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One of my favorite Dallas Mexican Restaurants, Mesero, has a fantastic “Pollo y Tomatillo” — or Chicken Tomatillo Soup. Its ingredients seemed rather simple, but with the addition of roasted tomatillos, the flavor is just fantastic. I love that they add fresh, crispy cabbage on top for a little freshness and crunch.
Here is my homemade remake of the Chicken Tomatillo Soup. It’s simple, easy to make and absolutely delicious! If you’ve never cooked with tomatillos before, don’t be intimidated. They are very simple to cook with and can add so much flavor to your sauces and soups. Give this one a try, you’ll just love it.
Find more soups and stews here. And for another delicious chicken soup recipe, try my Classic Chicken Stew.


- 1 pound tomatillos (about 7 medium sized tomatillos)
- 1 large poblano pepper
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 medium sized yellow onion, diced fine
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 cup finely shredded cabbage (red or green), for serving
- 1 avocado, cubed, for serving
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, for serving
- 1 lime cut into wedges, for serving
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove husks and rinse the tomatillos. Place the tomatillos and the poblano pepper on a sheet pan. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- Meanwhile, heat a pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, and garlic and saute until tender. About 5 minutes.
- Peel as much of the skin off of the poblano as you can and discard along with the the seeds and stem. Dice up the poblano and add to the sauteing onions.
- Pour in the broth, oregano, and cumin and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Add the shredded chicken to the pot and let simmer.
- Meanwhile, place the tomatillos in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into the pot.
- Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve topped with avocado, shredded cabbage, and cilantro and a wedge of lime for squeezing.
- Enjoy!
Is there a crock pot recipe?
No I haven’t tried this in the crockpot yet. Since you have to roast the tomatillos and the cook time is so short, I didn’t think it was really necessary.
I added a few hatch chiles, fresh corn off the cob, diced carrots, and hominy. Very tasty
Hi Alex, I’m Blake Liedtke’s sister, Lacey. Love your blog! This soup was especially great. Super depth of flavor for so few steps. Also renewed my love of purple cabbage. Great recipe!
Hi Lacey!! I am so glad you enjoyed it! The purple cabbage just totally takes all dishes up a notch!! So pretty!
I just made this and love it! I used an immersion blender to blend up the onion and broth a little before adding the chicken, I also put the poblano in the blender with the tomatillos, turned out great!
I haven’t made this yet and it looks awesome but how can this be only a serving for 2 people?
Well, it’s only 4 cups of broth in there. I don’t know about you but I want more than just 1 (actual) cup of soup for dinner! But to each their own!