Chile Relleno Soup, served with Chicken

At a glance

What stands out: With just a touch of heat, creamy chile relleno soup with chicken will warm you up from the inside out. If you love chiles rellenos, (cheese-stuffed poblano peppers), you’ll love this soup.

How long it takes: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, soup pan
Servings: 4

Early fall is a great time to make this chile relleno soup. Those of you lucky enough (or should we say hard-working enough) to have a garden, have been harvesting ripe peppers from your vegetable patch. Even if you don’t garden, poblano peppers are in plentiful supply at farm markets and the grocery store. From-scratch chile relleno soup is a rich way to use some of those peppers.

We just love chiles rellenos! They’re simply peppers stuffed with cheese. Okay, we admit we like anything stuffed with cheese, we mean, who doesn’t? One of our favorite appetizers is cheese-stuffed mini sweet peppers. They’re so addicting, we could eat the whole batch.

Chile relleno soup with chicken evenly combines roasted poblano peppers, creamy cheese, and tender chunks of chicken into a soup that is equally as addicting. Reliable for a fall night!

Creamy Chile Relleno soup

It’s straightforward to mix. You get all the flavor of cheesy stuffed peppers without the hassle of stuffing the peppers.

Satisfying and filling. We add chicken to the soup for more protein, making this a main course soup. Serve it with soft tortillas or tortilla chips and mango slaw for a fantastic dinner.

Roast the poblanos first for a standby flavor. There are four straightforward ways to roast poblano peppers. The peppers can be roasted up to a few days ahead of time and refrigerated. Roast a few extra to make rich poblano queso dip!

Do You Have To Peel Peppers?

Like bell peppers, poblano peppers are mild in flavor and can be eaten fresh without the need to peel them. However, when you roast peppers, including poblanos, the outer skin becomes tough and papery and is hard to digest. It’s straightforward to remove the skins after the peppers are roasted — they slip off easily.

How it comes together

While the peppers are roasting and cooling, get started on the soup.

Sauté the chicken and onions in a good-sized pot, then add the garlic and cumin and sizzle for a minute. Add the flour and cook for two minutes.

Pour in the broth and start to simmer your soup. Meanwhile, skin and chop the poblanos, which should be cool enough to handle by now, throw them in the pot, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Almost ready to serve dinner? Stir in cream cheese and cilantro, and gently continue to stir and heat the soup. Serve immediately. Garnish each bowl with shredded Cheddar cheese and additional cilantro. We bet you can hardly wait!

Ways to change it

• Sub in a different type of pepper. While chiles rellenos are traditionally made with poblano peppers, you could use another variety. Both poblano and Anaheim peppers are in the mid-range on the Scoville scale (1200-1500). We've found that peppers can vary quite a bit in heat. Sometimes they are mild with almost no heat, and sometimes they are quite hot. There’s no way to tell ahead of time (that we know of) so a taste test is probably a standby way to determine how spicy a pepper is. If you’re worried about the soup being too spicy, choose bell peppers (any color).
• Add corn or potatoes: Add a cup of fresh or frozen corn kernels to the soup. Simmer a couple of chopped Russet potatoes in the broth until tender.
• Make it vegetarian: Chile relleno soup can be a rich vegetarian soup, too. Just omit the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
• Make it gluten-free: Thicken the soup with cornstarch instead of flour.
• Add bacon: Sauté chopped bacon in the pan until crisp, remove the bacon, and then sauté the onions and chicken in the bacon grease. Crumble the bacon and add it as a garnish or stir it into the soup. Another option would be to just use bacon and leave out the chicken.
• Make it in your slow cooker: Leave the chicken breasts whole. Use chopped peppers, no need to roast them. Put all the ingredients except the cream cheese and cheddar cheese into the slow cooker. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Remove the chicken, shred it, and put it back in. Take some of the soup out, blend it with the cream cheese until it melts, and stir the mixture back into the crockpot.
• Rather not have a creamy soup? Try this rich chicken tortilla soup or chicken taco soup.
• Looking for a less spicy soup? Creamy chicken rice soup is comforting and straightforward on the tummy.

Keeping leftovers

Leftover chile relleno soup is great! We can’t believe how much we look forward to eating this soup the next day for lunch. Make a double batch if you want so you’ll have plenty of leftovers.

Refrigerate: Store leftover soup, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This creamy soup does not freeze well.

Reheat: Gently reheat on the stove or in the microwave. Try not to let the soup come to a boil because that may cause the soup to separate. The emphasis is on “gently” reheat!

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes this soup recipe? Take a look at our Meal Plan #27 or Meal Plan #79. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let us do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep: 20 minutes
• Cook: 40 minutes
• Total: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 poblano peppers
• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (see note)
• 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
• 1 cup diced onion (about 1 large onion)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes
• ¼ cup minced cilantro, additional for serving
• Shredded cheddar cheese for serving

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Place whole poblano peppers on a baking sheet (line with foil for easy clean-up) and roast for 35 to 40 minutes or until skins are blackened, flipping once.
3. Place peppers in a plastic bag, or a bowl covered with plastic wrap, and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken, onion, salt, and black pepper and cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, or until onions are translucent.
5. Add garlic and cumin and cook for one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
6. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
7. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
8. Once chiles have cooled, remove skin, stem, and seeds. Dice the flesh of the peppers and add to soup.
9. Simmer soup for 20 to 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream cheese and cilantro, stirring to melt cream cheese.
10. Serve topped with additional cilantro and cheddar cheese, if desired.

Notes

If desired, substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs for the breasts.

Slow Cooker: Leave the chicken breasts whole. Use chopped peppers, no need to roast them. Put all the ingredients except the cream cheese and cheddar cheese into the slow cooker. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Remove the chicken, shred it, and put it back in. Take some of the soup out, blend it with the cream cheese until it melts, and stir the mixture back into the crockpot.

Make Ahead Tips: Poblanos can be roasted ahead and stored in the refrigerator up to three days. If desired, rotisserie chicken or already cooked chicken can be substituted for the chicken breast.