Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup made with red bell peppers, corn, black beans, roasted poblano peppers and lime finished off with a bit of cream.
Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup
Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup is a hearty soup perfect for your winter dinners or even in the summer served in bread bowls.
The soup itself is done in 45 minutes, but this is also because the chicken and peppers are roasting while the rest of the soup is being made. One of my favorite things about this soup is that the chicken and the poblano peppers are roasted in the oven.
For an added shortcut and flavor I use the fire roasted corn from Trader Joe’s and canned beans.
If you find you want to cut down on some of the fat in the dish I’ve also successfully skipped the flour/butter mixture in favor of putting 2 corn tortillas in the food processor and adding the crumbs to the soup to help give it a thicker texture.
To add acidity and balance to the soup I use lime juice, but I also love serving the soup with additional lime wedges. Sometimes we also sprinkle on some lime zest and serve the soup with crumbled chips or sour cream on top.
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Looking for more soups?
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Freezing Instructions for this Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe:
Make the soup only leaving out the cream at the end. Freeze in small portions. When reheating, heat on a medium heat and when the mixture is just below a boil add in the cream to finish the soup and garnish as desired.
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup recipe:
Add the ingredients to the slow cooker (roast the peppers if you can, leave chicken raw – use boneless/skinless) except for the butter, flour and heavy cream. Add in 4 corn tortillas (that have been processed into crumbs) in place of the butter and flour and leave the heavy cream/half and half out until the final 15 minutes.
Tools used in the making of this Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup:
Chicken Base: I almost never buy boxes of broth because I keep the beef, chicken and vegetable version of this Better Than Bouillon.
Dutch Oven: Great for soups or braised meats and the lid is actually a frying pan.
Ingredients
- 3 poblano peppers
- 3 chicken breasts bone in and skin on
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 16 ounces roasted corn frozen
- 2 cans black beans 15 ounce cans
- 2 red bell peppers diced finely
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
- 1 jalapeño thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Season the poblano pepper and chicken with the canola oil, half the salt and pepper and put onto a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Roast for 25-30 minutes or until charred peppers and cooked through chicken.
- While the food is roasting start the soup by adding in the butter and flour into a large stockpot.
- Cook the mixture while whisking for about a minute before adding in the chicken broth.
- Bring the mixture to a light boil then add in the corn, black beans and red bell peppers and let it simmer for 15 minutes while the food finishes in the oven.
- Shred the chicken and dice the de-seeded poblano peppers before adding them to the soup.
- Add in the remaining salt, cheddar and pepper jack cheese, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and half and half.
- Stir until melted and combined and garnish with jalapeños before serving.
Nutrition
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Can this soup be frozen. Looks delicious.
I’m confused by the Nutrition information. 1g seems like a very small serving size. ?
MAde this with leftover smoked chicken and homemade smoky chicken broth. This recipe is easy and so so good. I will be making this alot!! Thank you for this recipe
Really delicious but the prep times aren’t real. It took quite a bit more time than quoted but worth every minute.
A couple questions. Are you supposed to de-seed the peppers before you roast them? And do you rinse the black beans before putting them in the soup?
Hi, yes de-seed, and no, you don’t need to rinse them unless you want a lighter color soup. Up to your personal preference, hope that helps!
Did you drain the beans?
I make this soup once a month, it’s my son’s favorite. When I can’t find poblano peppers, I sub with cubanelle peppers. I skip cayenne and jalapeno to reduce the heat. Still turns out great. Thanks for a great recipe.
Absolutely delicious recipe I won a soup contest at work with it!
Delicious and easy to make soup. My family loves this soup
I halved the recipe since I’m only 1 person.. I think the butter/flour needs to be doubled to thicken the soup more and definitely less comino/cumin but otherwise it’s a delicious mildly spicy soup!
Ps. Rinse your black beans or the soup will not look creamy white.
Great soup! Remember to rinse your black beans if you want the white, creamy look. The recipe doesn’t tell you that.
That’s exactly what I came to look for.
I am certain this must be the recipe used at a restaurant my husband and I recently visited while one vacation. It was absolutely, incredibly delicious!! I cannot wait to try to make it myself. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I know it is going to become a family favorite!
Can you substitute the flour for corn starch.??
The recipe is good, but, alas, it called for WAY too much cumin. That amount just drowned out the delicate flavors of the poblano peppers and roasted corn. Arg. I should know to add a bit at a time to taste. Please add ( or to taste) after cumin in the recipe! The cheese is also overkill and should be added at the table for those who want cheese.
Roasting the peppers and chicken was great.
