I’m a soup-all-year-long type of person. Soup is tasty. Soup is filling. Soup freezes well. And this Chicken and Lime Soup is where it’s at. The clear broth is light enough for summer, and has a deliciously spicy, sour, and salty broth that will keep you coming back for more, and more, and MORE. If you want to change up your chicken soup game, this Chicken and Lime Soup is the way to go!
This Chicken and Lime Soup was inspired by a trip to a Mexican restaurant where I had the most amazing tangy Caldo Xochitl. I added more lime because I’m a lime fiend, and it gave the soup the perfect mix between spicy, salty, and sour – that same famous combo that makes Chinese hot & sour soup so delish. There’s just something about that flavor combination that tickles all the right parts of your tongue!
Make Your Chicken and Lime Soup Mild
The recipe as written is fairly spicy. The heat comes from the jalapeño pepper and the diced tomatoes with green chiles. If you’d like to make your Chicken and Lime Soup mild, simply skip the jalapeño pepper and use a 15 oz. can of regular diced tomatoes, or fire roasted diced tomatoes, in place of the tomatoes with green chiles.
Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles Substitutes
If canned diced tomatoes with green chiles are not sold in your area, you can use a 15 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes plus one 4 oz. can of diced green chiles. Or, leave the green chiles out and use a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. You can also dice up a fresh hatch green chile and sauté that with the onion, celery, and garlic in the beginning of the recipe.
Use More Chicken if Desired
Using only a small amount of meat in my recipes is kind of my calling card, so that’s what I did here. One chicken breast, shredded so you get a little bit in every spoonful, is all I needed. If you prefer more meat in your dishes, you can use two chicken breasts in this recipe without having to make any other adjustments.
Topping Your Chicken and Lime Soup
For me, topping soup with lots of stuff is half the fun, and you have a lot of topping options with this one. I wrote avocado into the recipe because I really feel like that topping is critical and really makes the soup flavors well rounded, but the rest are totally optional. When I have tortilla chips on hand, I like to use those like I would crackers in other soup, crushing them up so they can soak up that awesome broth. A little dab of sour cream would be awesome, as would a few pickled red onions.
Chicken and Lime Soup
Servings 6 about 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 3 ribs celery (about 1/4 bunch) ($0.37)
- 1 jalapenño ($0.17)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) ($2.32)
- 6 cups chicken broth* ($0.78)
- 2 10oz. cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel) ($0.90)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp cumin ($0.15)
- 1 lime ($0.22)
- 1/2 bunch cilantro ($0.40)
- 1 avocado ($1.50)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, celery, and jalapeño (scrape the seeds out of the jalapeño before dicing). Mince the garlic. Add the onion, celery, jalapeño, garlic, and olive oil to a large soup pot and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the chicken breast, chicken broth, diced tomatoes with chiles (with juices), oregano, and cumin to the pot. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and bring the broth up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the pot simmer for 45 minutes.
- After simmering for 45 minutes, carefully remove the chicken breast from the pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the shredded meat to the pot. Squeeze the juice of one lime into the soup (2-3 Tbsp juice).
- Rinse the cilantro and then roughly chop the leaves. Add the chopped cilantro to the soup, give it a quick stir, then serve. Slice the avocado and add a few slices to each bowl.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Chicken and Lime Soup – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion, three ribs of celery, and one jalapeño. Mince four cloves of garlic.
Before dicing the jalapeño, slice it in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out the white ribs and seeds. These are the hottest parts of the jalapeño, so removing them first will give you a little more jalapeño flavor and a little less heat.
Add the celery, onion, jalapeño, and garlic to a large soup pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add one boneless, skinless chicken breast to the pot (about 3/4 lb.). Then add 6 cups chicken broth (I use Better Than Bouillon so I can mix up any amount needed at any time).
