This Keto Queso Chicken Soup is a great low-carb soup that’s ready in just about 30 minutes. Grab a bowl and dig in!
This Keto Queso Chicken Soup could win an award for the best low-carb soup, or heck just the best bowl of soup even if you’re not keto! It’s a cheesy masterpiece. Serve it up with a slice of our Keto Cornbread to soup up every last drop!
I love making meals in my Dutch Oven, maybe it’s just personal preference, but meals made is a dutch oven just taste better. I talked about some of my reasons for cooking in cast iron a while back in my Keto Chicken Soup post, below is an excerpt from that post:
One of the many reasons I enjoy cooking with cast iron are the nutritional benefits. I know you don’t take a bite out of the pan itself but just cooking a meal in a cast iron skillet actually fortifies your food with iron, and the longer you have your cast iron cookware and the more meals you cook in it the more effective it becomes at supplementing your iron intake. Most guys don’t have iron issues, but I had to stop donating blood a few years ago because my levels dropped so low. I was tired all the time and it took a toll on my day to day life, so if your iron levels are low cast iron may be exactly what you need.
You can read more about the health benefits of cooking with cast iron here:
- PilatesNutritionist.com – 6 Benefits of Cooking in Cast Iron
- Epicurious – The Health Benefits of Cooking with a Cast Iron Skillet
- Paleo Leap – Cooking with Cast Iron
What’s in Keto Queso Chicken Soup?
- chicken breast
- chicken broth – use bone broth for the best flavor!
- avocado oil – any high-heat oil will work (ghee, animal fat, algae oil)
- Rotel with diced green chiles
- keto taco seasoning
- cream cheese
- heavy cream
Can I make this dairy-free?
You could use a vegan cream cheese substitute and a dairy-free milk alternative to make this soup dairy-free! Sort of like we did here in our Chile Relleno Soup!
Can I make this soup in an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker?
Yes! See below on how to do each:
Slow Cooker Method
Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4. Shred the chicken and top with your desired toppings and serve.
Instant Pot Method
Choose the saute function on the Instant Pot. Add the oil to the insert and once hot add in the Rotel and taco seasoning. Cook a minute or two until fragrant then add in the chicken and the broth.
Place the lid on the IP and switch the function to manual high pressure for 11 minutes. At the end of the 11 minutes, manually release the pressure. Shred the chicken then return it to the pot along with the cream cheese and heavy cream.
Turn the function to saute one more time and bring it to a simmer until the cheese is melted and the soup is creamy. Top with desired toppings and serve.
Topping options:
- sour cream
- avocado
- cilantro
- pico de gallo
- Sliced jalapeños – pickled or fresh
Can I freeze this Keto Queso Chicken soup?
Yes! We love freezing this soup to have on hand on busy days. Simply freeze it in a freezer-safe bag or jar. We love Mason jars or Stasher Bags!
Keto Queso Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 10 oz cans Rotel with diced green chiles
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk
- Salt to taste
Optional Toppings:
- Sliced jalapeño
- Minced cilantro
Instructions
- In a cast iron dutch oven (or normal pot) heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the Rotel and taco seasoning and cook for 1 minute just to toast the spices.
- Add in the chicken and broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred, set aside.
- Stir the cream cheese and heavy cream into the soup. You may want to use an immersion blender to make it creamier than just stirring. Once the cheese has melted add the chicken back into the soup. Season with salt to your taste and serve with desired toppings.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only and do not include carbs from sugar alcohols.
A damp and blustery Minnesota Fall day called for soup, and lucky. for me, your recipe landed in my inbox. This is a delicious soup, quick and easy, with universally appealing flavor. My husband and I enjoyed it very much! Thank You!
Hi Kim, really glad to hear that you enjoyed this soup!
Could I add xanthan gum to thicken it or psyllium husk?
You could but this soup is already pretty thick.
I’m new to Keto…… in your recipe above, how many servings does it make? Also the Carb/Fat/Protein/Calorie info, is that per serving or for the entire recipe?
Hi Chris, the number of servings is listed at the top of the recipe card in tiny print so it’s easy to miss. The nutritional info is for one serving.
