The keto diet is a fairly simple one to follow. You don’t need special foods or hard to find ingredients. You don’t have to invest lots of time creating unusual meals.
But trying to figure out what to make each day can be a challenge.
Perhaps this sounds like you. You decide to start the keto (or even a low carb diet) and turn to the internet for information. You learn about which foods to eat and which ones to avoid. But creating meals with these foods is a bit of a challenge. You’ve never made meals that didn’t feature potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, flour, sugar and other high carb ingredients.
Now what do you do?
Maybe you look around to see if you can find keto recipes online. Or even whole meal plans that will tell you what to eat every day for the whole week.
But there’s a problem.
You don’t really like some of the foods or the ingredients. You might not have time to do that much cooking or to peel, cut, chop and cook on the items on the meal plan. Maybe you’re unsure of your cooking skills and wonder if you’ll be able to make all these things that are needed to follow the meal plan.
Soon you get frustrated and slowly go back to your old way of eating. After all it was easier. You knew how to make the things you liked or you knew where to purchase the foods/meals that you enjoyed.
What if there was a way to create the meals you enjoy without having to pull out a cookbook or search for recipes?
What if you could easily swap out ingredients you don’t like? What if you could cook your meals faster, easier and with fewer hassles?
If you are unsure of your cooking skills what if there was a way to cook so you could feel more confident in the kitchen?
There is a way to do all of these things and more.
Over the years of cooking I realized that I was often using the same basic recipe but switching out ingredients. I had become familiar with the recipes, enjoyed them and could make them without having to search around for a recipe online or a cookbook. I started noticing that meals had a basic meal template that could be used to create other meals that were similar but with a different taste. This allowed me to create meals without getting bored from eating the same thing again and again.
You can also check out Keto Curry Chicken Zoodle Soup which also shows you how it is possible to learn to cook another flavor of Zoodle Soup without a recipe!
Keto Mexican Zoodle Soup
Stop and think of the flavors you find in your favorite Mexican foods.
Perhaps garlic and chili might come to mind. Other spices you might think of include onion, cilantro, oregano and cumin. These all give a savory and earthy flavor to many Mexican dishes. Think of things such as tomato based salsa and creamy guacamole. These are the flavors that we are going to use to change the original Keto Chicken Zoodle Soup meal template to become something different. And all without having a recipe!
The original chicken zoodle soup called for the following ingredients:
Ingredients:
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1 medium onion
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2 stalks celery
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1 carrot
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1 zucchini made into zoodles (zucchini noodles) or 1 package purchased zoodles
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2 big handfuls of chopped cooked chicken (about 2 cups)
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4 cups of chicken broth or 1 – 32 ounce container of broth or 2 – 15 ounce cans of chicken broth
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dried oregano and basil
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salt and pepper
We can build on the original ingredients and make some changes to create a different flavor theme. I would keep the original oregano but remove the basil. In it’s place we can add cumin and chili powder. Perhaps a diced jalapeno or some green chilies. Let’s add some colorful bell peppers, garlic and some tomatoes too!
The new ingredient’s list for Mexican Chicken Zoodle Soup will now be the following:
Ingredients:
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1 medium onion
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2 stalks celery
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1 carrot
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1 bell pepper (or 2 handfuls of mixed frozen bell pepper slices)
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1 garlic clove or a teaspoon of minced garlic
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1 zucchini made into zoodles (zucchini noodles) or 1 package purchased zoodles
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2 big handfuls of chopped cooked chicken (about 2 cups)
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4 cups of chicken broth or 1 – 32 ounce container of broth or 2 – 15 ounce cans of chicken broth
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1 – 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
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dried oregano, ground cumin, chili powder
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1 jalapeno or 1 small can of diced green chilies
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salt and pepper
Preparing the soup:
Most meals are built in layers. How often do you see a food that is just seasoned with one thing? Like of building flavors like making a house. Do you start out by building walls? Of course not. You first start out by making a foundation for the house to be built on. Cooking is the same. Build a foundation and then build the rest of the meal around it.
For soup you start off by making a base of aromatic vegetables. Aromatics are vegetables and herbs that are generally heated in oil when you first begin making a dish. They add deep flavor to the dish you are making.
What are these aromatic vegetables you might ask?
For this meal template we have used some of the same aromatic vegetables found in the original Zoodle Soup recipe (onions, celery and carrots) but this time I’ve added in bell peppers and some garlic. You could use green or one of the sweet colored bell peppers. I had a frozen blend of red, orange and yellow peppers on hand so I used that.
For this recipe you want 1 medium onion. If you have no idea of what medium is then pick an onion that fits in the palm of your hand. If you can close your hand around it then it’s probably a small onion. If you can partially close your hand then it’s medium and if your fingers just fit around it then it’s a large onion. Peel and dice the onion. Go with big bits or little bits. It’s all up to you.
You’ll need two stalks of celery. Dice this up too.
Take your carrot and slice it into small rounds.
I actually had shredded carrots in my refrigerator so I used those. I went with one good size handful. If you have whole carrots use one and cut it into thin slices. See how you can begin to improvise with what you have on hand?
