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!
Can I use 2 or 3 more chicken breasts and still have the same cook time?
I meant 1 or 2 more…
It may take longer to come up to a boil, but once it’s simmering away it should be about the same amount of time.
I made your recipe with a couple changes (accidently) & it was great! I thought I had tomatoes with green chili’s but grabbed tomatoes w/Italian herbs. When I realized that’s what I did, I omitted the extra oregano & followed the recipe for the rest. My husband can’t stop saying how much he liked it, 2 days later!
Has anyone used a can of Rotel mild?
Yes — I actually use fire roasted tomatoes and a couple teaspoons of canned green chiles, but the result is similar. I omit the jalapeno some times, some not.
I’ve tried lot of different versions of this soup and I really like this one. The ingredients are simple and inexpensive. It has a little kick in it but not too much to handle. I used a pressure cooker to speed up the simmer and the flavor was still incredible.
This is one of my favorite recipes on the site! So easy and sooo good. Add in some extra chicken broth/water and 4 oz of wide egg noodles for a chicken noodle soup!
Can u replace jalapeno with cayenne seasoning to make it spicy
You can, but it will also change the flavor.
I actually just made it this way tonight after realizing that my jalapenos didn’t make it when I recently moved apartments & it’s still just as awesome as it was with a jalapeno! I did 1/2 tsp of ground cayenne and it was very spicy for me (but I also am a baby when it comes to spice). Like I said it was still super good!
Can this be made in the croc pot?
Probably, although I’ve never done it. :)
I was wondering the same thing. I would probably do forst steps on stove up to chicken with one change. Since fast cooking chicken can make it tough i would slow simmer/poach chicken then transfer all to crockpot and finish cooking on low. . This way you get flavor from cooking the flavor giving ingredients on stove ehere it can release all the goodness better than crockpot.
I’ve done in the crockpot more than once with no extra steps beforehand. Just toss it all in the pot (except cilantro and lime – add that later when you shred the chicken) and let it go on low for 6-8 hours. I’ve made it both ways, and I think it actually turns out even better using the crockpot since the flavors get to mingle slowly all day long.
Fantastic recipe! I used fire roasted tomatoes w/chiles the second time and it tasted even better. Thanks!!
Delicious as always!!
Pumped up the herbs, as I like it hot, including adding cilantro stems to onion / celery during prep. Also added a can of white beans for extra fibre.
Added to my favourite recipes. Yum, yum!! 😊
What could be used as a chicken replacement? Since I would love to make a veggie version
Maybe hominy? But I think you’ll be changing the flavor profile a lot if you switch out the chicken and/or chicken broth.
can you freeze this soup?
I should have asked – can you freeze this soup that is left over? Does freezing then reheating diminish the fresh lime juice and cilantro taste?
It still tastes good, but the fresh punch from the cilantro and lime is slightly dampened.
Added crushed lime flavored chips to bowl. Delicious also made corn bread muffins with jalapeño peppers
SO YUMMY!! Added a little extra lime, extra seasonings—and of course a huge heap of avocado. We just returned from the Yucatan and have been craving the LIme Sopa ever since we got back; this hit the nail on the head. Yum <3 Thank you!
SO amazing
Amazing flavor and I don’t feel guilty for eating it! Thank you!