Leftover Chicken Fajita Soup: The Ideal Lazy Girl Recipe

For all the “Lazy Girl” recipes I’ve written, this one is perhaps my “laziest” of them all. I’ve been making this for years, even on vacations. You see, I really hate food going to waste, even though it definitely still happens in my kitchen. That said, one of my best talents is finding ways to use even those unexpected ingredients. (Perhaps one day I’ll write an entire article on all the uses of leftover olive brine!)

For this recipe, let me set the all-too-familiar scene for many of us. You are at your favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant. You want the fajitas, but no one will share them with you. You order them anyway. After gorging yourself, there’s still about half the food left, so you get it to go. But the next day, it doesn’t look nearly as appetizing. Five days later, you realize you’ve had the leftovers for “more than the fingers on one hand” (the best way to decide if those leftovers are good to eat), so you toss them.

But this is where Leftover Fajita Soup comes to the rescue! Now you can reinvent those sautéed vegetables, chicken, rice, refried beans, and salsa into a completely different meal.

Basically, take about half the leftover veggies and chicken and add them to a high-powered blender with your rice, refried beans, and salsa. Eyeball about a two-to-one ratio of chicken bone broth to the volume of your leftovers. However, you can adjust that ratio depending on how thick you want your soup to be.

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Why chicken bone broth? It’s high protein, and this series is on how to create high-protein, high-fiber meals. Chicken broth or stock would also be lovely, and perhaps even have a better flavor. But for a quick, guaranteed high-protein meal, let’s stick with chicken bone broth.

For the second half of the leftovers, just chop them all up. If you have veggies in your refrigerator that will go bad soon, chop some up and add them.

I typically have jalapeño peppers at home, so I’ll chop and add one. And, if I have lime juice, I’ll add that. You have a third of a jar left of pico de gallo or salsa? Sure, add it. Crema? After the soup simmers for a bit, I’ll add some of that as well. Cilantro? Yep. Avocado? I typically garnish with an avocado, but you could also blend one in.

And … that’s about it. Transform your leftover chicken fajitas into a completely new meal with this flexible, high-protein soup. No precise measurements needed. Just blend, chop, simmer, and never waste those restaurant leftovers again.

You’re simmering what you’ve blended and chopped. You can thin it out with more chicken bone broth if you prefer. If you don’t have any refried beans, I would suggest adding some pinto or black beans. Just eyeball how much you want to add. As you can see, this is not a precise recipe!

Even more fun, you’ll never have the same soup twice. You will, however, start looking forward to those leftover chicken fajitas — and maybe even ordering them without guilt in the future!

How to Make Leftover Chicken Fajita Soup

You can ignore this recipe card if you’d like. Why? There are absolutely no measurements here! It’s all about eyeballing your way through this based on how much you have. The recipe below is simply based on the last batch I made.

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Leftover Chicken Fajita Soup

You'll never feel guilty placing those leftover chicken fajitas in your refrigerator again – this time you'll know you have a plan for them!

5 from 1 vote

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Equipment

• 1 High-powered blender

Ingredients

  

• 2.5 cups leftover fajitas: typically peppers, onions, chicken, tomatoes, refried beans, rice, salsa.
• 3-4 cups chicken bone broth
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 lime freshly squeezed
• 1/2 cup Crema
• 1 avocado to garnish

Instructions

 

• NOTE: Your ratio will most likely be far different from this one. However, you can see here that I typically use a 2:1 ratio of chicken bone broth to leftover chicken fajita mixture. But, I also don't like to open more cartons of bone broth than necessary. So, start with less and build.
• For this recipe, I would blend 1.5 cups with 3 cups of bone broth. Add the salsa in to blend as well.
• Chop up the remaining veggies and chicken.
• Add everything to a pot and bring to a simmer.
• Add the juice of one lime. If you find any other salsa or you need to add some beans, do it now.
• Once this has simmered for a few minutes, adjust the taste as you see fit. For example, add fajita seasoning or garlic powder or black pepper or salt. Does it need more broth? Add it.
• Then, add 1/2 cup of Crema and blend together.
• Top with avocado and perhaps some crumbled tortilla chips.
• Enjoy!

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Here are some other super quick recipes to inspire you to cook at home this week! Fast Dinner Recipes: When Life Is Busy