You can use a fresh clove of garlic or used the jarred, minced stuff from the grocery store. I know some people cringe over using the jarred stuff but it tastes fine and saves me time (no chopping/mincing) as well as money (no heads of garlic going bad in my refrigerator). If you use the jarred variety scoop out a good sized, well rounded teaspoonful. No worries if there’s slightly more than a teaspoon. It will not ruin the soup.
With the vegetables all sliced up place a small amount of oil in your soup pan. I’m not giving you an amount but I will say that when you pour it in the oil will begin to spread out and you want to stop when its about the size of a half dollar. This is probably about a tablespoon of oil. You can also cut a 1/2 inch or slightly larger piece of butter off a stick of butter.
Why no measurements?
Because if you use slightly more or slightly less you won’t ruin the soup. And the idea here is to learn to cook without a recipe telling you every exact measurement. Eyeball it. You’ll be fine. Trust me on this.
Turn the heat on to about a medium flame and start heating up the oil or melting your butter. Once the oil begins to heat up or the butter begins to melt toss in the onion, celery, carrots, peppers and garlic.
Begin cooking them, stirring every minute or so. Within about 5 minutes the mixture will begin to smell quite nice. The oil will pull out the flavors from these vegetables so it blends in with the soup.
Add in the jalapeno (if you like spicy soup) or green chilies (if you prefer a milder soup).
Cut the jalapeno in half, remove the seeds and then finely dice it. Remember to use gloves or wash your hands immediately after cutting to prevent spreading the pepper residue to other parts of your body. Like your mouth or eyes. I’ve accidentally rubbed my eye once after cutting a pepper but before washing my hands well and my burning eye taught me to never do that again! If you are using canned green chilies go with a small 4 to 6 ounce size.
Add in the chicken broth.
The only reason why I included a measurement for this is because you don’t want to add so much broth that the soup becomes overly watered down. 4 cups is equal to a 32 ounce container of broth or about 2 – 15 ounce cans of broth if you have those on hand. An extra ounce or two won’t hurt. Multiple cups more however will water down the flavor.
Add in the can of diced tomatoes. Next add in a teaspoon of oregano and 2 teaspoons of cumin and chili powder.
If you want to see how to do this without using a measuring spoon it’s easy enough. Cup your hand and pour some into the middle. You want a small pile (see the picture). This should be about a teaspoonful or slightly more.
If you don’t trust yourself to do this without a measuring spoon then measure out an actual teaspoonful to see what it looks like in your own hand. You can learn to use your hands to quickly measure out dry herbs in other meals. Test it out for yourself.
Remember that adding in slightly more of most herbs and spices won’t ruin the meal.
The exceptions are salt, spicy herbs (such as red or cayenne pepper) and heavier spices such as clove. Too much of these can wreck a meal. But you’re safe with oregano, cumin and chili powder in this soup.
Add in the diced, cooked chicken. I had rotisserie chicken on hand so I used that. But any type of cooked, diced chicken will do.
Toss in the zucchini zoodles. I’ve found that fresh and frozen zoodles will begin to soften in about the same time. You don’t want them mushy. Just slightly softened will be good. I went with a package of frozen zoodles.
Once the zoodles are a bit soft your soup is almost done.
Put in a couple of grinds of pepper if you are using a pepper mill.
If you are using already ground pepper you want about half a teaspoon. Remember that trick with your hand and the other spices? You can do that again but make the pile half as small. Try testing this out with a 1/2 teaspoon of measured pepper in your hand to see what it looks like.
You now want to taste it to check if it is salty enough for your personal tastes. Depending upon your chicken broth it might be salty enough. Or you may want to add more. I highly suggest adding salt a 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it is to your personal taste. Again, soup that is too salty is not enjoyable.
If you feel that your soup needs a bit more of the other spices then add a small amount of each. This second time around pretend like they are salt. Add a bit and then taste it.
Start low and go slow.
Once you’ve added salt (and possibly other spices) to taste the soup is ready to be enjoyed.
If you’ve made it this far and found that you have a that you enjoy the taste of congratulations! You now have the basics to Keto Mexican Chicken Zoodle soup. Eat it as is or top with shredded cheese, a spoonful of sour cream or even avocado slices.
Keto Mexican Chicken Zoodle Soup
Learn how to use a meal template to create a meal without needing a recipe! Serve this zoodle soup as is or topped with cheese, sour cream or sliced avocado.
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Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 167kcal
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 bell pepper or 2 handfuls of mixed frozen bell pepper slices
- 1 garlic clove or a teaspoon of minced garlic
- 1 zucchini made into zoodles zucchini noodles or 1 package purchased zoodles
- 2 big handfuls of chopped cooked chicken about 2 cups
- 4 cups of chicken broth or 1 – 32 ounce container of broth or 2 – 15 ounce cans of chicken broth
- 1 - 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 jalapeno or 1 small can of diced green chilies
- salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Dice vegetables.
- Please oil or butter into pot.
- Add onion, carrot, celery and peppers.
- Saute until just beginning to soften.
- Add in garlic and jalapeno/green chilies.
- Add in tomatoes, broth, oregano, cumin, chili powder.
- Add in chicken and zoodles.
- Cook over a medium heat until zoodles have softened.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve as is or top with shredded cheese, sour cream or avocado slices.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 167kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 6g | Fiber: 3g
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