Mexican Chicken Soup + Rice

Oh the weather outside is frightful.  Just kidding; well sort of.  Our area is expecting a major cold front this weekend, with temperatures in the 30s when we get up Saturday morning & not making it out of the 50s all weekend. I may be dancing about this, because I've been waiting for cold weather since July.

I've started wearing cute cardigans & jeans this past week & my little heart is overwhelmed with all the holiday spirit that I know comes with these temperature changes.  Also with temperature changes, comes my excitement to have a consistent rotation of soups on the menu.  I've got my pantry stocked with canned goods, those Campbell Drinkable Soups (my favorite!!) & a horde of chicken & beef stock for soup making days.  One of my favorite soups currently is what I call Mexican Chicken Soup.

If there's an actual name for this, I have no idea what it is & I've tweaked it enough that I'm calling it Mexican Chicken & Soup + Rice.  It's beyond simple & tastes so heavenly; well if you're into Mexican-y tasting foods, specifically cumin. Well I make ours spicy, Benjamin doesn't care for it, I spice away, you can completely omit the spice part for something more mild.

Mexican Chicken Soup + Rice:

1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken stock/broth

4 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp onion powder

1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (spice for heat or omit for mild)

1 cup diced tomatoes (I used canned and just measure from there)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked white rice

chopped cilantro, avocado, for topping

1. Preheat medium-large pot over medium heat.  Add minced garlic & enough chicken stock to cover bottom of pot & cook for 3 minutes.

2. Add remaining chicken stock, tomatoes, black beans and spices. Mix well & bring to a boil. 

3. Add cooked, shredded chicken & simmer for 20 minutes. This is when I cook my rice in my rice cooker; times perfectly.

4. Serve soup over rice & top with your choice of toppings. We like cilantro, avocado & tortilla chips.

For leftovers, we add remaining rice into the soup, so they can be heated together without drying out the rice.

To see other yummy recipes we enjoy, click here.