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!
We made this almost entirely as written, but we added one can of rinsed black beans, and one can of corn. This gave the soup a little more substance. But we loved it! Served it with tortilla chips to soak up the broth.
I know Beth really recommends avocado as a topping, however, I am super-duper-hospital-visit allergic to avocado. Is there a substitute that’s recommended (here and in general)?
It might be worth having it noted, since people with latex allergies also tend to be allergic to avocado.
Hi Teresa! In this case for the soup it’s really just an added garnish and adds a bit of creamy texture. There’s not really a substitute to avocado, but for here I would suggest a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt!
Could this be done as a slow cooker recipe do you think? Maybe 4 hours on high or 6 on low? Still adding the cilantro and lime at the end. I’m trying to fit this into a “Gal-entines Day” lunch with a crazy busy schedule!
Love Galentine’s Day! Put everything into the slow cooker except the cilantro and lime juice. Cook on high for four hours or low for eight. After cooking, shred the chicken and then stir in the lime juice and cilantro. That should work! :)
This was DELICIOUS!! It’s going into heavy rotation. Used a pack of boneless, skinless thighs, fresh tomatoes with a 4oz can of green chilies, 2 limes, the entire bush of cilantro and kosher salt. I topped it with avocados, crushed cafe style tortillas and Mexican crema. Soooo good! The hubby said this is the best soup he ever had.
This soup is amazing. Bursting with flavor and it’s easy to put together. The avocado adds a slightly creamy flavor to this soup which is a perfect addition to the spice of the jalapeño and slight tartness of the lime. I’ve made this over ten times, and love it every time.
I’ve made this soup several times! Absolutely love it. But this time around, I was distracted and accidentally added the lime in to the soup and then added my chicken instead of waiting until the end 😭. Do you think that will make a difference?
You should be just fine!
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! This soup has kept me breathing easy though the sniffle season!
I can’t handle jalapeno, even if I’m a Texan, but poblano peppers add enough kick for me.
This is probably my favorite soup ever. Don’t skimp on the lime juice. I sometimes add more chicken if I have it, but it’s good with just one breast. The broth is SO good. We “thicken” it with crushed tortilla chips. We like spicy so I usually have another fresh jalapeño chopped for topping. It makes a nice crunch. Just had it again tonight and can’t wait for leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
I’ve made this soup multiple times and love it! However, I like it even better when I swap the olive oil out for a smaller amount of a more neutral oil (like 1 TBSP of canola oil) that really lets that lime flavor shine through.
SO good and SO cheap! I made this when I was feeling a bit under the weather and it was perfect.
Wow! This is the second recipe I have made Fromm you and this is soo good! I love stuff so o added more tomatoes and chicken. I only used 4cups of chicken broth. This is sooo good. I am so glad I found your site. We also had the vegan lentil soup. Yum
First time making this and it turned out pretty well despite some minor setbacks (I thought I had oregano and celery already at home when i bought everything else…). I omitted the Jalapeno because personally I don’t enjoy super spicy food, and the two cans of tomatoes and chilies made the soup spicy enough. Next time though, I may just go for 1 15 oz can of the tomatoes and chilies and maybe 1 more chicken breast because with two cans there were way more tomatoes than chicken. Again, despite these setbacks/things I’d change, it was still a good recipe!
Thanks for the honesty Opal!
This soup has great flavor, but I like the broth to have a some body. I took out some of the broth, simmered some potato in it, then pureed that and added it back into the soup. Perfect!
That sounds like a delicious way to thicken it up some. Thanks for sharing Mary.
I made this as directed (milder version without the jalapenos), and it’s one of my most favorite Budget Bytes recipes yet!
The recipe listed here makes a pretty soupy soup (more liquid to solid than I usually like). Next time, I will probably double the chicken and add less broth.
Good to know Whitney!
Soooo good and so simple!
Thanks Denise!
I’ve made this like 4 times. I live with my brother who is a cook and he was freaking out about how good it was. All I change is that I add black beans to it t make it a bit heartier. Some crushed tortilla chips on top too is pretty bombalicious. Thanks so much I love this site!!!!!
Black beans are a great addition! Thanks for sharing Dustin!