I just made this for a quilting retreat this past weekend. I had a hard time not eating it all at home! Simple, easy, and fast-it’s going on a recipe card.
Hi Alice, so glad you enjoyed it!
Wow! This is a winner and a keeper! I did make some small tweaks when I made it for lunch today, but I stayed pretty true to form. First off, I found boneless thighs on sale this morning, so I used them instead of boneless breasts. They work nicely. Also, I forgot to pick up the avocado oil even though I put it on my shopping list. Because I was too lazy to go back to the store, I used EVOO. It also works very well, but I can’t wait to try it with the avocado oil. Once it was done, I found it a bit too thin for my personal taste, so I added a little xanthan gum (about 3/4 teaspoon), which did the trick without altering the flavor. Thank you so much for sharing what has already become a favorite for a chilly day!
Hey Alex, are those Rotel tomatoes drained or no?
Hi Sus, yes you’ll want to drain the Rotel.
Delish!
Just made this. It’s great!
Awesome!
Do you put the chicken in raw or already cooked?
Raw but you could use already cooked chicken and just add it in at the end.
I see this serves 4 but what size is a single serving?
I’m wondering that too.
Unfortunately, that’s not how recipes work. Unlike a packaged food product that is made by a single company, recipes can’t provide reliable serving weights due to the fluctuations in how different people measure and cook. To get a reliable serving size you’ll need to weigh your final dish then divide by the number of servings. You can also simply eyeball 1/4th of the recipe. I hope this helps!
Which keto friendly oil would you substitute for avocado oil? Butter, coconut oil, mct oil, olive oil are my choices.
How many ounces in a serving?
Probably butter! We don’t calculate serving sizes that way, it’s simply 1/4th of the recipe.
This was absolutely delicious. The only change I made was to add 1.5 lbs of chicken rather than 1 lbs. Ran everything through the blender before adding the chicken and it was silky smooth and gobbled by everyone, even the 2, 6 & 8 year old!
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
I’ve made this twice now, it is YUMMY! I make a double batch and freeze for later. I added jalapenos, tabasco and some grated cheddar (love spicy) but otherwise same recipe. Definitely recommend!
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! My new favorite soup. I forgot to pull out the frozen chicken, so I made it in the instant pot. I cooked the chicken, drained the water and shredded it with my kitchenaid. Then I threw the chicken and all other ingredients in the instant pot and hit the soup button. I did need to do some mixing when it was done, but when it came together it was so freakin’ good. I cooked diced jalapeño with seeds to add some heat.
This is the single most popular keto recipe I have EVER made. I use 1/4 cup of taco seasoning and a packet of ranch mix to really pump up the flavor. I’ve made it on the stove top, in the instant pot, and in the crockpot. My husband and 9-year-old go nuts over this soup. It even won the crockpot cook-off at my office – and nobody knew it was keto until I sent out the recipe afterwards!
I was so desperate to try this soup knowing I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I had to compromise and it was fantastic! I was out of fresh chicken breast so I used the Members Mark™ Premium Natural Chunk Chicken Breast canned in water (clean with only 3 ingredients). Didn’t have chicken broth either so I just cut the entire recipe in half and used the water the canned chicken was packed in and also 1 chicken bouillon dissolved in 1 cup of water. This soup was so flavorful and delicious! I was very impressed that it came out this good with what I had. I can’t wait to make it with fresh chicken! This is a definitely a soup that will slide into my Keto meal rotation for sure! THANKS Ü
This soup is delicious. An absolute keeper. I didn’t have all ingredients, but was able to do some limited substitutions. Next time, I’ll make sure I have everything on hand before starting. Thanks for providing this recipe.
AMAZING perfect soup for a rainy COVID quarantine day! Doubled it and added extra seasoning!
Fantastic and easy to make! My kids LOVED it! I had to throw together a quick dinner and used my instapot with this recipe because my chicken was frozen! Tastes wonderful! A+, will make it again! T
Delicious! And so easy! Will definitely make again.
The net carbs are way off on this. With 1 can of Rotel only, I get 8 g. Net. 2 cans and cream cheese are 8 per serving without anything else added in.
This soup was delicious. Toasting the taco seasoning really added to the flavor and it’s just so easy to make.