Creamy Chayote Soup With Rice

About Chayote Soup With Rice

This creamy chayote rice soup is a Mexican soup recipe that's satisfying enough to eat for dinner. A warm tortilla or crackers is all you need for a quiet winter evening at home. It is so good that you will want two servings.

This hearty soup recipe is one that my Grandma Cuca served us when we would visit. I did not know what the chayote was in those days. Chayote is a favorite squash that's served in Mexico. The squash retains a firm, but tender, texture when cooked. It cooks to a light green translucent hue. These characteristics give the Mexican soup recipe a chunky appearance.

This is a creamy and thick squash soup, and it is easy to put together after a hard day at work or the aggravation of rush hour traffic.

Cook Time

Prep Time: 15

Total Time: 50

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 Chayote squash peeled and cubed
• 3/4 cup onion chopped
• 3–4 Roma tomatoes chopped ( I like the skins removed)
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/3 cup long grain white rice
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/3 cup sour cream or Mexican crema
• 1 Tbsp flour
• Enough chicken broth to cover chayote when in pan. Use vegetable broth if you prefer.
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Peel the outer skin off the chayotes. Get all the peel off and core out because it does not soften up. Cube into bite-size pieces. Chop onion.
2. Put chayote and onion into a medium-sized pan and barely cover with chicken broth, vegetable broth: or water and 2 tsp. chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes or until the chayote squash is tender.
3. Meanwhile, peel and chop tomatoes, garlic and parsley. After the chayote is tender add, tomato, garlic, parsley, thyme, chili powder, and rice. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Stir a little cold water and 1 Tbsp flour into sour cream or crema until the lumps are gone.
5. After 20 minutes and the rice is tender, slowly pour the sour cream mixture into the hot soup while stirring. Simmer 5 minutes.
6. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Preparing the Squash

If you are trying this because you like new foods, these tips will let you know what to expect when preparing the fruit.

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1. The skin is tough like a butternut squash, and the best way to peel it is with a sharp peeler. As you peel, you will notice the fruit starts to show sweat-like bubbles and handling it may get a little slippery.
2. After peeled cut in half lengthwise and take out all the white around the seed; the pith remains bitter after cooking. I also make sure to remove the crinkly skin at the top of the fruit.

Peeling the chayote is easy with my Titan Peeler TTPLR Slicer & Peeler. Watch out you may cut yourself.

As you can see in the photo above, all that needs to be done is cube the fruit.

Cuca would offer the kids, that were always hanging around, the flat oval seed in the center.

Thick Soup Recipe for Chayote Squash

Chayote squash has a mild taste like zucchini. Accompany your serving with hot sauce, Parmesan cheese, and crispy soup crackers or the new mini-sized saltine crackers. My husband always has tortillas.

Chayote and onion simmering. Cover, by a scant inch, with your favorite broth. Simmer until the fruit tests tender with a fork, about 25 minutes.

Chayote Is a Fruit

Lots of fruits are called other things. I have been calling chayote a squash. Is pumpkin a fruit? It is from Mexico and the plant leaves can be used for tea, the roots as yams, or pig food. As a mild addition, the fruit can be eaten raw in salads or cooked in soup.

© 2010 Sherry Venegas