Salsa Verde Chicken Soup

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken Soup is packed with flavor: shredded chicken, tender beans, crisp corn, and tangy salsa. Just toss everything into your slow cooker—no prep needed!

I also have directions for preparing this soup in a pressure cooker (Instant Pot)!

Try some other favorite soups with similar flavors: Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup, Crockpot White Chicken Chili, or Chicken Taco Chili.

Salsa Verde Chicken Soup

This chicken soup with green salsa is one of the easiest recipes to assemble—simply dump everything into a slow cooker and forget about it! No chopping veggies at all, just open up the cans and a jar of salsa verde, and throw it all in!

Salsa Verde Chicken Soup is a total family favorite. Everyone loves it, and each person can customize this meal to their own tastes with the toppings they add to their own bowl.

Serve this soup buffet style with topping options, and let everyone fix their dinner just how they want it! In mine—loads of pepper-jack cheese, a scoop of sour cream, a diced avocado, and all the tortilla strips!

Let’s Chat Salsa Verde

The salsa verde is arguably the most important ingredient in this salsa verde soup recipe — it’s responsible for the majority of the flavor and the spice in the soup.

• Use a salsa verde you enjoy. You can make this soup very mild or quite spicy, depending on the salsa verde used.
• Of course I’m partial to homemade salsa verde, but store bought is great too!
• Spice levels: For a mild chili, use a mild salsa verde sauce (one you know is mild or taste it first to ensure mildness). I use Herdez® Mild Salsa Verde and the kids love this soup! This particular brand of salsa verde does have a little heat, but with the creamy cool toppings, we think it’s perfect.
  • For a spicier salsa verde soup, use medium or hot salsa verde, and/or add in 1-2 tablespoons diced jalapeños.

Salsa Verde Chicken Soup Notes

• Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are the best choice for this soup. They’re tender, easy to shred, and don’t dry out if cooked longer. The thigh’s fat adds richness to the soup.
• Stock: Use a high-quality, flavorful chicken stock like Swanson® to enhance the soup’s flavor and reduce the need for extra spices. It makes a big difference in the final taste.
• Cilantro and lime juice: Don’t skip these—they add essential flavor, acidity, and vibrancy.
• Creamy option: For a creamy version, add 4 ounces of very soft cream cheese (full fat) after removing the chicken to shred. Let it melt, then whisk until smooth. Add the chicken, lime, and cilantro back in once the cream cheese is fully incorporated.
• Keto-friendly: To make this soup keto-friendly, reduce the black beans, omit the corn, and skip the tortilla strips.

Favorite Salsa Verde Soup Toppings

• Cheese: My favorite is pepper-jack cheese. A Mexican blend or sharp Cheddar are also great choices. Whatever cheese you use, we recommend freshly grated so it will melt nicely into the soup instead of clumping or becoming greasy– which pre-shredded cheese has a tendency of doing.
• Avocado: A diced fresh avocado adds a nice and healthful creaminess. We also have done scoops of guacamole, which is delicious!
• Fresh cilantro and/or lime juice: Both of these ingredients are added to the soup, but if you love these flavors, feel free to add a touch more to your individual bowls.
• Fried tortilla strips or pre-packaged tortilla strips: We love a handful of tortilla strips in this soup. It makes it taste more like a salsa verde chicken tortilla soup with this addition!
• Sour cream: Fat-free or low-fat is typically what we add (great flavor, less fat), but regular works well too. Mexican crema is also delicious in this green salsa soup.

More Easy Crockpot Recipes

• Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork with the best BBQ sauce
• French Dip Sandwich made with a chuck roast in the slow cooker!
• Crockpot Cajun Chicken with carrots, celery, and peppers
• Spaghetti Bolognese with loads of “hidden” veggies
• Chicken Corn Chowder with black beans

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4.88 from 8 votes

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken Soup

By Chelsea Lords

Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken Soup is packed with flavor—shredded chicken, beans, corn, and zesty salsa. Just toss it all in the slow cooker, and you’re set!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours hours

Total Time: 5 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Equipment

• 6-quart Crock-Pot 5 or 6-quart, or Instant Pot

Ingredients

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USMetric

• ▢ Cooking spray
• ▢ 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts—see note 1
• ▢ 3 cups chicken stock or broth, see note 2
• ▢ 1 cup salsa verde see note 3
• ▢ 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
• ▢ 1 (15-ounce) can southwestern corn or fire-roasted corn, undrained
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ▢ 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ Salt and pepper
• ▢ 2 teaspoons minced garlic optional

Add Later

• ▢ 1 to 2 limes
• ▢ 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• ▢ Toppings as desired see note 4

Instructions 

• Spray a 5 to 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot insert with cooking spray.
• Slow Cooker: Trim the fat from chicken thighs or breasts (if using breasts, cut each breast into 3–4 pieces). Add to slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients up until the “Add Later” ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). Stir and cook on high for 3–5 hours or low for 5–7 hours or until chicken is cooked through and shreds easily.
• Instant Pot: Trim the fat from chicken thighs or breasts (if using breasts, cut each breast into 3–4 pieces). Add to the pot along with the rest of the ingredients up until the “Add Later” ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper). Stir and add lid. Make sure valve is set to sealed and cook on manual for 10 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 7 minutes, then manually release the rest of the pressure.
• Remove chicken to a separate bowl and shred with two forks. Add shredded chicken back into the soup, along with 2 to 3 tablespoons lime juice and cilantro. Stir through and taste, adjusting any seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, cumin, or chili powder—there’s a bit of variance based on the salsa verde used).
• Ladle soup into bowls. Top soup bowls with your desired toppings—freshly grated pepper-jack or Cheddar cheese (I love lots of it!), a dollop of sour cream, extra lime, extra cilantro, a chopped avocado, and/or tortilla strips.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: I definitely prefer chicken thighs—the meat is much more tender and flavorful, but breasts will work too. Cut breasts into smaller pieces so they’ll cook in time. (I have only tested thighs in the Instant Pot.)

Note 2: Chicken stock has more flavor than broth, but either will work. I highly recommend Swanson’s chicken stock in this soup!

Note 3: You can use homemade salsa verde or store bought. I use Herdez Mild Salsa Verde, and the kids love this soup! The salsa verde is a big component for flavor and the major contributor of heat, so be sure to use a tasty salsa verde with a heat level you enjoy!

Note 4: Optional toppings: sour cream, additional fresh lime or cilantro, fresh avocado, pepper-jack or sharp Cheddar cheese, and/or tortilla strips.

Storage: This soup (without toppings) stores well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–5 days. Reheat gently over medium heat on the stovetop. You’ll likely need a splash of chicken stock to slightly thin the soup.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 33.6g | Protein: 32.3g | Fat: 7.8g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 1353mg | Fiber: 7.8g | Sugar: 8.2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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