The weather turned rainy and cooler earlier this week. We had to run a bunch of errands so we got soaking wet. When we finally got home all I wanted to eat was soup.
Something comforting with a bit of spice is what I wanted. I had a soup similar to this at a restaurant a few years ago when we lived in Charlotte, NC and I’ve wanted to make it ever since, just never got around to it. This spicy and creamy chowder warmed me right up and I was a happy girl again.
For those of you that eat the Trim Healthy Mama way, this would be a heavy S. This is comfort food baby! It is also low-carb and gluten-free.
When you’re in need of something comforting, give this delicious chowder a try. It is one of my favorite Trim Healthy Mama compliant meals ever! You can serve this to people and they will have no clue that what they are eating is actually good for them. When my husband tried it, he was positive that there was NO WAY this could be on plan. Seriously, you need to make this dish!
You can make this dish as spicy or mild as you like. If you like a milder heat, then only use 3 or 4 jalapenos and make sure you get ALL the seeds and white membrane out of the pepper. That is where the heat lives. You can also help to keep the heat mild by using mild diced tomatoes with green chilies (i.e. Rotel).
About a year ago I read about cooking bacon in the oven and wow, that is an awesome way to cook it! Line a bar pan (or a baking sheet with a lip on it) with aluminum foil. Lay your bacon in strips next to each other and line the pan. If they touch that is no big deal as they will shrink as they cook. Once you have your bacon lined up on the pan, put it in the oven.
YOU WILL NOT BE PREHEATING THE OVEN. Turn the oven on to 400 degrees and set the timer for 12 minutes. When the timer goes off, flip the bacon over and cook for 12 minutes more. If you like your bacon not very crispy, set the second timer to only 10 minutes.
When it is done cooking drain the bacon off onto paper towel lined plates. This is the most SIMPLE way to cook bacon every and no grease is splashing around your kitchen!
While the bacon is cooking, cut chicken breasts or thighs, into small bite-size pieces. Season with salt & pepper.
Heat 1 1/2 t. of olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the chicken to the pot and cook until no longer pink in the center.
While the chicken is cooking prepare your vegetables. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and set aside on a plate. ***If you really want to save some time, buy a rotisserie chicken and add it in later.***
Heat the other 1 1/2 t. of olive oil over medium heat in the soup pot. Add the onion, carrot, celery, jalapenos, and garlic to the pot. Cook until the onions are tender and translucent. Put the cooked chicken back into the pot and add the spices. Cook for 30 seconds.
Add the can of diced tomatoes with chilies and the chicken stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. If you want a milder heat use the MILD version of the diced tomatoes with chilies. Let it simmer for 25 minutes uncovered.
Cut your room-temperature cream cheese into cubes. This will help it melt a lot quicker. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream cheese and heavy cream.
Stir until the cream cheese has completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in half of the bacon.
Serve immediately and garnish with green onions and more remaining bacon! Of course, that puts it over the top but makes it taste amazing!!!
Jalapeno Chicken Bacon Chowder (THM: Heavy S, low-carb)
Yield 4-5 servings
Ingredients
- 1 T. olive oil, divided
- 1 lb. chicken breasts or thighs, diced into bite size pieces
- salt & pepper
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 large celery stalk, diced
- 5 small jalapenos, ribs and seeds removed and diced ***Wash your hands thoroughly after working the jalapenos and DO NOT touch your eyes for at least a few hours.
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 t. chili powder
- 1 t. oregano
- 1 t. cumin
- pinch of cayenne OR red pepper flakes
- 10.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with chilies, i.e. Rotel (mild or original)
- 2 c. chicken broth or stock
- 8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
- 1/2 c. heavy cream
- 8 oz. turkey bacon or regular bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
- green onions, optional for topping
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts or thighs, into small bite-size pieces. Season with salt & pepper. Heat 1 1/2 t. of olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the chicken to the pot and cook until no longer pink in the center. While the chicken is cooking prepare your vegetables. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot and set aside on a plate.
- Heat the other 1 1/2 t. of olive oil over medium heat in the soup pot. Add the onion, carrot, celery, jalapenos, and garlic to the pot. Cook until the onions are tender and translucent. Put the cooked chicken back into the pot and add the spices. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the can of diced tomatoes with chilies and the chicken stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for 25 minutes uncovered.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream cheese and heavy cream. Stir until the cream cheese has completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in half of the bacon.