Just cooking it now and so excited. How long does it need to cook in the crockpot for?
Hi there,Roast for 25-30 minutes and then let it simmer for 15 minutes while the food finishes in the oven. Hope this helps!
Ok I loved the flavor! I’m confused about why my soup was not creamy as the photo shows. I followed the instructions and got a liquid consistency. I think it only needs 4 or 6 cups of chicken broth and the roux in the beginning needs to be adjusted. What am I missing? Suggestions please
Hi! Did you use already shredded cheese? Sometimes that cheese doesn’t melt and thicken well. Happy you enjoyed the flavor though!
Ok I loved the flavor! I’m confused about why my soup was not creamy as the photo shows. I followed the instructions and got a liquid consistency. I think it only needs 4 or 6 cups of chicken broth and the roux in the beginning needs to be adjusted. What am I missing? Suggestions please
This looks amazing! Being new to cooking, I’ve got a question. It calls for 3 poblano peppers. I just got some, but they are huge, large bell pepper size. Is that normal? It just feels like alot in proportion to everything else, so just wanting to make sure! Thanks, anyone 🙂
No I would’ve used two if they were that big. How did this turn out for you?
I’ve made this a handful of times now and it’s just SO good! This last time I added some o ions and garlic at the beginning with the roux, but honestly I don’t think it added anything. The recipe is perfect as it is! I did dice up the jalapeños and added them in with the red peppers for some extra heat and it was great.
The only recommendation I would make would be to add the cheese and let it melt before adding the chicken! Even with hand shredded cheese, it clumped together with the chicken rather than melting into the base. Other than that, AMAZING.
Made this today using poblanos and red peppers from my garden and breast meat from a roast chicken from Sam’s Club, my own frozen sweet corn, canned black beans and like Sabrina I used chicken base and followed her recipe. We loved it!
See comments below!
Delicious!
I made a couple of mods based on what we love.
Had some Anaheims from the garden, so I only used one poblano.
Added about 5 cloves of (sliced) garlic; one can of rotel tomatoes (drained), 2 medium sized russet potatoes (next time I’ll use Yukon golds).
Hearty, but not heavy.
Love your recipes!
Sounds amazing!
Made this today, delicious! Shared it with my extended family, the soup was a hit!?
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Linda.
This was delicious! I added some diced potatoes which also added some good texture and taste. Thanks for sharing.
I made this exactly by your instructions but when I added the shredded cheese it somehow melted the shredded chicken together in large chicken chunks with cheese throughout, lol. I dont know how else to describe it. It tastes amazing but do you know what I did wrong? I used freshly shredded cheese so would that make a difference?
Oh no! Glad it still tasted good though. If you used packaged shredded cheese, I know that it has issues with it not melting correctly from the additives they add. I would try shredding your own next time.
This looks absolutely delicious and I’m looking forward to making it! Is adding the cheese absolutely necessary for the recipe? Thanks for your input.
No, not necessary but I really enjoy the flavor and texture it adds. Enjoy!
Do I need to peel the poblano peppers after they roast in the oven? Recipe didn’t say so I assume not?!
Nope they are edible!
Next time try not adding all the cheese at once. About a handful at a time then stir add another stir again , etc. plus freshly shredded cheese works better then the already shredded ( bagged) because it has flour (?) on it so it won’t stick together! Hope this was helpful .
Wonderful flavors! My family enjoyed every bite.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Nancy. So glad you all enjoyed it.
Do you peel the peppers are they are roasted?
No need to peel the peppers, just deseed. 🙂
Restaurant quality soup! We used a block of cream cheese instead of the heavy cream. Added garlic powder as well. It is really good. Can’t wait to try it as a left over. Soups always taste better the second day. Thank you so much for sharing this!! My daughter has 2 degrees from the Culinary Institute of America and loves this!
Thanks so much! So glad you liked it. And completely agree, I love a soup that has had a chance to soak up all those wonderful flavors over night.
Fantastic! I’ve made this several times. I now use 4+ cans of roasted green chilies from Trader Joe’s for the poblano peppers.
Woo that’s a lot of Chile flavor! Sounds delicious!
Made this three times and it is absolutely delightful. Twice as written, for the most part — I halved the ingredients (except for the peppers) since it’s a lot for one person, plus I used boneless and skinless chicken.
