Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo {Mexican Chicken Soup}

This Slow Cooker Caldo de Pollo with jalapeños and herbs is a cold-sufferer’s dream! Brothy and flavorful, and loaded with vegetables like carrots and celery, this soup comes together in 15 minutes and simmers away in the Crockpot until you’re ready to eat.

This recipe was first posted on September 15, 2021. Last updated December 28, 2022.

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Do you have a favorite homemade chicken soup recipe? I’m pretty sure everyone does. It is the ultimate comfort food after all.

In our house, this traditional Caldo de Pollo or Mexican Chicken Soup recipe is hands down our favorite. This dish is really healthy, low in calories (not even a drop of olive oil), high in protein and the best medicine for getting over a cold.

In addition to being exceedingly satisfying it is a snap to make—thanks, in part, to the wonder that is the slow cooker. Pile all the ingredients in, put the lid on, and walk away.

Caldo de Pollo means chicken broth and even though it refers to the whole soup—the broth is really where it’s at! There is a lot of water in this recipe for good reason; we want to make a lot of delicious broth.

More To Explore

Pork Pozole Recipe

Vegan Green Pozole

Caldo de Res

Ingredients

• Carrots
• Garlic cloves to flavor the broth.
• Celery a must in any chicken soup.
• Kosher salt and pepper
• Bay leaf
• Jalapeño.
• Onion. Classic chicken soup ingredient.
• Cilantro. The stems add flavor to the broth and the leaves get used as a garnish.
• Dried Mint.
• Dried Marjoram. Marjoram has a nice lemon flavor, substitute dried thyme if you don’t have any.
• 1 Whole Chicken. This makes the best broth. The second best would be using whole chicken legs or bone-in chicken thighs.
• Lime. Cut into wedges and squeezed over each bowl at the end.

How To Make It!

step one

Combine everything but the chicken. Add all the ingredients, except the chicken to the slow cooker. Stir everything together with a whisk to dissolve the salt.

step two

Add the whole chicken. Or chicken thighs, if using, cover, turn the slow cooker to High. Let the soup simmer for 4 hours.

step three

Shred chicken. After 4 hours, remove the chicken to a baking sheet or large plate and let cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, remove all the skin and bones (you can discard these) and shred the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return the shredded chicken to the crock pot.

For a more traditional version, break the whole chicken into pieces with your hands (don’t worry, this will be easy after it has been cooking for so long) and serve the soup with the chicken pieces.

step four

Serve! Taste the soup and another teaspoon or so of salt if needed. I like serving each bowl of soup with wedges of lime to squeeze over the top, a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, and pickled jalapeños and carrots on the side.

Stove Top Instructions

To make this on the stove, combine all the ingredients, except the chicken in a large pot. Stir to dissolve the salt. Add the whole chicken.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any foam that has come to the top with a ladle, reduce heat so the soup is simmering gently and cook until chicken is fall-apart tender, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

Remove chicken to a baking sheet or large platter, let cool. When cool, shred chicken removing the skin and bones and return chicken pieces to the pot.

*For a super quick version use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and store bought chicken broth.

how to serve caldo de pollo

As with any Mexican soup, the Caldo de Pollo recipe is not ready until you have all the garnishes in each bowl. Make sure to serve this soup in big bowls so everyone gets plenty of broth and all the chicken and veggies too.

My favorite garnishes are:

• Fresh Cilantro
• Lime wedges, for squeezing over each bowl
• Pickled jalapeños and carrots
• Minced white onion
• Hot Sauce
• Don’t forget the warm corn tortillas for dipping!

tips and variations

The beauty of this Mexican chicken soup recipe lies in its high-impact homemade chicken broth flavored with chiles, cilantro, and fresh-squeezed lime juice. Like I mentioned, using a whole chicken makes the best broth.

The vegetables may vary—zucchini, corn on the cob and green beans in the summer, carrots, chayote, and celery in the winter—sometimes I add potatoes, occasionally I’ll also add a scoop of cooked white rice to each bowl before serving.

The jalapeños don’t make this soup spicy. That being said, you can adjust the amount of jalapeños to your liking—more if you want a spicy broth or less if you really, really don’t.

more delicious soup recipes to try!

• Green Tomato and Beef Chili
• Mexican Potato Soup with Melty Cheese
• Super Easy Cheater’s Pozole
• Pozole Blanco with Mushrooms
• Split Pea and Ham Soup {from our sister site, Kate’s Best Recipes}
• Sopa de Fideo
• 11 Delicious and Cheap Crockpot Recipes {again, from Kate’s Best Recipes}

this is a pretty easy chicken soup recipe, right?

It’s amazing how so much flavor can come from such simple ingredients and basically zero work. Thanks to the crock pot you can throw everything together before work and come home to your house smelling like heaven! Please let me know if you make it by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) !

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