Spicy Chicken Soup (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
→ Main Ingredients
01 -
4 strips of bacon, roughly chopped
02 -
Half a sweet onion or regular white onion, diced
03 -
2 celery stalks, diced
04 -
Half a green bell pepper, diced
05 -
Half a red bell pepper, diced
06 -
4 fresh jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped
07 -
1/4 cup regular flour
08 -
3 garlic cloves, minced
09 -
3 cups chicken broth (low-sodium works best)
10 -
1 cup half-and-half cream
11 -
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded (rotisserie chicken is perfect)
12 -
4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
13 -
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
# Instructions:
01 -
Grab a large Dutch oven or soup pot and cook your chopped bacon over medium heat until it gets nice and crispy, which should take around 8 to 10 minutes. Once done, move the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour out most of the bacon fat but keep about 3 tablespoons in the pot for flavor.
02 -
Toss in your diced onions, celery, both bell peppers, and chopped jalapenos into that bacon fat. Let everything cook together for about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the peppers start to soften up nicely.
03 -
Sprinkle the flour over your veggie mixture and add the minced garlic. Give it a good stir. Don't worry when things get thick and pasty looking—that's exactly what you want.
04 -
Turn up the heat to medium-high. Pour in the chicken broth one cup at a time, stirring after each addition until everything comes together smoothly. Then pour in the half-and-half. Let the whole thing come to a gentle bubble and simmer for 5 minutes.
05 -
Put your softened cream cheese chunks in a medium bowl. Carefully ladle about half a cup of the hot soup into the bowl, whisking constantly until you get a smooth, creamy mixture without any lumps.
06 -
Pour that cream cheese mixture back into the soup pot along with all the shredded cheddar. Stir everything together until the cheese melts completely into the soup.
07 -
Add your shredded chicken and most of the crispy bacon to the soup, saving about a quarter cup of bacon for sprinkling on top later. Take the pot off the heat. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with your reserved bacon, extra jalapeno slices, crushed croutons, or more cheese—whatever sounds good to you.
# Notes:
01 -
If you want jalapeno slices as a garnish, slice half of one jalapeno before you start and set those slices aside, then chop up the rest for cooking in the soup.
02 -
This soup captures all those amazing jalapeno popper flavors—crispy bacon, spicy peppers, and creamy cheese—in a cozy, warming bowl that's got just the right amount of kick.
03 -
Leftover rotisserie chicken works beautifully in this recipe and saves you tons of time.