This chicken tortilla soup recipe is easy, homemade, and satisfying. The perfect dinner for those cold nights. Add your favorite toppings and adjust the spice level to your liking! It freezes perfectly and keeps for lunches all week.
Diving into the fall cooking season feels so good with all that's going on this year. This season of life feels very different for a lot of us. It's hard trying to find normalcy in a not normal world.
Rewind back to a few weeks ago when I made this chicken tortilla soup— I loved it more than I anticipated (even in 95 degree heat.) It's not flashy in the slightest but it's hearty, warm, and wholesome.
This is an absolutely delicious soup recipe, especially as the cold weather moves in. I made a double batch the other week and tossed it in the freezer so I had lunch and dinner options for busier days.
Why You'll Love This Chicken Tortilla Soup
- It's an everything-into-one-pot recipe
- Incredibly flavorful
- Feeds an army
- Can be easily frozen
- Hearty
- Comforting
When it comes to soup I gravitate to chicken noodle soup or chicken tortilla soup. Both are hearty and extremely flavorful while offering that classic comforting feeling.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- Chicken: The beauty of this recipe is that any type of chicken works. You can use either chicken breast or chicken thighs. The days that I want to make life simpler, I grab a rotisserie chicken.
- Peppers: Any type of bell peppers will work for this recipe. I normally have red and green on hand so that's what I used.
- Onion: I prefer to use sweet onion, but red onion also works.
- Tomatoes: Any type of diced tomatoes works well. I prefer to use fire roasted tomatoes for a little extra flavor.
- Tomato Paste:
- Chicken Broth: Using regular chicken broth is OK but I prefer to use low-sodium. You can always add more salt later but you can't remove it.
- Beans: The black beans pair well with this soup.
- Corn: Any type of corn works for this, frozen or canned. If you're. using canned, make sure you drain and rinse the corn.
- Spices: This soup has a combination of cumin, chili powder, paprika, dried oregano, and fresh garlic.
- Jalapeño: We prefer a more spicy soup so we toss in some of the seeds. If you want it less spicy, de-vein and seed the jalapeño.
How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
What I love most about this soup is that it's a put-everything-in-one-pot recipe— even if you're not using rotisserie chicken!
- Sear the Chicken: Searing the chicken helps create a depth of flavor for the broth. Don't worry about cooking the chicken completely through, it will finish cooking later. If you're using rotisserie chicken, see the recipe notes.
- Sauté the Vegetables: Add the peppers, onion, and jalapeño to the pot. You want to cook the vegetables until they are soft and tender. Then, add in the spices and tomato paste.
- Start the Broth: Add the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth while scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pot (that's big flavor!)
- Finish Cooking the Chicken: Add the chicken into the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Then, reduce to low and let it cook for 15 or so minutes until the chicken is done (internal temperature of 165℉.)
- Shred the Chicken: Take the chicken out and shred with two forks however large or small you want.
- Add the Corn & Beans: Stir in the corn and beans.
- Serve & Add Your Toppings: Place into a bowl and top with tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, avocado etc.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Description
This chicken tortilla soup recipe is easy, homemade, and satisfying. The perfect dinner for those cold nights. Add your favorite toppings and adjust the spice level to your liking! It freezes perfectly and keeps for lunches all week.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup white onion, diced (about 1 medium)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño, diced (deveined and seeded)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 32-ounce container low sodium chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 4 quart (or larger) pot or dutch oven. Add the olive oil. Once hot, sear the chicken on either side for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
- Add the onion, peppers, jalapeño, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and dried oregano. Stir and cook for 6-7 minutes as the vegetables soften up and let out some juices.
- Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then add the chicken back into the pot for 15 minutes (or until the internal temperature has reached 165°F.) Remove the chicken from the pot, shred, and place it back into the pot.
- Reduce the heat to medium Stir in the beans and corn. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve immediately. Leftovers keep well for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 2 months. Allow the soup to cool completely before freezing.
- Chicken: You can use breasts or thighs for this recipe. The cook time will vary.
- Jalapeño: We like this spicy so we keep the seeds on.
- Slow Cooker Option: Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker except the beans and corn. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove the chicken from slow cooker and shred. Place the chicken back in the slow cooker and stir in the beans and corn. Allow it to cook for 1 hour.
Nutrition
Calories: 314kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 588mg | Potassium: 1187mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1115IU | Vitamin C: 61mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 4mg
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