chicken & lime soup $6.39 recipe / $1.07 serving

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chicken & lime soup

$6.39 recipe / $1.07 serving

It's soup season and I couldn't be happier. Soup is tasty. Soup is filling. Soup freezes well. Soup is where it's at.

This is kind of a remake of my old caldo xochitl recipe, but better. A recent trip to a Mexican restaurant made me want to redo this recipe and add more lime, among other things. What we have here is the perfect mix between spicy, salty, and sour - that same famous combo that makes Chinese hot & sour soup so delish. I highly suggest adding a few cubes of avocado because the creaminess perfectly balances the other sharp flavors. If avocados aren't affordable, try sour cream or some cheese.

This soup really doesn't need a whole lot of chicken because it's shredded, which means that you'll have a little chicken in every spoonful. I used only one chicken breast that was about .75 pounds. And before you ask, I bought the chicken breast on special for $1.87 per pound. These sales aren't always around, but when they are you have to take advantage and just stock up your freezer. Keep your eyes peeled for deals, they're out there!

Chicken & Lime Soup

Total Recipe cost: $6.39
Servings Per Recipe: 6 (about 1.5 cups each)
Cost per serving: $1.07
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 1 hr. 15 min. Total: 1.5 hrs.

INGREDIENTS		COST
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.24
1 medium	yellow onion	$0.28
2 stalks	celery	$0.45
1 medium	jalapeno	$0.09
4 cloves	garlic	$0.32
3/4 lb.	chicken breast	$1.46
6 cups	chicken broth*	$0.42
1 (14.5 oz.) can	diced tomatoes w/chiles	$0.95
1 tsp	oregano	$0.05
1/2 Tbsp	cumin	$0.08
1 medium	lime	$0.33
1/2 bunch	cilantro	$0.43
1 medium	avocado	$1.29
TOTAL		$6.39

*I use Better Than Bouillon chicken soup base to make my broth because it is less expensive than buying canned or boxed broths.

STEP 1: Dice the onion, celery, and jalapeno (scrape the seeds out of the jalapeno before dicing). Mince the garlic. Cook the onion, celery, jalapeno, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until tender.

STEP 2: Add the chicken breast, chicken broth, canned tomatoes with chiles, oregano, and cumin to the pot. Bring the whole pot up to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to low, place a lid on top, and let simmer for one hour.

STEP 3: After simmering for an hour with a lid on, carefully remove the chicken breast from the pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot. Squeeze the juice of one lime into the soup. Get as much juice as possible from the lime by using a spoon to scrape the inside of the lime.

STEP 4: Rinse the cilantro and then roughly chop the leaves. Add to the pot, give it a quick stir, and serve. Dice the avocado and add a few chunks to each bowl.

Step By Step Photos

Dice the onion, celery, and jalapeno. Mince the garlic. Add all four to a pot with olive oil and saute until tender. I actually forgot the jalapeno until a little bit later, so you won't see it in the picture just yet :P


Add the chicken breast. I only used one chicken breast that weighed about .75 lbs. Not at lot, but there is so much flavor in the soup that it doesn't matter!


I used a generic brand of diced tomatoes with green chiles. If you can't find this at your store, you can use a can of diced tomatoes and a small (4 oz.) can of diced green chiles. You can usually find the green chiles in the Hispanic foods section of most grocery stores. They're mild, but have a LOT of flavor.


So, along with that chicken breast and canned tomatoes with chiles add the chicken broth, oregano, and cumin. Bring the whole pot up to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for one hour with a lid on top to hold in the moisture.


After simmering for an hour, the chicken should be tender enough to shred. Just use two forks to pull it apart into shreds. Return the shredded chicken to the soup.


Rinse the cilantro to make sure there's no sand hiding in there then roughly chop it. It's okay if you get a little stem action, they're not rough.


Add the chopped cilantro and the juice of one lime. You want a good amount of lime juice so make sure you squeeze that sucker dry. You can roll it around on the counter top (with pressure) a bit before cutting it open to help the juices flow. I also like to twist a spoon into the flesh to break it up and squeeze even more juice out.


Serve with some cubed avocado... and maybe some tortilla strips or sour cream or Mexican cheese. It's up to you!