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Slow Cooker King Ranch Chicken Soup. This EASY creamy soup tastes just like the beloved King Ranch Chicken Casserole. Loaded with cheese, juicy chunks of chicken, and tons of flavor! Simply load up the slow cooker and let this soup simmer during the day. Everyone will be waiting with bowls in hand to enjoy this one!!
King Ranch Casserole is a pretty popular Texas recipe. Made with layering of chicken, cheese, tortillas. Allow me to introduce you to an easy, slow cooker soup version! Creamy, dreamy, cheesy, flavorful. This soup is thick and perfect for dipping chips in.
Ingredients for this King Ranch Chicken Soup:
- Butter & flour: to help make this soup extra creamy we’re starting with a roux base.
- Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Cumin, Black Pepper & Salt: for a classic Texan taste make sure you are using Gebhardts Chili Powder.
- Chicken: grab boneless, skinless chicken breasts for easier cooking.
- Chicken Broth: always use a low or no sodium broth if possible. This helps you to control the flavoring of the soup.
- Canned diced tomatoes and green chiles: if you can’t find this particular ingredient you can sub with a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of diced green chiles.
- Jalapeno: a diced jalapeno adds the perfect amount of heat to the dish. If you are concerned about heat you can of course leave this ingredient out.
- Cheese: stir some into the soup for a creamy, cheesy soup and top the soup with the extra for a fun topping!
- Chips for dipping: optional
How to make Slow Cooker King Ranch Chicken Soup:
- Prepare the roux by melting the butter and stirring in the flour. Allow this to cook for a few minutes and then pour in the chicken broth. Bring this mixture to a simmer to allow it to become nice and thick. This is what makes the soup extra creamy. Stir in the seasonings.
- Add the chicken, diced tomatoes & green chiles, and jalapeno to the slow cooker. Carefully pour the seasoned broth mixture over the top.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.
- Remove the chicken, shred and then return to the soup.
- Stir in the cheese and allow to cook for an additional 15 minutes to allow it to melt.
- Serve warm with extra cheese, toppings and tortilla chips.
I wish I could take credit for this recipe. But it’s not mine! Want to know where it’s from? My friend Samantha from Five Heart Home just released a fantastic cookbook, Real Food Slow Cooker Suppers. Full of easy, family-friendly recipes from scratch. Click the links to head over to Amazon to check it out.
More Soup Recipes:
(Slow Cooker) King Ranch Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsbp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1½ lb chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 1 (10 ounce can) diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 medium jalapeno minced (seeds and membranes removed)
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar Mexican blend or Colby Jack
- Tortilla chips for serving
- chopped fresh cilantro for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and saute until it’s fragrant and light golden brown, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and whisk continuously for 1 minute.
- Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, increase the heat to a simmer and whisk continuously for several minutes, until the sauce is smooth and thickened.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt. Add black pepper to taste and set the sauce aside.
- Place the chicken breasts in a large slow cooker. Top them with the diced tomatoes with green chiles and jalapeño and pour the sauce over the top. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, until the chicken is tender and cooked through but not overcooked.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, stir the cheese into the slow cooker and cover the slow cooker for the time being.
- Pull the chicken into large chunks and stir it back into the slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and all of the ingredients are heated through. Stir well.
- To serve, crush the tortilla chips into a bowl and ladle the soup over the top, garnishing with extra cheese and the cilantro, if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe was first published October 21, 2016. Updated September 25, 2020 with new information and video.
This was amazing! I’m making it for the second time. At first, I put this recipe into the “not for working moms” category because of the prep (no one has time to cook stuff on the stove before work) and because it only cooks 4 hours. However, I cook chicken breast on low all day all the time and it works beautifully. And I stir flour into soups to thicken in the crock all the time. So with those changes, this became an amazing working mom meal!
Please note: it’s spicy. Which we love. But my kids were a no-go on this one. But the parents and grandparents loved it!
Thanks for taking the time to review the recipe and share your experience! I’m so happy you found a way to work it around your lifestyle 🙂 this is one of our favorite soups too! And you can always cut back on the chili powder to reduce the heat to it.
This is now our favorite soup recipe! It is delicious! We also made some guacamole and combined the chips, guac, and soup. Delicious!
That sounds amazing! So glad you enjoyed the soup 🙂
What do you mean by core the slow cooker??
Hi Lynda, it was a typo. It was supposed to say to cover the slow cooker. Just place the lid back on 🙂
This soup looks amazing and super (souper?) simple, is there any way I could make the sauce the night before? Then add it to the chicken the next day? Thank you! Love from Iowa!
Oh my GOD! This is amazing! I wanted gluten-free so I used corn flower instead of AP flour. This is the 2nd best slow cooker soup I have ever made and I have made them all!! Next time I will add black beans and corn! Thank you so much! 5 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So happy you enjoyed!! Thanks so much 🙂
I would love to try this, if I removed the flour for a low carb option would it just thing the Soup?
Hi Candra. Yes the flour is used to thicken the soup. The mixture of the butter and flour is what thickens it. You could skip that entire process and just add the garlic to the chicken broth in the slow cooker and all the other ingredients. It will still be tasty, but will not be thick and creamy. But if you’re just wanting a low carb option you could add more cheese or maybe some cream at the end to thicken it up a bit.
Absolutely delicious!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it’s going to be made again! It’s perfect for a frigid day like we’re having. Filling and warms you from the inside out. Plus it’s so simple. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I’m going to check out the cookbook you mention.
I made this today – and I just have to say – it might be the best thing I have made all year – seriously! I will be keeping the casserole version in mind for a potluck. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks so much Kathleen! I am so happy you found a keeper! 🙂
Thank you so much, Serene, for your kind words and for sharing this recipe from my new cookbook. I’m thrilled to hear that your family enjoyed this King Ranch Chicken Soup! It’s an honor to hear that this cookbook has earned a permanent spot on your counter and yay for smudged pages! 😉 You’re the best…thank you again.