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.
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Notes
Nutrition
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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!
This soup is THE BEST! When I’m craving spice I use the recommended two cans of diced tomatoes with chilis, but to take it down a notch to “comfort food” status I replace one of those with a plain can of diced tomatoes. Less of a kick, but still very flavorful and rich. Add some corn muffins and dinner is served! It freezes well too.I’ve stopped buying canned soup since I started making and freezing Budget Bytes recipes because there is really no comparison, either in flavor or in price.
How can I do this in the crockpot??? Thanks!
I love this soup! A bonus of making it is that your hands smell like limes afterward ;)
I made this recipe tonight for dinner and it turned out AMAZING. It is so flavorful with a little bit of kick. I altered it just a little. I didn’t have any olive oil, so I used vegetable oil. I also didn’t have oregano, so I used dried basil. And I doubled the amount of chicken. I will be using this recipe again!
How can I modify this recipe for a slow cooker?
Delicious!! I added a can of corn and two potoatoes to this recipe. It was yummy!
This was good and I’ll be sure to make again. I ended up using a fresh tomato and purchased a rotisserie chicken. I also had to omit the avocado because the one I bought was spoiled grrrr.
I just made this soup and it was fabulous. Unbelievablely tasty. I had some gouda, which seems weird, but it was suuuper tasty.
We vacation in Mexico every year and at our resort they make this awesome chicken lime soup to die for; this reminds me of that!!!!!! I made this soup a few months ago and I cannot wait to make it again. I did take a shortcut and bought a rotisserie chicken; plain. I followed all the steps excluding the chicken; then added it after everything started to simmer. It was definitely quick to make and extremely flavorful! THANK YOU BETH.
What are those crackers in the pics?
Those are Mission brand tortillas strips (thick tortilla chips in rectangular shape rather than a triangle).
Tout simplement délicieuse !!!
I made this soup and froze it…delish. I love the mix of flavors of spicy and citrus and the chicken is so tender. Wish I had added some avacados but they were overripe at the grocery store.
I LOVE THIS SOUP! Definitely one of, if not, my favorite. I will usually add a can of black beans to stretch it a little farther and add a little bulk. So yummy.
Also…. Don’t skimp on the avocado. It really makes the soup that much more amazing. something about that nutty flavor and smooth texture is just amazing.
Made this tonight for dinner. Again I doubled the recipe and it came out so tasty! This is definitely a favorite!
Has anyone tried adding rice to this recipe? I’m curious how it would work, and if you’d add the rice uncooked or cooked. Any ideas? I’m excited to give this recipe a try!
I haven’t added rice to this exact recipe, but I will often add leftover cooked rice to other similar soups. Always turns out great!
I added uncooked arborio rice and it turned out swell!
Yes, I added a package of VIGO brand Mexican rice mix after I shredded the chicken. I let it cook about 10 more minutes – it tasted great.
To keep this soup tasting fresh, I wait to add the avocado, cilantro and lime until just before serving and I add it to each individual bowl as opposed to the entire pot. The lime and cilantro become flat if you add them to the entire pot – especially if you plan to eat the leftovers or are freezing the soup. Avocado should always be fresh as it doesn’t freeze or store well once cut.