Chicken Enchilada Soup (Crock Pot)

Submitted by Hellion

"I had intended to come here and post a reply to a recipe I'd based my own off of, but I can't find it now. So I'll enter my own version as a separate recipe. I melded this from a recipe here that said it was a copycat of a restaurant's recipe, and one from another site that was for crock pot tortilla soup. I use a whole onion because I like onion, but it IS a lot. And frankly I guesstimate the spices. But it's delicious. And, I think, fairly healthy. This is also very easy, and I make it a lot. It doesn't have many ingredients, it just cooks in a crock pot, and it's great for lunches all week (which is why I make it)."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1⁄2 - 1 onion
• 32 ounces chicken broth (I use low-fat or low-sodium, 8 ounces?) or 32 ounces vegetable broth, plus one can (I use low-fat or low-sodium, 8 ounces?)
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 -2 cup shredded cheese (I use low-fat)
• 1 cup masa harina
• 2 cups water
• cilantro, to taste (dried or fresh, or both)
• garlic or garlic powder
• salt
• cumin
• chili powder
• taco seasoning (optional)
• tortilla chips (to garnish)
• green onion (to garnish)

directions

1. Chop the onion and lay it in the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Cook (I boil them) the chicken breasts, then shred them with a fork.
3. Layer that over the onions.
4. I add some chopped garlic (a teaspoon or so) and then add several teaspoons of dried cilantro, although fresh is good too (when I've used fresh I still add a bit of dried; this can be a bland recipe without spice!). Throw in salt, cumin, garlic powder (if using) and chili powder to taste (taste later, of course; you can add more!) and/or the taco seasoning. I also sometimes put in half a can of green enchilada sauce.
5. Add the red enchilada sauce, and then the broth.
6. Turn the crock pot on high and let it cook for about 3 hours. You want the onions to cook.
7. Then mix your cup of masa harina with your two cups of water, in a separate bowl. Make sure to whisk it well, with no lumps. The masa harina will give it a corn tortilla-type flavor, and will not overly thicken the soup (if it does, add more broth or water), but make sure you've mixed it well before you add it so you don't have lumps. Stir.
8. Let that cook at least half an hour.
9. Taste. Add more spice if necessary.
10. Add the cheese. Two cups is more cheesy, more tasty, but also more fatty. As I'm a fan of extra cheese on top when I'm going to eat it, I tend to go for one cup in the soup and add more later.
11. Stir. Let that cook just a few more minutes, then serve with chips, green onion.