Zesty queso chicken soup – keto

Why do I love soup so much? Not just because they are warm and delicious! Many of them are a dump and go recipe. I had a busy day at work so I threw this in the crockpot yesterday afternoon. Only thing that took a minute was to shred the chicken and dump it back in. Literally, took me a minute. Does it get any easier than that? No browning meat. No dirtying a bunch of dishes. Just a creamy soup with great flavor and a little kick. Well, the way I made it anyway. But I love the spicy stuff. This is a keto recipe but can easily be altered.

INGREDIENTS

2 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

14 ounces petite diced tomatoes not drained

2 10 oz cans of rotel

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups chicken broth

8 ounces cream cheese softened

Optional:

2 cups baby spinach

1 tbsp diced jalapeno

 

Optional toppings:

Avocado

Monterrey or Colby jack cheese

Jalapenos

Dash of hot sauce

 

Non keto add ons:

Black beans

Corn

Tortilla strips on top

Notes: The original recipe called for 28 oz of diced tomatoes and 1 cup salsa verde or green salsa. I opted for the combination of diced tomatoes and rotel above because that’s what I had on hand. I also added 2 cups of spinach because I need more greens. I’m allergic to avocado so that’s a no go for me but I did top it with a pinch of shredded Colby jack.

DIRECTIONS

Instapot:

Place chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes with juices, salt, chicken broth, and green salsa in Instant Pot. Set to manual mode and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Allow pressure to release naturally (about 15 minutes), remove and shred the chicken. Set aside. Stir softened cream cheese into the soup in the pot and whisk until fully melted. Return chicken to the soup and serve with diced avocado and monterrey jack cheese.

Slow Cooker:

Place all ingredients except cream cheese in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours or until the chicken is tender and shreds easily. Add cream cheese and stir until melted.

Hot chicken queso dip

Ingredients:

1 block (32 oz) of velveeta cheese.

1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese.

1 can (10 oz) of rotel.

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 pound of shredded chicken

2 Tbsp hot sauce

¼ cup salsa

In a crock pot, pour the cream cheese and add in the velveeta cheese after you cut it into cubes. Stir in all ingredients and cook on low for an hour.

**You can substitute the chicken for ground beef or sausage and the cream of chicken with cream of mushroom.

This was ooey gooey cheesy goodness.  Personally, next time I would add a little more hot sauce or use hot instead of mild rotel but I like things spicy.  

Easy pork enchiladas

Review by Lyndee:

Remember my crockpot pulled pork recipe last week? Well we had a lot of meat leftover and I decided to use it up in something spectacular last night.  The kids love Mexican food.  We’re generally chicken or beef kind of taco people but the idea came to me to get a little creative.

1 package flour tortillas

Pulled pork

1 can rotel

1 jar queso

Shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 450.  Grease baking dish with non-stick spray. 

Place pork on tortilla in a line.  Add a dollop of queso and a pinch of shredded cheese. Roll and put in the baking dish.  Repeat.  Our 9x13 held six enchiladas.  Pour one can of rotel over the top.  Add a few more dollops of queso and some shredded cheese.  Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and edges of tortilla are starting to crisp.  Serve with salsa and cilantro.

This was very easy to throw together and the boys just died over it.  They chowed down and kept moaning and oohing and aahing how I need to make these again soon.  They were shoveling it in so fast I told them to slow down so they didn’t choke.  They said it was one of the best recipe experiments I’ve done yet and that’s saying a lot.  We will definitely be putting this in the dinner rotation.