- Serve immediately and garnish with green onions and the remaining bacon.
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Is it super spicy? Sounds delish but not sure if the kids will eat it if it's too spicy
If you use mild Rotel and make sure you really get the seeds and ribs out of the jalapenos it shouldn't be too spicy. Also, you could reduce the jalapenos to 3 instead of 5.
Can't wait to make this! Extra spicy too!
We love our spice here too! 🙂
This was spectacularly delicious! Used Rotel with Habaneros and added a dice zucchini. No leftovers 🙁 we have a monthly THM group potluck. I'm making this for the next one! Thank you!
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Yummy!
Excited to try this, but would love if you could fix the printable link. It formats really badly, and takes three pages to print!
Thank you! This is so good! I used leftover chicken and broth and added some diced zucchini as someone else suggested. I also just dumped all the bacon in the pot rather than garnishing. My husband and I at this as-is with a side salad. For the kids, I put some canned white beans and frozen corn in their bowls to give them a cross-over and stretch the meal a bit. I will be making this over and over.
I'm so glad your family enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing that with me!
Excellent! PERFECT for a fall day!
Would the cream cheese melt into the broth OK without the cream? Or should I at least add milk? Trying to avoid a trip to the store!
Yes it will still melt fine. You can just sub almond milk or omit all together.
Thanks!
Making it tonight!!
I have a jar of sliced jalapenos instead of the whole ones. Could I use those?
Hubby loves it!!
Where's the bacon enter the recipe? Looks incredible!
Where's the bacon enter the recipe? Looks incredible!
You mix it in near the end?
You mix it in near the end.
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So excited to try this, but I’m confused. Is there really only 2.5 cups of liquid in this soup???
Yes. It is very thick and not liquid-y like traditional soup.
Is there a way to make this in the Instant Pot? I’m all about quick these days ?
You could pressure cook the chicken, remove from the pot and dice it. The you could saute the veggies and bacon together, put the chicken back in the pot along with the other ingredients and slow cook the rest. I hesitate to pressure cook cream cheese. I have no idea how that would come out texture wise.
We made this for the family and they LOVED it (well the 2 who are crazy picky didn’t even try it but I didn’t expect them to). My husband and oldest daughter both said it was their favorite THM soup so far.
My family doesn’t like things too spicy so I always have to tone down spicy recipes. For this one I made it with 3 big jalapenos. I could have handled it a little more spicy but they said it was perfect. Thank you.
This is amazing! Love spice and so easy! Thank you!
I like spicy but glad I went with my gut and only added 2 jalapenos! I think mine were large. It’s clear out my sinuses spicy but I like it!
I did not add jalapenos because…my family…BUT, my husband said this is his favorite dish I’ve ever made (and I cook a lot). He said he could eat it every day. 😉 It was really tasty on a cold, fall evening! Thanks for the great recipe.
Yay!! I’m so glad it was a winner at your house!
Made this for dinner tonight it is delicious! The recipe didn’t call for salt but I sprinkled a pinch or two on my chicken while it was cooking and on my diced vegetables as it seemed to help them sweat a bit. Spices were perfect. I used my bacon grease for frying the chicken rather than the olive oil since it was already hot, after all there was “bacon” in the recipes title 🙂 Thanks for such a well thought out recipe, I pinned this to my THM Pinterest board.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Hello 🙂 I see this is old, but hoping you might see it. Thanks for the yummy recipe! I am looking to make and freeze some THM friendly meals this coming week. Do you think I could make and freeze this?? I have no idea what the cream cheese would do…. ( I also really know nothing about cooking, haha!)
Yes you can freeze it. The cream cheese may have a different texture once you thaw it but the taste is great. I just use a wisk to break up the cream cheese.
Love this and have made it twice but we aren’t the spicy family so I left out jalapeño and Royal was enough. So yummy. It’s in our rotation! Thank you!
We like this so much I double it so we can have it for a few days. Teenage boys eat a lot, so there weren’t leftovers with a single batch.
SUPER yummy and inexpensive! I served this to my family with some of their teenage friends last night. I stretched it by first making a double recipe, then added even more broth and veggies. I served the teenagers sourdough bread with the soup. HUGE HIT! No leftovers!