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Mango Verde Chicken Soup

Mango Verde Chicken Soup with wild rice and veggies swimming in most tantalizing tangy, spicy, creamy coconut, mango, salsa verde broth is the MUST MAKE soup of the season! It is easy, healthy, reheats beautifully and can even be made in the slow cooker!  It is warm and comforting yet exotic and fresh at the same time.  It requires minimal effort but is restaurant delicious. 
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

Soup

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large chicken breasts (1 pound) cut through the equator to create 2 thin fillets
  • 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup uncooked wild rice blend
  • 1 15 oz. can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes with juices
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 1 zucchini sliced and quartered

Mango Verde Sauce

Garnish

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven/soup pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken and lightly sear on both sides, approximately 2 minutes, but don’t cook through.
  • Add chicken broth and wild rice to chicken and bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is tender enough to shred. Remove chicken and let rest until cool enough to shred.
  • Meanwhile, add all of the Coconut Mango Verde Sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.
  • After you remove chicken, add black beans, diced tomatoes and Coconut Mango Verde Sauce to pot with rice (don’t add chicken back yet). Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir often, especially towards the end so the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn. *Note: Rice cooking time varies so I suggest checking the rice occasionally until done.
  • Once rice is tender, add shredded chicken back to pot along with zucchini and bell peppers. Simmer for 2 minutes.
  • Taste and add additional brown sugar for sweeter, hot sauce for spicier or lime for tangier. Garnish with plenty of mangos and optional cilantro.

Notes

  • Chicken:  You can use either a large chicken breast cut through the equator, two smaller chicken breasts or even chicken thighs. Alternatively, you can use leftover shredded chicken or a fresh rotisserie chicken and add the chicken in at the end of cooking.
  • Wild Rice:  Take care you are using wild rice BLEND and not all black rice/forbidden rice. You can purchase bags of wild rice blend at your grocery store or the bulk bins at Sprouts.
  • Coconut Milk:  You are welcome to use lite coconut milk which makes this Mango Verde Chicken Soup wonderfully healthy.  The mango and cornstarch add some nice body and creaminess so you won’t even miss the full fat coconut milk.
  • How many mangos?   You are going to want at least 2 mangos for this recipe (I use 3-4).  You will use one cup roughly chopped mango for the sauce and then at least one chopped mango for garnish.  You can garnish individual servings with mangos and/or add them directly to the soup at the end of cooking.
  • How to Choose and Cut a Mango:  If you are intimidated by picking or cutting mangos, please don’t let that deter you from making this magical soup!  I’ve included everything you need to know about mangos in my How to Cut A Mango Post.
  • Salsa Verde:  I recommend using mild salsa verde and then adding additional chipotle chile pepper to taste in order to spice things up.
  • Check for doneness: I also recommend checking the rice at 20 minutes and every few minutes after for doneness because rice cooking times will vary due to how long it took the chicken to cook, how hot the simmer is, etc.
  • Consistency:  This soup is a thicker, hearty, chili consistency, but that is completely customizable.  For a thinner soup, simply stir in additional water or chicken broth.
  • Customize: Taste finished soup and add additional brown sugar for sweeter, hot sauce for spicier or lime for tangier.  You will probably want a little more brown sugar if your mangos aren’t very sweet or if you like your soup spicier.
  • Leftovers:  This Mango Verde Soup makes fabulous leftovers and even tastes better the next day!  The good thing about wild rice, (aside from containing 30 percent fewer calories than brown rice and 40 percent more protein) is that it retains its great nutty texture when reheated.

SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS

  1. Lightly spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add all of the soup ingredients to the slow cooker.  Blend all of the Mango Verde Sauce ingredients together and add to slow cooker.
  2. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low 6-7 hours, or until chicken is tender enough to shred and rice is cooked.
  3. Remove chicken and allow to rest 5 minutes before shredding or chopping if preferred then add back to soup.