Earlier this year, while at the hair salon, I smelled something that made my nose very happy -green chile chicken. My hair stylist (and friend) had asked if she could eat her lunch while my hair color was processing. Upon me giving her the okay, she popped open her food storage container and that’s when my nose started twitching with delight. I immediately asked her what that delicious smell was. As she rattled off the ingredients, including some non-vegan ingredients as she herself is not vegan, my brain started to work out how I could make it vegan. I then started to think of the different ways in which I could take this dish and that’s when I landed upon the idea of a green chile “chicken” soup!
This hearty soup comes together really fast, as in 30 minutes fast, and it all gets started with half of a little ol’ onion, some oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and sugar. All of this gets tossed into a cast iron dutch oven (or other large coverable pot) where it will cook down for about 10 minutes over low-medium heat.
After 10 minutes, everything will be darkened and aromatic. Don’t worry if some of this goodness is crusted onto the bottom of the pan -the liquid we’ll add in a moment will lift all of that off with ease!
To the onion mixture we’ll add in 2 cans of cannellini beans, some no-chicken broth (you could use vegetable broth instead if you can’t find no-chicken broth), frozen sweet white corn kernels, green chile enchilada sauce, a little water, and some diced green chile. Stir to combine then cover the pot and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. While this cooks, you can get the “chicken” done.
For this recipe, the “chicken” I preferred to use was Gardein’s Teriyaki Chick’N Strips minus the teriyaki. (The teriyaki sauce comes in a a little bag so you can easily opt to not use it as I have done with this recipe. They do sell just the strips without the teriyaki sauce but I can’t ever seem to find them, hence why I turned to the Teriyaki ones, but if your grocery store has them you can use those ones!)
Put the strips in a skillet with a little oil and then brown them up -this should take about 13-15 minutes over low-medium heat. Once browned, cut the pieces up into more bite size bits.
When the 15 minute timer is up for the soup, turn off the heat and add in the “chicken” you just made as well as some chopped fresh cilantro. Stir to combine then enjoy!
Vegan Green Chile 'Chicken' Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 a white onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons oil + more for the pan the “chicken” gets cooked in
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 (15-ounce) cans of low-sodium or no sodium added cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetarian (vegan) no-chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 generous cup frozen sweet white corn kernels
- 1 cup green chile enchilada sauce (reduce to 3/4 cup for less heat)
- 1/2 cup water (increase to 3/4 cup if you’re reducing the green chile enchilada sauce or if you desire a more liquidy soup)
- 2-3 tablespoons canned diced green chile
- 1 (10-ounce) bag Gardein Chick’N Strips or Gardein Teriyaki Chick’N Strips (discard teriyaki sauce packet or save for use in another recipe)
- Small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped + more for topping each bowl (optional)
Directions
- Finely dice onion, if you haven’t done so already, then set aside. Place a cast iron dutch oven (or other large coverable pot) over low-medium heat. Add in oil, the onion you prepped a moment ago, salt, pepper, cumin, and sugar, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until darkened and aromatic. (Don’t worry if some of this goodness is crusted onto the bottom of the pan -the liquid we’ll add in a moment will lift all of that off with ease!)
- Add in the drained and rinsed beans, no-chicken broth, corn kernels, green chile enchilada sauce, water, and diced green chile. Stir to combine then cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. While this is cooking, prepare the “chicken” strips.
- In a skillet over low-medium heat, combine a little oil with the “chicken” strips. Cook strips for 13-15 minutes until dark golden brown, flipping or stirring the strips occasionally to ensure that they are browning evenly. When strips are done, cut each into more bite size pieces. Set pieces aside until soup is done.
- When soup has cooked for 15 minutes, turn heat off and add in the “chicken” strips and a small handful of chopped fresh cilantro. Give everything one final stir then enjoy! Soup will keep in an airtight container in fridge for up to 4 days.
Compassion is the Secret Ingredient 
So tasty it is……loved it 🙂
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