Green Chile Chicken Soup

Featuring: Roasted Hatch Green Chile · See also: Cooking with Frozen Roasted Chile

This green chili chicken soup is everything a cold-weather bowl should be — tender shredded chicken, smoky roasted Hatch green chile, and creamy white beans in a broth that's cozy without being heavy. It's the chicken soup with green chiles I make when someone's under the weather or when the wind comes down off the mesa and we just need something warm. Easy enough for a weeknight, good enough for company.

Where a thick green chili is almost a stew, this leans soup: brothier, lighter, spoonable. It's the kind of green chili soup that fills the kitchen with the smell of chile and cumin and has everyone drifting in to ask what's on the stove. Our family has grown Hatch green chile in the Hatch Valley for five generations, and a chicken and green chili soup this simple lives or dies on the chile you put in it.

Why Hatch green chile makes this soup

The flavor backbone is Roasted Hatch Green Chile — fire-roasted at harvest, it brings a smoky depth and clean, grassy heat that canned green chiles simply can't deliver. In season we use Fresh Hatch Green Chile, roasted and peeled. Roasted Hatch chile runs mild to hot depending on the harvest, so pick a mild-to-medium roast for a soup the whole family can share, or reach for a hotter roast when you want it to clear your sinuses.

What to put in green chili chicken soup

The base is humble: chicken, onion, garlic, cumin, broth, and a generous amount of green chile. From there it's flexible. White beans (cannellini or Great Northern) add creaminess and stick-to-your-ribs heft without dairy. A handful of corn brings a little sweetness to balance the chile. Want it creamy? Stir in cream cheese or a splash of half-and-half at the end. Want it brothy and light? Leave the dairy out and let the beans do the thickening.

• Chicken: rotisserie or any leftover cooked chicken shreds right in and keeps it fast; boneless thighs poached in the broth stay the juiciest if cooking from raw.
• Beans: cannellini, Great Northern, or navy. Mash a few against the pot to thicken naturally.
• Heat: a pinch of green chile powder or a diced jalapeño bumps it up; a hotter roast does the same.
• No fresh chile? Our frozen roasted Hatch chile is picked and roasted at peak, so it's the next best thing to a September roaster.

Pro tips

Bloom the cumin and garlic in oil before the broth goes in — it wakes up the whole pot. Add the green chile early so it infuses the broth, and taste before you salt; roasted chile and beans both carry flavor, so you may need less than you think. If you're using raw chicken, poach it whole in the broth, then shred and return it — you get tender meat and a richer broth in one step.

Serving, storage, and reheating

Top each bowl with shredded Monterey Jack, a dollop of sour cream, sliced avocado, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime; warm flour tortillas on the side are non-negotiable in our house. This is a close cousin to our green enchilada soup and a lighter sibling to a hearty pot of green chile stew. Refrigerate leftovers up to 4 days — it only gets better — or freeze up to 3 months (freeze before adding dairy, then stir cream in after reheating). Warm it gently on the stovetop, loosening with a splash of broth as needed.

Short on time?

If you love this chile-and-chicken flavor but want dinner now, we make our family Hatch Green Chile Stew in our own kitchen and freeze it — same Hatch chile, ready in minutes. It's a heartier, pork-based cousin to this soup for the nights you don't have a pot to babysit.