A delicious and creamy slow cooker chicken quesadilla soup with quesadilla “croutons.” This easy chicken quesadilla soup recipe is sure to be a huge hit!
Both of my boys will tell anyone that their favorite soup is tomato basil. It’s pretty cute to hear out of the mouths of such little guys, but they also aren’t messing around. I’ve never seen anyone eat as much tomato basil soup as my toddler can and the babe can definitely put down some grilled cheese (that has been heavily dredged in tomato basil soup).
So whenever I try a new soup out, they whine to just have tomato basil instead. While I know they love the actual soup, I think they like dipping rolls, grilled cheese croutons/quarters, or bread in the soup the most. So, in attempts to get them to eat a different soup I thought of a variation on grilled cheese croutons — quesadilla croutons!
Sure enough, I served up bowls of this chicken quesadilla soup to hear the complaints that they wanted tomato basil instead and “didn’t like this soup” (that they’d never tried). But the minute I whipped out some quesadillas (some cut into croutons and others cut into large quarters), they were willing to give it a try.
And, I’m happy to announce, we now a have a contender for the famous tomato basil soup!! Everyone, including the boys, LOVED this soup.
While the mini quesadilla croutons are certainly fun and we love them, it’s also equally fun (and time saving) to cut the quesadilla into large quarters and dip them in the soup. The kiddos liked the croutons best, but I’ll admit I liked the bigger quarters of quesadilla to dip into this soup!
Although I’ve talked a lot about the quesadilla “crouton” addition, I can’t miss talking about this soup because it is absolutely delicious. I know I’ve been calling it a “soup” for this entire post, but be aware it is more the consistency of a chili or very thick soup. I didn’t want to call it a chili, because it doesn’t really have “chili” ingredients, but it is definitely a thick and hearty “chili” like consistency.
And besides the quesadilla croutons or quarters, the actual soup is quesadilla inspired — it’s got all the ingredients of a great quesadilla — shredded chicken, peppers, onions, tomatoes, black beans, corn, and plenty of Mexican seasonings. And it’s also got all the great toppings of a quesadilla! We top this soup with a generous spoonful of sour cream, a huge handful of Colby Jack cheese, a squeeze of fresh lime, and plenty of green onions. With all these toppings and the quesadilla croutons or quarters, this is a seriously hearty quesadilla soup the whole family will love!
Crockpot Chicken Quesadilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breast; we prefer thighs)
- 1 can (10 oz.) red enchilada sauce 10 ounces red enchilada sauce*
- 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 2 cans (15.25 oz. EACH) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15.25 oz.) southwestern corn, undrained (or regular sweet corn, or fire-roasted corn)
- 1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 package (8 ounces) full fat cream cheese, very softened
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon EACH: paprika, seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- Toppings: sour cream (we use fat free), Colby Jack cheese, avocado, fresh lime, green onions or cilantro, and tortilla strips (as an alternate to the grilled cheese)
Quick Quesadillas
- 4-6 flour tortillas
- 1 and 1/2 cups Colby Jack cheese
Instructions
- In a large crockpot (I use a 6 quart crockpot), add in the diced green pepper, diced onion, uncooked chicken breasts, enchilada sauce, undrained tomatoes, drained and rinsed black beans, undrained corn, chicken stock or broth, and minced garlic.
- Add in all of the seasonings: the cumin, paprika, seasoned salt, pepper, and chili powder. Stir well and cover the crockpot.
- Cook on high for 3-5 hours (or until chicken will easily shred) or low for 5-8 hours (again, until chicken will shred easily)
- Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred in another bowl using two forks.
- Meanwhile, cube the cream cheese into small cubes (it should be very softened -- melt in microwave) and put them in the crockpot. Stir well and cover. Change temperature to high. Let it sit for a few minutes and then using a large whisk, briskly whisk the cream cheese to melt.
- Add the shredded chicken back into the crockpot. Stir and cover. Cook on high until all the cream cheese is completely melted. Whisk once more.
- Meanwhile, make the quesadillas. Warm a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Lay one tortilla in the skillet and sprinkle all over with 1/2 cup of cheese. Once the cheese starts to melt, lift a corner of the tortilla and check the underside. When the cheese is all melted and you see golden-brown spots on the underside of the tortilla, fold the quesadilla over in half and remove to the cutting board (I do cook these to very crisp since they'll be in soup/dipped in soup). Repeat until all the quesadillas are made. Cut into large quarters or smaller croutons. Serve hot with the soup!
- Serve the soup bowls with sour cream, colby jack cheese, avocado, fresh lime, cilantro/green onions as desired. If you only do one topping, to me, the cheese is a MUST! If you don't serve with the quesadillas, add some tortilla strips to the top 🙂
- Enjoy immediately.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was a HIT! I live with 5 other people and love cooking but often get overwhelmed and stressed when I do cook. It was my turn to cook dinner for the house and I was excited about the recipe mostly because it’s a throw everything in and leave it type of recipe. I was worried about everything fitting in our small crockpot and I couldn’t find the volume so I used my rommate’s Ninja Foodi. Again I’m someone who likes to cook but doesn’t have a ton of experience so I thought I would use the pressure cook function for 3 hours *face palm*. Luckily my roommate helped me out and I cooked it for about 35 minutes on HI and the chicken easily shredded. Then I added the cream cheese and put it on keep warm for about an hour. It definitely would have been much easier to just use a slow cooker but you live and you learn! I was concerned about the chicken flavoring so I added some salt and cut the chicken into thick slices before putting it in the pot. 10/10 for flavor: so creamy and rich, and all the toppings really add to it as well as the mini quesadilla slices! I will definitely be saving this recipe for the future. I’m a huge fan!
Yay!! SO happy this was a hit; thanks Hannah! 🙂
I want to double this recipe, but do not have a big enough slow cooker. Do you have any tips for cooking it stove top? Would cooking times remain the same or change?
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Hi! I want to freeze some of this soup and save it for later lunches. Can it be made without the cream cheese?
I haven’t personally tried it, but don’t see why not!
I want to bring this to a potluck tomorrow. Can I make it a day ahead? Does it reheat okay?
Yes that should be fine! Reheat gently to avoid separating! And I’d add cheese right before serving 🙂
Delicious recipe. Hadit for the first time tonight. Definitely a keeper. Thank you ?
Thanks Kate! 🙂
My family and I absolutely love this soup. I’m making some as I type this comment.
So happy to hear that! 🙂 Thanks for the comment Nekeitha!
The most delicious thing that has ever come out of my crock pot is your turkey enchilada quinoa recipe… so I will definitely be trying this recipe ASAP. Thank you!!
That mean so much to me; thank you!! I hope you love this soup! 🙂
hey girl- this looks so good! Yummy for my tummy!
Hi,
Does anyone know the calorie/ nutrition facts for this?