Chicken Enchilada Soup

Do you ever have leftovers of meat and don't know what to do with them? This weekend, my mother in law sent me home with cooked chicken breasts and legs. I decided on Sunday to use them in a soup! I had a Enchilada seasoning packet, and decided that's what I would do with it!

Ingredients:
1-2 Cups Shredded Chicken (Doesn't need to be exact.)
1 Enchilada Seasoning Packet (You can usually find these in the seasoning aisle or Mexican section at the store.)
2 Cans Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Chilies (I buy store brand!)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes and Onions
1 Tbl Crushed Garlic
2 Cups Tomato Juice
1 Cup Brown Basmati Rice
1 Box Container Chicken Broth (Or Chicken Bone Broth)
1 Medium/Large Onion Diced
8-10 (About) Baby Carrots Cut
1 Stalk Celery Chopped
2 Tbl Olive Oil
Shredded Cheese and Sour Cream for Garnish

 

First, heat your pan to medium heat and add the olive oil. Then, add the rice, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the pan. 

Cook until the onion is translucent and the carrots are getting almost fork tender.

These are the HUGE pieces of chicken that my mother and law sent me home with after dinner on Saturday.

 

While the veggies and rice are browning, remove the skin from the chicken and took the meat off of the bone. Then, do a course chop through the chicken to get it into bite size pieces.  

 

Pour the entire container of broth into the veggies and rice. Add the 2 cups tomato juice, cans of Rotel, and the can of diced tomatoes and onion. Bring this to a boil. Then, bring it down to a simmer. Set a timer four 25 minutes. During the 25 minutes, stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. After the 25 minutes,  add the chicken and the Enchilada Seasoning Packet. Let simmer for another 10-15 minutes. This is to help get the rice tender. You can always taste in this 10-15 minute time frame to see if the rice it cooked. Add the shredded cheese and sour cream before serving. You can also serve with tortilla chips for something crunchy!

This turned out really good, but pretty spicy! If I make this again, I will make sure I get the correct spice level on the Enchilada Seasoning Packet. The one I had came out of a box of other seasoning packets and didn't really have the level of heat listed on it. This would be one of those perfect soups for a cool Fall day. I know those will be coming soon!