The Bean & Seed

So this one is a slow cooker recipe I’ve been refining for a couple years now. It is inspired by Chick-Fil-A’s seasonal Chicken Tortilla Soup, but you can make it yourself year round! That said, it’s a soup I always seem to want when football season gets into full swing. The goals of the recipe are to be reasonably priced, hearty, and lower in sodium than what you can get from Chick-Fil-A. As prepared, I’m coming in at less than half the price for a bowl and less than half the sodium. Also worth mentioning is that I’m using two cans of Petite Diced Tomatoes in this recipe; for more on this, check out my “Turning Cravings into Kitchen Staples” post.

Prep Time of 20-30 Minutes (Then 5 Hours in the Slow Cooker)

Ingredients

• 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
• 3 cans, or 31.5 ounces, of Campbell’s Heart Healthy Cream of Chicken Soup.
• 1 can, or 15 ounces, of Organic Pinto Beans. As always, I’m using organic as they typically seem to be higher in fiber.
• 1 can, or 15 ounces, of Organic Black Beans.
• 2 cans, or 29 ounces, of Petite Diced Tomatoes.
• 1 bag, or 12 ounces, of frozen Super Sweet Corn.
• 1 can, or 4 ounces, of Diced Green Chilis. I’m using mild, but you could go hot if you’d like more kick.
• 1 tsp of Cumin.
• 1 tsp of Garlic Powder.
• 1/2 tsp of Onion Powder.
• 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper; this is where the primary heat comes from.
• 3/4 tsp of Oregano.
• 1/2 tsp of Cane Sugar.
• 1/2 tsp of Cornstarch; this reduces the clumping of your seasonings, but could be skipped if you don’t have it.
• Tortilla Chips. I’m using Late July’s Sea Salt & Lime variety; the lime pairs very well with the other flavors.

Step by Step

Add chicken breast to bottom of slow cooker. I’ve gotten pushback from people for slow cooking raw chicken over the years, but slow cookers are actually intended to cook raw meat. In my experience, the chicken easily reaches the desired 165°F (74°C) internal temperature during the cooking process.

Add Cream of Chicken Soup, beans, and veggies on top of the chicken. Add these ingredients without draining them as they add to the amount of liquid in the soup.

Blend together spices in a separate dish before adding to the slow cooker.

Add the blended spices to the slow cooker and stir all ingredients together making sure the chicken stays at the bottom.

Put the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours.

At the 5 hour mark, remove the chicken breast from the slow cooker and put it into a separate dish. Using two forks, pull the chicken apart to the desired size following the grain of the meat.

Add the pulled chicken back into the slow cooker with the other ingredients and stir everything together.

Serve each bowl with a handful of tortilla chips. I break these apart and stir them into the soup allowing their lime flavoring to add to the rest of the dish.

Nutritional Information

Based on 6 servings with tortilla chips, the per serving numbers are as follows:

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Thanks for reading, Matt

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Updated October 9, 2025: Nutrition Facts table replaces prior list format.