Quick and Easy Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe
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This quick and easy chicken poblano pepper soup is filled with tender chicken, corn, red and poblano peppers, black beans, and a creamy broth. The addition of roasted poblano peppers makes this soup extra special, bringing an extra depth of flavor that the whole family loves.
As the temperature starts to dips outside, my household officially enters soup season. It’s my favorite! What I love about hearty soups is that they’re packed full of vegetables, there’s plenty of variety, and on the table in very little time. These are often the dinners where the leftovers are better the next day because the layers of flavors have had time to develop.
Are Poblano Peppers Spicy?
A tool called the Scoville scale rates the level of spice or pungency a pepper has based on how much capsaicin the pepper has. The hotter the pepper is, the higher the units are.
Bell peppers don’t contain capsaicin and therefore, aren’t rated on the scale. Poblano peppers fall between 1,000 and 2,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) on the Scoville Heat Scale, whereas jalapeno peppers have a typical rating of 2,500-8,000 SHU. The oils from the peppers can cause irritation on bare skin, so I highly recommend to use gloves when cutting peppers.
Easily swap out the poblano peppers with other chile peppers like Anaheim peppers or Guajillo peppers since they have a similar Scoville rating.
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Baking sheet
- Immersion blender or stand blender
Ingredients for Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup
- Shredded chicken: I used chicken breasts for this recipe, but you can easily substitute chicken thighs, shredded rotisserie chicken meat, or leftover chicken.
- Olive oil: Use any neutral-flavored oil
- Red pepper
- Fresh Poblano peppers
- Yellow onion
- Garlic cloves
- Frozen sweet corn
- Black beans
- Chicken stock
- Heavy cream
- Ground cumin
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
Bake
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven.
- Place the chicken breasts, red pepper, and 2 poblano peppers on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Then sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt over the chicken breasts. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping the peppers and the chicken halfway through the bake time.
Cook
- While the peppers and chicken breasts are roasting, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add a diced yellow onion and a minced garlic clove and saute for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat until the onion and garlic are translucent and fragrant.
- When there is no longer any pink in the chicken breasts, the peppers have a bit of brown and the skin starts to blister, remove from the oven. Let the peppers cool enough to handle and then gently peel the skin off, roughly chop the poblano flesh and add to the Dutch oven. ,
- Then add 8 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of sweet corn, ½ tsp of black pepper, and 1 tsp of ground cumin to the Dutch oven and reduce to medium heat. If you like spicy food and want a bit of heat, add ¼ tsp of red pepper flakes, but leave out if you don’t, there’s still plenty of flavor.
Blend
- Next, blend the soup using an immersion blender. You can blend until smooth, or leave slightly chunky for a bit of texture. (Or blend in batches in a stand blender. The heat can build up in the blender, so blend in small batches, never filling more than half full, and vent the top of the blender to allow steam to escape. Pour back into the pot when its all blended.)
Finish
- Add ¼ cup of flour and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in a separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Then pour this mixture into the soup and stir to incorporate fully.
- Shred the chicken breasts and the easiest way to do this is to use two forks, one to hold the chicken breast in place while using the other one to shred the chicken breast.
- Add drained and rinsed black beans and shredded chicken breasts to the soup.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes to let the soup thicken slightly and the flavors meld.
- Since all chicken stocks have various levels of sodium, I wait to add the salt until the very end. Taste and season with salt if needed.
Favorite Toppings
Try some of my favorite toppings with your next bowl of soup.
- Tortilla strips
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Shredded pepper jack cheese
- A dollop of sour cream
- Jalapeno slices
- Diced green onions
Storage
Store the leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can freeze this soup, but because of the high fat content in the cream, it will separate when thawed.
I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment and rate the recipe! Don’t forget to tag #Lockremhomestead in your photos of Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup on Instagram!
Quick and Easy Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 ¼ tsp salt, divided
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1 red pepper
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 can black beans
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place chicken breasts, red pepper, and 2 poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Drizzle the chicken breasts and the peppers with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt over the chicken breasts. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through bake time.
- While the peppers and chicken breasts are roasting, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add a diced yellow onion and a minced garlic clove to the Dutch oven. Sautee for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat until the onion and garlic are translucent and fragrant.
- When there is no longer any pink in the chicken breasts, the peppers have a bit of brown and the skin starts to blister, remove from the oven. Let the peppers cool enough to handle and then gently peel the skin off. Roughly chop the poblano flesh and add to the Dutch oven.
- Add 8 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of sweet corn, ½ tsp of black pepper, and 1 tsp of ground cumin to the Dutch oven and reduce to medium heat. If you like spicy food and want a bit of heat, add ¼ tsp of red pepper flakes.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup. You can blend until smooth, or leave slightly chunky for a bit of texture. (Or blend in batches in a stand blender. The heat can build up in the blender, so blend in small batches, never filling more than half full, and vent the top of the blender to allow steam to escape. Pour back into the pot)
- Add ¼ cup of flour and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in a separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour this mixture into the soup and stir to incorporate fully.
- Shred the chicken breasts. The easiest way to do this is to use two forks, one to hold the chicken breast in place while using the other one to shred the chicken breast. Add drained and rinsed black beans and shredded chicken breasts to the soup. Simmer for 15-20 minutes to let the soup thicken slightly and the flavors meld.
- Since all chicken stocks have various levels of sodium, I wait to add the salt until the very end. Taste and season with salt if needed. Store leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
