A quick and hearty soup with plenty of spice!
A quick and hearty soup with plenty of spice!
Number of Servings: 8
Ingredients
1 lb (16 oz) chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces 1 small onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional; leave in seeds for more heat) 1 green pepper, chopped 4 c fresh spinach or about 4 oz frozen spinach (this is an estimate; you can add more or less) 1 T cumin 1 T olive oil 1 14-oz can chopped tomatoes (preferably low-sodium) 2 avocados, chopped 1 quart chicken stock (preferably reduced-sodium) 1/4 c cilantro, torn 2 limes, juiced 1 14-oz can pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed 2 c cooked brown rice
Tips
I made this soup after trying a similar one at a restaurant. Theirs had fewer tomatoes, no beans and white rice. I wanted to add more nutrition, so I added spinach, a green pepper and more tomatoes, and I use white meat chicken instead of dark. Beans and brown rice add fiber. This new soup is a good compromise of taste and time.
Directions
Makes 8 hearty cup-size servings
If you're not using cooked rice, start making rice before you begin the soup.
Heat oil in a large soup pot set over medium-high flame, and add garlic, onion and peppers. Cook until soft and starting to get some color, about 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Add chicken and cumin and cook another five minutes. Add chicken broth, beans, spinach and tomatoes. Raise heat to medium-high and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice, stirring well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Sodium from optional salt not included.)
To serve: place 1/2 c rice in bottom of each bowl. Sprinkle avocado and cilantro on top.
(For vegetarian version: Heat olive oil, add garlic, onion and peppers, cooking until fragrant. Add stock, tomatoes and beans, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add lime juice. Remove from heat and add about 1/4 of an avocado and 1/2 T cilantro to each bowl.)
I just finished making it and couldn't wait to let you all know how good it is. I used a non-chunky salsa instead of tomatoes, and also added the rice right to the soup. Its amazing. The flavors are so yummy!
- 4/25/09
Easy to make. Great color. Great mix of flavor and textures. The jalapeno was spicy enough for most tastes (I used 1/2 the seeds and ribs). Paired very well with "Spicy Southwestern Salad" also available on this site. Served to a SparkFriend (ODDBODKIN) and her DH. All adults and 13yo boy loved it.
- 5/18/09
I did not add the spinach, I followed along with the directions and realized when it was done it never said to add it! I did have a bag of frozen roasted peppers, green red and yellow, I used this instead of a fresh green pepper. Instead of plain tomato, used Rottell with lime and cilantro
- 4/28/09
I made this recipe with half the ingedients ( using fresh tomatoes), added 1/2 a cup of frozen fresh corn and served with multi-grain 'food should taste good' chips. Yum! Everything looked so colorful and pretty while tasting soooo good!
- 4/24/09
This soup is great. We had lots left over so we added the remaining rice into the pot and separated it into individual servings to freeze. Had some for lunch today, very filling and tasy!
- 5/7/09
Just a question - should it be 1/4 cup of rice in each bowl or should the recipe contain 4 total cups of cooked rice? That will change the nutrition info.
- 5/1/09
I was making chicken breasts like I usually do and decided to make a soup out of it. I was able t use a lot of my GINORMOUS bag of spinache from costco in this and I love it!! I did change it to suit what I had laying around. (Chicken,spinache,green pepper,black beans,brown rice,and tomatoes) YUM!
- 8/17/10
My family raved about this soup. I used a can of Eden Organic Caribbean Black beans, undrained, and added corn scraped off a leftover cob from the night before. I used 1/2 cup salsa in addition to a tin of diced tomatoes. Served with whole wheat quesedillas made with low fat cheese.
- 8/9/10
This was really good. I did make changes. I used cabbage instead of spinach and left out the jalapeno, avocados, cilantro, lime juice, and the brown rice. I ate it along side a turkey sandwich. Loved it. Even my son enjoyed some. Will make again.
- 5/1/09
My whole family loved this, we couldn't get fresh jalepenos so we used the canned version...mama...it was hot. 1/4 of a small can would have done it. We will make this again.