The third time I did switch some things up a bit, to suit my tastes and needs… since that’s kinda what we cooks do. But definitely try it the way it’s written. Much respect to Sabrina, her culinary talents, and thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe. I mean no disrespect by changing things. : )
So, I’m huuuuge fan of poblano peppers. I seriously can’t get enough and doubled that amount. I also broiled them instead, while quickly sauteing the chicken with some minced onions and garlic. Added the broth, spices, beans, corn, jalapenos and bell peppers; brought it to a light boil, then let it simmer. Then I scooped out enough of the liquid to cover the peppers in another container and used an immersion blender to really get things mixed together. Added that back to the main pot and let it simmer a little longer.
The main reason for these extra steps (and added time) is because I’ll be freezing most of it for later. I just need to thaw, warm it up and add the roux, cream, cheese, and lime juice. Not sure how well the frozen portions will turn out yet (fingers crossed!), but the fresh batch was pretty fantastic.
I love poblanos too – they just add so much flavor and they are so versatile depending on how you prepare them. Thanks for coming back and sharing and reviewing!
Seriously so good! My family loved it, we ate the whole pot. I did leave out the corn, two of us can’t eat it. I will definitely make this again.
I’m glad you were able to customize it to your liking.
Turned out really tasty! I took some liberties with the recipie like do everybody’s based on what i had at home. Added 2 small onions, 4 small carrots, close to a cup of chopped celery, 2 small cans of lentil soup, 1 turnip, 4 corn tortillas finely chopped, 1 small can of hominy instead of sweet corn, 2 balls of fresh mozzarella instead of Monterey Jack, because i didn’t have any. Used evaporated milk instead of cream. Oh and i ran out of chicken better than bouillon so used 2 teaspoons of beef instead to boost it along. Did add 3 smoked chipole peppers i nto the pot instead of hot chilli peppers!
So glad you were able to customize it to what you had on hand. Love it!
Marvelous! Made about 6 weeks ago, since made more than we could eat at the time, froze before adding final garnishes in step 8. Enjoying fabulous leftovers tonight – re-heated beautifully!
I love when I have a freezer stash of favorites! All the deliciousness without the work, haha! So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this soup today and everyone loved it, it was tooooo good. Bet it will be even better tomorrow. Next time I am going to add a couple jalapeños while cooking. Garnished was good though. I definitely will make again.
Made this yesterday after searching for a homemade version of my favorite soup from Saladworks. Long story short, this was delicious and even better than Saladworks (of course!). But my only issue is that even after draining my black beans, my soup turned an unappealing purple/grey color when I added the beans. (Did not stop us from eating and enjoying). Any tips for keeping it more off white than off purple??? Will definitely be making again!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, you can try and drain and rinse the beans before adding. Hope this helps!
We loved this soup! Next time I think I’ll drain the beans before adding.
It is simply FABULOUS. Thank you for sharing ?
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the 5 star rating!
Hi! How long do you cook the soup for in the slow cooker and at what setting?
Thanks,
Deidi
I’d cook in in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy!
We thought it would be too hot for us but, oh my gosh, we ended up loving it. Especially with a squeeze of lime! Thanks for a great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it Marie!
I made this tonight and it was just what i was craving!!! I had most ingredients on hand . The only thing i did different was use 5 frozen chicken thighs instead of breasts and i boiled them from frozen for about 45 minutes before shredding them. Topped it off with sliced jalapeno cilantro and some crumbled corn chips. This is my kinda comfort food!!
Did you drain the beans or use the whole can with liquid? Thank you!
I didn’t drain the beans, just poured them in. 🙂 Enjoy!!
*****This was fantastic!! I used the grilled frozen corn from TJ’s. I think next time I’ll substitute the self roasted pablano peppers for canned. My family loved this so much that they were still asking if there was soup leftover to eat, two days after it was all gone. ??
That’s a good sign of a winning meal!!
Do you have the recipe for a slow cooker?
Add the ingredients to the slow cooker (roast the peppers if you can, leave chicken raw – use boneless/skinless) except for the butter, flour and heavy cream. Add in 4 corn tortillas (that have been processed into crumbs) in place of the butter and flour and leave the heavy cream/half and half out until the final 15 minutes.
How long should this cook in the slow cooker?
I would cook it on low for 6-8 hours.
This looks so darn good. I can’t wait to make it. Perfect for a chilly night!
Thanks Kelly!
So flavorful! This is mouth watering!
Thanks Erin!
Sounds like a new favorite soup!
You definitely have to try it!
I am going to try this without chicken! The flavors sound so delicious!
Thanks Allyson!
I love a soup that has some heat.
Thanks Jacque!
mmmm..this looks so comforting and delicious!! Perfect for the cold weather!
I am in love with this recipe! The soup looks simple, delicious and hearty!
Thanks Des!
I am such a sucker for a good bowl of soup! I like the little added heat!