Garnish:
Cilantro leaves
Crumbled cotija cheese
Directions
- Char the poblanos: Char the peppers over the stove burner flame until blackened all over. Place in a large bowl and cover tightly with a dish towel, then let cool. Peel and scrape off the blackened skins, remove the stems and seeds, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces.
- Soften the base: Melt the butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks, potatoes and peppers and cook until the leeks are wilted, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and season with 1 teaspoon salt.
- Cook out the flour: Sprinkle with the flour and cook to remove the raw flour taste, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, oregano and nutmeg.
- Simmer the potatoes: Pour in the chicken broth and 2 cups water and stir to combine. Bring to a strong simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Finish and serve: Add the cream, chicken and corn. Return to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened and flavorful, 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir in the lime juice, season with salt if needed, and serve garnished with cilantro leaves and cotija.
The source publishes no nutrition figures, so the calorie count is estimated from the ingredients at six servings. Yield is listed as 6 to 8, and the card uses the lower end.
Poblanos vary more than any other ingredient in this pot.
FAQs
Are poblanos the same as green chiles?
Hatch and Anaheim chiles are what most people mean by green chile, though poblanos are what this recipe calls for. Poblanos are wider, meatier and milder, so they bring body rather than heat. A can of diced green chiles works in a pinch but loses the smoke entirely.
I have an electric stove. How do I char them?
No open flame means the broiler does the job, with the peppers skin side up about four inches from the element. Turn them as they blister and expect eight to ten minutes rather than a few. The towel step afterward stays exactly the same.
Can I skip the heavy cream?
Whole milk or evaporated milk replaces the three quarter cup of cream fine, because the flour does the thickening. Skip dairy entirely and the potatoes alone will carry it, though the color turns more broth than bisque. Add the substitute off a rolling boil so it does not split.
Why Yukon gold and not russet?
Two medium Yukons hold their half inch cubes through twenty five minutes of simmering, which russets will not. Russets break down and cloud the broth, turning the whole pot starchy and grey. Red potatoes are the closest alternative if Yukons are not on the shelf.
What goes on top if I cannot find cotija?
Crumbling feta over the bowls gets you the same salty dry bite, since cotija does not really melt either. Queso fresco is milder and works if you add a pinch of salt with it. For a brothier bowl with crisp strips instead of cheese, try this Panera style chicken tortilla soup.
Can I char the peppers ahead?
Yes, and roasted poblanos keep four days refrigerated or three months frozen once peeled and seeded. Doing them on a weekend cuts the active time here to about twenty minutes. Char a double batch and the extras go straight into something like these smoky chipotle chicken fajitas.
