Smoked Salsa Verde Chicken Soup Recipe

There’s something to be said about a warm chicken soup. It’s the time-honored thing to eat when you’re under the weather too. My mom is the queen of soup in my family. She’s the soup expert with her green chili turkey soup and the person I seek out for inspiration. And as you may know she’s the salsa queen too, which is why she’s the perfect inspiration for this soup.

Ingredients + Substitutions

The goal of this salsa verde chicken soup is to keep it easy and, yes, we do smoke a few of the ingredients. But you can also adapt this with non smoked flavors too. Because everything is already cooked you just simmer it all together and add your favorite toppings.

• Smoked Chicken Stock – We have a recipe from our cookbook but you can also use regular (low sodium) chicken stock or bone broth.
• Smoked Whole Chicken – We shred up a smoked chicken and use it in this recipe. You can also use a store bought roaster chicken as well.
• Beans – We like Northern (or white) beans for the flavor, size, and texture. You can use kidney or black beans as well.
• Salsa Verde – The real flavor and acidity come from jarred salsa verde. It’s usually a tomatillo based salsa with vinegar. We have our own salsa verde as well if you wanted. But for simple – we just buy a jar of store-bought salsa verde.
• Limes – We juice one lime and cut up a second into wedges. The juice adds more acidity. Want to really shine? Make grilled limes and then use the juice.
• Kosher Salt – Add salt to your desired taste after the soup simmers.

Advanced Preparation

There are three ways to prep this soup in advance. And remember, great ingredients going in, means great flavor coming out.

1. Use Smoked Chicken Stock. Much like preparing for a cold by having all of your cold meds ready to go, I also prepare by making sure I’m fully stocked with smoked chicken stock so it’s ready when I need it. Just make the stock in advance and freeze in batches of 2-cup increments.
2. Use our Smoked Tomatillo Salsa. This salsa is DA BOMB! It’s so good. And it works so perfectly in this soup. If you use this then you don’t need to have any smoked stock. This gives you all the smoky flavor you need. Then use the chicken of your choice (store bought rotisserie works well if you don’t have time to smoke a chicken on your own).
3. Smoke a Whole Roaster Chicken. Start by smoking a whole roaster chicken then mix it with your favorite store bought salsa verde.

Recipe Steps

1. Simmer: Bring a large stock pot to medium heat. Add the stock, then shredded smoked chicken, beans, and verde salsa. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add kosher salt to taste.
2. Add Lime: Before serving, squeeze the juice of one lime into the pot and stir together.
3. Add Toppings: Serve with your favorite toppings; shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, more lime, you name it.

Making in Advance and Leftovers

This soup can be made up to two days in advance. The broth will thicken, especially if you use bone broth. It’s best to warm up the soup again before serving.

Leftover Verde Chicken soup will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Other Soup Inspirations

• Chicken Chili Recipe
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Smoked Mushroom Lentil Soup
• Wild Mushroom Soup