I originally wanted to call this recipe ‘Leftover Chicken Taco Soup,’ but I was’t sure leftover chicken would appeal to anyone. However, that is what this soup is made of. We barbecued over the weekend and had about six pieces of chicken leftover. If you don’t have leftover chicken you could use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or tack on an extra 15-20 minutes and cook some beforehand.

It’s cold outside right now so soup was an easy direction to move in as a use for the chicken. I mentally went through my pantry items: canned beans, corn, tomatoes, and broth. I knew we almost always have onions, bell peppers, and garlic on hand. And, for garnish we had tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream, but some other possibilities were crackers, pickled jalapeños, and fresh diced onion. So, this meal idea came together almost effortlessly.

This recipe could easily go in a slow cooker or instant pot, especially if you get everything prepped into a container the night before. With the slow cooker add all of the ingredients into the pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. For the instant pot add everything and use the soup setting.

My whole family loved loved this meal. For your tiny littles, who may not have the chewing skills for safely eating corn chips, you can do what I did for my youngest; crack some chips into the bottom of the bowl and allow the soup to soak the chips. I also strained her soup a bit because sometimes mixed foods (liquids and solids in one dish) can make swallowing tricky for her. So, with the saturated chips her soup became more of a stew. My husband is taking some (actual) leftover soup for lunch tomorrow so I packed a cold container of sour cream and cheese, a dry container of chips, and in the morning I’ll heat his soup in a glass bowl and put it into a thermos so that it’s hot and ready for lunch time!

If you make this recipe please let me know how it came out for you!