Eighteen ingredients for six bowls, an hour start to finish, and one pot. Two tins of tomato go in — plain diced and diced with green chiles — and between them they carry most of the heat.
This is the chili version. Black beans, corn and tomato are what make it one, and the recipe rules out two things by name in its own fifth step: no bacon and no pasta.
Why This Recipe Works
- Thirty seconds of ranch seasoning, chili powder and cumin in hot fat blooms them before any liquid arrives.
- Simmering the breasts whole in the broth and shredding them afterwards keeps the chicken in strands.
- Whisking the cream cheese with a ladle of hot broth first is what stops it seizing into lumps.
- Melting the cheddar into the broth rather than scattering it on top is where the orange-red colour comes from.
- Holding back the sour cream and herbs for the bowls keeps the beans, corn and tomato visible.
Ingredient Notes
- Two tins of tomato
- One 14.5 oz of plain diced and one 10 oz of diced with green chiles. The second is where a good part of the heat comes from.
- Black beans and corn
- A 15 oz tin of beans, rinsed, and a cup and a half of corn. These two are what make this a chili rather than a creamy chicken soup.
- Sharp cheddar
- Three quarters of a cup, melted into the broth. It is not scattered over the bowls, and none is held back for the top.
- Ranch seasoning
- A tablespoon, cooked with the chili powder and cumin. It is where the crack-chicken character comes from in the absence of bacon.
How to Make It
Onion, then the dry seasonings
Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Cook onion 4 minutes, then add garlic, ranch seasoning, chili powder, and cumin for 30 seconds.
Everything in, simmer to 165F
Add chicken, black beans, corn, both tomatoes, broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer gently 18 to 20 minutes until the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Out, shredded, back in
Transfer chicken to a board, shred it, and return it to the pot.
Temper the cream cheese
Whisk softened cream cheese with a ladle of hot broth, then stir it into the soup until smooth.
Cheddar into the broth
Stir in cheddar until fully melted into the orange-red broth; do not add bacon or pasta.
Sour cream and herbs on top
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chopped herbs so the beans, corn, and tomato remain clearly visible.
Four Points, Two of Them Exclusions
What makes this crack chicken soup its own recipe is as much what stays out of it as what goes in, and two of the four checkpoints below are refusals.
Step 2 - what makes it a chili
A 15 oz tin of black beans, 1 1/2 cups of corn and TWO tins of tomato all go in together.
One 14.5 oz tin of plain diced tomatoes and one 10 oz tin of diced tomatoes with green chiles. Those four components are what make it a chili soup: without them this is simply a creamy chicken soup.
Step 4 - the dairy
6 oz of softened cream cheese whisked with A LADLE OF HOT BROTH before it goes in.
Cream cheese dropped cold into a pot at a simmer seizes into lumps that never disperse. Tempering it is the one fiddly moment in an otherwise straightforward recipe.
Step 5 - no bacon
3/4 cup of cheddar melted INTO the broth, and no bacon anywhere.
No bacon here, and the cheddar is not a topping: it dissolves into the broth, which is where the orange-red colour in the finished bowl comes from.
Step 5 - no pasta
No noodles, no rice, no grain of any kind.
This is not a noodle soup, and the recipe says so in the same breath as the bacon. Adding a starch would make it a different dish.
Success Tips
- Whisk the cream cheese with hot broth in a separate bowl; dropped straight in it will not disperse.
- Keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the dairy is in.
- Ladle so each bowl gets beans, corn and tomato rather than just broth.
Serving Ideas
Six white bowls of the creamy orange-red soup with the shredded chicken, black beans, corn and diced tomato clearly visible, each topped with a dollop of sour cream and chopped cilantro or parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should there be bacon in this?
Not in this version. The recipe leaves it out in step 5, and the cheddar is melted into the broth rather than scattered on top.
Can I add noodles or rice?
No. Step 5 leaves out pasta, and no noodles, rice or other grain is part of this recipe.
My cream cheese went lumpy. What happened?
It went in cold. Whisk it with a ladle of the hot broth until smooth first, then stir that mixture back into the pot.
