This slow cooker chicken fajita soup is a comforting and healthy meal that’s packed with flavor and a hint of spice. The best part? You can make this soup in your slow cooker or the Instant Pot.

Do you know what makes me incredibly happy? Getting done with work for the day only to realize that dinner has finished cooking and is ready to serve. That’s why I LOVE slow-cooker meals! Most have very little prep work involved — you literally put everything in, turn the slow cooker on and let it work its magic.

This recipe does require some chopping, but once everything is sliced and diced you’re ready to roll.

Expert advice — do NOT plan to do an at-home workout while this soup is cooking. About three hours in it starts to smell heavenly and working out with the aroma of Mexican food wafting through your house is like being tortured.

That said, once the workout was over (and we had showered) dinner was on the table in less than ten minutes, which was pretty awesome.

Fajitas Turned Into a Soup

Overall, this recipe is pretty straight-forward. All the ingredients you typically use for fajitas, just a bit more liquid to make it into a soup. After slow cooking for several hours the chicken gets tender, the peppers soften and the broth develops a robust, spicy flavor.

We ended up eating this soup for dinner two nights in row and like most soups it was even better the second night. Isaac mentioned how good it was several times so I have a feeling I’ll be making it again soon!

For the chicken I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs to add a bit of fat and flavor. If you prefer white meat, feel free to use chicken breast. You may just want to add an extra teaspoon of olive oil. For my vegetarian and vegan folks, use 1-2 cans of rinsed and drained chickpeas in place of the chicken. If you’re not a fan of spice (or serving kiddos) simply leave the jalapeño pepper out. The soup has plenty of other spices to make it flavorful.

More Slow Cooker Recipes:

• Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
• Slow Cooker Dairy-Free Butter Chicken
• Vegetarian Slow Cooker Freezer Meals
• Slow Cooker Cheesy Mexican Quinoa Casserole
• Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
• Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

If you make this chicken fajita soup, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how it turns out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Soup

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★★★★★

4.8 from 6 reviews

• Author: Brittany Mullins
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: 4

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Description

Craving Mexican? Simply toss all the ingredients for fajitas in your slow cooker and a few hours later you’ll have a comforting soup that’s packed with flavor and a hint of spice. This fajita soup is gluten-free, grain-free and paleo.

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Ingredients

• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper, sliced
• 1 cup fresh salsa*
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (chicken breasts work too)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• cauliflower rice or cooked white/brown rice (optional)
• toppings of choice: chopped avocado, jalapeño slices, cilantro, more lime juice, tortilla chips or crackers

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Instructions

Slow Cooker:

1. Put all ingredients (besides rice and toppings) into a slow cooker.
2. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. The chicken should be cooked through and will just fall apart. Once this happens turn the slow cooker to warm and enjoy whenever you’re ready. If adding rice, add it to the slow cooker while set to warm.
3. To serve, top each bowl with avocado, jalapeño slices, cilantro and serve with tortilla chips and a slice of lime.

Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker: 

1. Add olive oil to Instant Pot and put on sauté setting. Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes, until fragrant.
2. Add remaining ingredients (besides rice and toppings). Place the lid on the pressure cooker, lock lid and make sure the pressure release valve is closed.
3. Press cancel on the pressure cooker and then press the soup/stew button and set time to 30 minutes.
4. Once the timer reaches 0, the cooker will switch to keep warm. Carefully switch the pressure release valve to open to manually release the pressure. (I use tongs for this). Once the steam is released, remove the lid and use a fork to shredded chicken. The chicken should be cooked through and will just fall apart.
5. If adding rice, add it to the Instant Pot while set to warm. Once warm throughout, portion soup into bowls.
6. To serve, top each bowl with avocado, jalapeño slices, cilantro and serve with tortilla chips and a slice of lime.

Notes

• If you don’t have salsa on hand, you can make your own or just add 1 cup of chopped tomatoes, 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, 2 additional cloves of garlic to the soup.
• To add more bulk to the soup, I like adding cauliflower rice or cooked brown/white rice. You can stir frozen or fresh cauliflower rice or cooked white/brown rice directly to the soup once it’s done cooking and warming in the slow cooker. Stir and let warm until soup is warm throughout.

• Category: Soup
• Method: Slow Cooker
• Cuisine: Mexican

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bowl
• Calories: 322
• Sugar: 10g
• Fat: 14g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 5g
• Protein: 33g

Keywords: chicken fajita soup