Next, add two 10 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles. If you can only find 15 oz cans, you can use one. Or, if you can not find canned diced tomatoes with green chiles, you can either use diced tomatoes and one 4 oz. can of green chiles, or just use fire roasted diced tomatoes.
In addition to the diced tomatoes with green chiles, also add 1/2 Tbsp cumin and 1 tsp dried oregano.
Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the soup simmer for 45 minutes (lid on).
After simmering for 45 minutes, the chicken should be tender enough to shred. Carefully remove it from the pot to a clean cutting board, then use two forks to shred the meat into small pieces. Return the shredded meat to the soup pot.
Squeeze the juice from one lime (about 2-3 Tbsp) into the broth. To get the most juice out of the lime, I like to cut it in half, squeeze as much by hand, then insert a spoon into the lime and twist to squeeze out the rest.
Rinse the cilantro to make sure there’s no sand hiding in there, then give it a rough chop. You don’t have to take the time to carefully remove all stems. Cilantro stems are tender enough to enjoy. Stir the cilantro into the soup.
Slice the avocado and add a few slices to each bowl just before serving! Enjoy!
I made this last night and it was wonderful!! So easy to make too!! Will definitely be making this again!!
Super easy, fast and delicious.
Thank you for this recipe. It is my all time favorite soup!!
can this recipe be made in a crockpot?
Yes, put everything in the crock pot (except the lime, cilantro, and avocado) and do four hours on high or eight hours on low. Then pull the chicken out to shred and remove bones, then add the lime juice, cilantro, and avocado. :)
Figured i would take a moment here to say that I’ve been making this soup almost weekly for 10 months now – yes, you read that correctly. It’s become my de facto office lunch, and I’ve converted almost everyone in my office to making it at least occasionally. It freezes exceptionally well so I’ve taken to making double- and triple- batches, which can take care of almost 3 weeks of lunches in one fell swoop.
Seriously, this soup is unreal. I don’t understand how i’m not sick of it yet, but there it is. Amazing.
I, too, have been making this for quite a long time, we love it! I’m so glad to see you post because I’m making a batch for my dad (who loves alone) and was wondering about freezing it. Great to hear it freezes well!
This is the best soup ever!! I love Beth’s recipes. I have never cooked before, and now I cook all the time with Beth’s help. It is so easy and delicious!
Anyone ever added califlower rice to this recipe? It make it thicker?
I wanted to thank you for this recipe. It has become my go-to whenever soup is needed. Easy to adjust, a dream to remember, it is the perfect combination of comfort and flavor. I made this for my Grandfather during his final days on earth; he couldn’t eat sodium, so I didn’t use any salt, and the flavors were still wonderful. There is something warm and true and good in finding a recipe to take to heart; this one has become nestled deep in my bones. The Internet so rarely offers opportunity for depth or poignancy, but I wanted to take the time to let you know that even a little thing like a good recipe can make a huge difference in someone’s life.
Awww, thank you for that! You really don’t know how much that means to me. :) :) :)
This soup is amazing! I ate it over rice and with some homemade nachos. So. GOOD! Ever since I started living on my own (I’m in my second year of college), your website has really helped me out. I finally feel full and like I can survive on my limited budget. Beth, you have honestly changed my life so much and I cannot thank you enough.
One of my favourites! Thanks :)
Soup is very good! At the end, I added a can of black beans and a can of corn (fiesta style). Will definitely make this again!
This soup is so good! I’m vegan, so to make it work for us I switched the chicken for a can of black beans and the chicken broth to veggie broth. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes instead of an hour. Served up with avacodo and better than sour cream on top, sometimes I eat some plain fritos Coen chips with it too. We love this soup! Thanks for the recipe!
Very good. Delicious.
I am making this today.
Hi Beth, your recipes are always delicious and super-simple. I have ZERO cooking experience but your website has really helped me to learn — and to not sacrifice health / taste for a budget! This recipe has become one of my favorites — I usually serve it with rice (really just to make a batch of it last longer, lol). Thank you for such a great site!!!