Chicken, chile and tomatillo soup
A smokey chicken soup, full of roasted peppers, chiles and tomatillos is perfect for a cold winter’s night.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 60 minutes
- Yield: 10 -12 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 red peppers
- 10 tomatillos ( about 1.5 pounds), husked and rinsed
- 3 poblano peppers
- 1–2 jalapeno peppers
- 3 T olive oil, divided
- 3 ears white corn, husked
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 cups canned chopped tomatoes (preferably Pomi brand which comes in a box)
- 2 T ground cumin
- 1 t ground coriander
- 1/2 t Spanish smoked paprika (Pimenton de la Vera)
- 1 T chili powder
- 1 t ancho chile powder
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2.5 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
- 2 t dried oregano
- 3 cups cooked black beans
- 1 1/2 T adobo sauce from a jar of chipotle chiles
- 2 t salt
- 3/4 cup cream
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
- 1 cup grated Mexican cheese blend
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
- 2 limes, cut in wedges
- 2 cups tortilla chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to broil. Seed and slice red bell peppers so that each slice is flat. Put a splash of olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan and wipe with a paper towel to oil the bottom of the pan. Spread cut red peppers, whole tomatillos, whole poblano chilis, and whole jalapeños over the pan. Broil to blacken the skins of all the vegetables, turning to blacken on all sides. Watch carefully. It will take 15 to 20 minutes. As the vegetables blacken, remove and put in a metal bowl and cover with foil or plastic wrap. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to steam. Reserve any liquids that are left in the roasting pan and in the bowl.
- Put the corn in the roasting pan and briefly roast the cobs under the broiler, turning as they darken. Set aside to cool.
- Put garlic in a food processor and whirl until finely minced. Add onion and pulse to coarsely chop. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large soup pot. Add garlic and onions and saute over medium heat for 15 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize.
- Add tomatoes, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and chili powder and ancho chile powder to the onion and garlic mix. Cook another 2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, thighs and oregano to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Reserve all liquids.
- Return to the roasted vegetables. Using your fingers, slip peels off the red peppers, poblano and jalapeño peppers, remove and discard the seeds. There is no need to peel the roasted peel from the tomatillos. Chop the peppers into 3/4″ squares. Chop the tomatillos, removing and discarding the hard core. Add the chopped blackened peppers, tomatillos, the beans and any reserved liquid from the tomatillo roasting pan to the soup pot.
- When the chicken has cooled, shred it and add it to the soup pot along with any reserved juices. Cut the corn from the husks and add to the soup pot.
- Season with salt and pepper and adobo sauce. Turn heat off and stir in cream. Serve in individual bowls and garnish with lime squeezes, cilantro, grated cheese and tortilla chips.
Notes
If you are going to freeze some of your soup for later use, do not add cream to the portion of soup you will be freezing.