- 5/6/10
This is very familiar to me being from TX. I was leary about the spinach but it was very mild. Too increase the heat we added tbs of paprika. FANTASTIC flavors and very filling!
- 4/7/10
This was really good soup. I used just what I had in the house, added red and orange pepper instead of green and diced tomatoes with green chilies instead of the jalopeno and regular tomatoes. Love the spinach, really nice!
- 2/18/10
Very good. I left out the lime because I didn't have one, but I think that would have made it perfect. All the family loves it. What a great way to get the kids to eat their spinach.
- 1/26/10
This came out great and takes substitutions well. I added corn and I put the spinach in after the chicken had browned and before the broth mix and it came out awesome. I added the rice in and wish I hadn't because after refrigeration it had absorbed most of the water. Altough soup still tastes great
- 9/26/09
This is just the best flavored chicken soup I've ever made. Use the ingredients listed and you can't go wrong. I did add more beans and a little less chicken, but, that is just my personal preference. I love black beans. I made a double recipe and canned the bulk. It processed beautifully.
- 6/11/13
If you put a half cup of rice in the bowl, then your 2 C rice will only stretch to 4 servings. Perhaps only a 1/4 c rice should go in each bowl?
- 10/18/11
It is smelling wonderful on the stove, and I also have great hopes of it's curative powers for my cold ! (Garlic, chicken broth and jalapenos)
- 6/14/10
The soup was great! I made good use of a homemade salsa that grew too large when it tasted too oniony, so we just kept adding lime juice & tomatoes. You check the nutrition info tho-recipe calls for 1/2 c brown rice (100 cals) but the rice in this recipe breakdown only accounts for 23 cals
- 4/21/10
Loved this soup....easy, great taste, filling! I followed the recipe with the exception of a little more cummin and some other mexican seasoning and as I used leftover rice it was less than 2 cups which I just put right in the soup. Hubby liked it also. Thanks so much. cher
- 1/22/10
I really enjoyed this soup and will be making it again. I made a few minor changes to suit our tastes, but it's going in my cookbook...thanks for sharing it! :)
- 1/8/10
Tried this out and both my husand and I really enjoyed it. Reheated really well. I might toss in some corn next time I make it and substute salsa for the tomatoes.
- 7/3/09
This is a delicious and filling soup. I had to substitute beef stock for the chicken stock as I didn't want to run to the store for one item, but the beef flavor blended perfectly. I used black beans and added the rice to the soup for the last few minutes. My DH loved it and had 2 big bowls!
- 3/3/13
My family loved this soup. I did not add the spinich or jalepeno, instead used salsa in addition to the tomatoes. The beans i put in also had jalepenos in them. I topped with a bit of shredded lowfat cheese. Its a wonderful addition. I will be making this again :)
- 1/17/13
Awesome recipe. Easy and delicious. I will make this one again.
I used no sodium chicken stock, no sodium black beans and no sodium crushed tomatoes. I added lots of garlic and cumin and then 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.
- 7/25/12
Preface this with it's MY fault didn't turn out well. I used Rotel in place of chopped tomatoes - used REALLY hot jalapeno. I think I made homemade mace by cooking the jalapeno - thought we were going to have to evacuate! Only posted so you don't make my mistake.
- 5/22/12
I loved this soup. I made it for lunch today for my husband and myself. Both loved it and would make again. Very healthy. Didn't change anything
- 5/16/12
OMGosh....Made this today, and was sooo good we had it for both lunch and dinner. Didn't have any avacados on hand, but it didn't matter. Also, I had some ground chicken to use up, so just cooked that in olive oil, with some of the seasonings, and added. (instead of chopped breast meat). Great!!!
- 5/15/12
I made this vegan by omitting the chicken - it was delicious. I compensated by adding a bit more of each major ingredient but I suppose you could use tempeh or tofu. Anyway, without the chicken, it was delicious! I'm sure it's great with the chicken too.
- 5/14/12
1/2 cup of rice in 8 bowls does not equal 2 c, it equals 4 AND an extra 80 calories per serving and a lot of carbs. I think I'll just leave out the rice. I'd also use leftover roasted chicken - dark meat is far more nutritious than light, and using leftover from a whole chicken is more economical.
- 5/14/12