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It’s Cold Outside, Time for Soup


January 03, 2011 | Peggy Martin

It’s Cold Outside, Time for Soup

Soup is a great comfort food for winter meals, and so good for you too. Our featured recipe for January is  Mexican Chicken Soup. Making this soup takes less time than getting in the car and driving through your favorite takeout place. You don’t have to cook the chicken ahead of time. Just place raw boneless chicken in the pot with the other ingredients. After cooking for about 20 minutes, take the chicken out and shred it into bite-size pieces. Serve it with tortilla chips or bread, apple/orange slices and you have a meal with something from each food group plus plenty of fiber. For extra instruction, check out the preparation video under the recipe instructions.

This recipe would be super economical if you made your own chicken broth and cooked dry beans instead of buying them canned; click on the hot links above to see the directions.  Another advantage of doing it yourself is that you can control the amount of sodium.
If this soup scores points with your family, check out the other soup recipes in the Cook section of the SpendSmart.EatSmart web page.  All our recipes are healthy, low-cost and easy.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes (Mexican-style)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups frozen corn or 1 15-ounce can corn, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can sodium-reduced chicken broth or 2 cups Homemade Chicken Broth
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast

Instructions

  1. Add tomatoes, beans, corn, broth, garlic, chili powder, cumin (if desired), and pepper in large saucepan.
  2. Remove and discard any visible fat from chicken. Cut chicken into large chunks and add to the saucepan. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
  3. Remove the chicken and place on a plate; use forks to shred the chicken. Return the shredded chicken to soup.
  4. Serve with choice of garnishes, such as baked tortilla chips.

-pointers from Peggy


Peggy Martin

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