Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup

Spice up your soup repertoire with this irresistible Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup! Inspired by the classic appetizer, this creamy, cheesy soup is packed with the bold flavors of jalapeno and smoky bacon, with chunks of tender chicken. It’s the perfect comfort food with a kick, guaranteed to warm you from the inside out.

Why I love this soup, and think you will, too!

I have a whole collection of soups made from other dishes. It’s kind of a special interest of mine, taking delicious, familiar recipes and transforming them into a fully flavored soup. Of course, I didn’t invent Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup, but when I’m not thinking about soup recipes, I’m thinking about appetizers and had a light-bulb moment about combining the two: It was long past time to make this for the blog!

This is definitely not health soup, friends. It’s rich and creamy and decadent and built for special celebratory events. It’s a meal in itself, so serve with a warm and toasty, buttery baguette or focaccia, and indulge your love of soup.

I strongly encourage you to make this soup ahead of your meal, even if it’s just a couple of hours. The longer this soup sits, the more pronounced the jalapeno and bacon flavors become. Absolutely delightful.

Main Ingredients, Prep Notes, and Substitutions

Jalapeno Peppers — Jalapeno peppers are the perfect pepper for both the appetizer and this soup. They’re zesty enough to give a little tingle but not hot enough to shock your guests. Lol. Most of a jalapeno’s heat is in the seeds and the light-colored ribs on the interior of the pepper. Removing both before chopping leaves a clean pepper flavor with a little bit of zip.

Bacon — I’ve noticed lately that retail bacon quality has really take a dive. The strips are so fatty with little meat. I remember back over the holidays I was making a bacon-based appetizer, but the slices were just so pathetic. So, I just can’t bring myself to use a ton of bacon here to try to make up for the lack of quality — some recipes call for a pound of bacon; it would end up all bacon fat. On this particular day, I lucked out at the store and found a brand with some surprisingly meaty slices. I hope you have access to good bacon yourself.

Aromatics — A solid base of aromatics is always important for a really good soup. I used onions, bell peppers, and celery to create a savory foundation that supports the other flavors, without having to rely on a lot of salt.

Cream Cheese — I’m usually not a huge fan of cream cheese in soup. Probably because I didn’t grow up with all of the “cream of” soups, cream cheese often makes soup seem more like a cheese sauce. Some recipes you’ll find on the web use a whole 8 oz block of cream cheese for their Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup, which is just overwhelming to me! I used half a block here and it was more than enough to create the creamy-cheesy the popper experience.

Chicken — My recipe here calls for cooked chicken, whether leftover or rotisserie. I often use cooked chicken in my soups because it tamps down my impatience with getting the soup started. Here, we already have to cook the bacon, so, I was more than happy to pick up a rotisserie chicken and break it down while the bacon cooked. You can definitely buy raw chicken and cook it yourself. I would cook it separately in a skillet at the same time as the bacon, and then cut it into cubes once cooled.

How to Make Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup

Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to get the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through of making the soup.

Step 1: Cook the bacon

Cook the bacon in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, and then drain off all but about 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.

When I’m using more than a strip or two of bacon, I always cut it down into pieces so everything fits in the pot.

Step 2: Saute the aromatics

Add all of the aromatic veggies, including the jalapenos, to the pot and saute in the bacon fat until they just begin to soften, about five minutes.

Step 3: Thicken with flour

Add the garlic to the pot, and sprinkle the flour over the veggie mixture. Stir until incorporated. A splash of broth will help things along if the mixture gets too pasty.

Step 4: Add the liquids

Increase heat to medium-high. Add the broth one cup at a time, incorporating each addition completely into the veggie mixture.

Then add the half-and-half. Let the soup come up to a gentle boil and cook for five minutes.

Step 5: Temper the cream cheese

Place the cream cheese cubes in a small heat-proof bowl. Add about a 1/2 cup of the hot soup and whisk until creamy (add another 1/2 cup if the cream cheese is stubborn about melting).

Add the cream cheese mixture to the pot, along with the cheddar cheese, and stir until the soup is thick and creamy.

Step 6: Finish the soup

Finally, stir in the cooked chicken and bacon (reserving some bacon for topping in the bowls).

Cook’s Notes

• Add tomatoes — If you’re not 100% committed to the pure jalapeno popper experience, I recommend adding a drained can of petite diced tomatoes along with the chicken broth. It slips the soup a little towards a salsa treatment, but I just love it. The acids from the tomato cut through the richness of the broth and heightens flavors.
• Tempering the cream cheese can seem like annoying extra step, but I do recommend it. There’s a heating point where dairy products like sour cream and cream cheese will just break into threads in the soup. It doesn’t make the soup inedible, but it makes it … weird.
• Storage — This soup stores wonderfully in the fridge for several days. I don’t recommend freezing, because reheating anything from frozen with so much dairy in it will likely break both the half-and-half and the cream cheese.

This Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup is rich and decadent, and a wonderful option when you want to treat your guests or the fam to a meal-worthy soup.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup brings the flavors of a beloved appetizer into a comforting bowl. With bacon, jalapenos, shredded chicken, cream cheese, and sharp cheddar, it’s a deliciously spicy and creamy soup with a kick that’s perfect for any day.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: jalapeno popper chicken soup, jalapeno popper soup

Servings: 4

Author: Karen Gibson

Ingredients

• 4 slices raw bacon chopped
• 1/2 sweet or white onion diced
• 2 ribs celery diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 4 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped*
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 cups shredded cooked or rotisserie chicken breast (leftovers are great)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks and softened to room temp
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

• In a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven or soup pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. About 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Drain the bacon grease, leaving about 3 tablespoons in the pot.
• Add onions, celery, bell peppers and jalapenos. Saute about 5 minutes or until peppers are just tender, stirring occasionally.
• Sprinkle the flour over the veggies, along with the garlic and stir. Things will become a little thick and pasty. That’s okay.
• Increase heat to medium-high. Add the broth one cup at a time, incorporating each addition completely into the veggie mixture until the soup is smooth. Then add the half-and-half. Let the soup come up to a gentle boil and cook for five minutes.
• Place cream cheese in a medium heat-proof bowl. Slowly pour in about 1/2 cup of the hot broth mixture, whisking until smooth and creamy.
• Add the cream cheese mixture and the cheddar cheese into soup until melted.
• Stir in the cooked chicken and the bacon, reserving about 1/4 cup of the bacon for topping the soup. Remove from heat.
• Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with toppings of your choice, such as sliced jalapenos, crushed croutons, and more cheese.

Notes

* If you’d like to use jalapeno pepper slices as a garnish for the soup, slice 1/2 of one of the jalapenos and reserve, and then chop the rest of the pepper for the soup.

Nutritional information, if shown, is provided as a courtesy only, and is not to be taken as medical information or advice. The nutritional values of your preparation of this recipe are impacted by several factors, including, but not limited to, the ingredient brands you use, any substitutions or measurement changes you make, and measuring accuracy.