Chicken Tortilla Soup
A tasty Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe can be eaten year-round! Hearty, healthy, and a little spicy, it’s seasonless!
Perfect in the dead of winter to warm you from head to toes or as part of a Cinco de Mayo menu, this Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup will become a family favorite!
Why You Must Make
- Packed full of flavor, this tortilla soup recipe is delicious comfort food.
- It’s perfect for dinner on game day or on a chilly night.
- It’s made with primarily pantry ingredients so all you need to pick up are the fresh garnishes and the canned goods you don’t have on hand.
How to Make Tortilla Soup
I was worried that it was too spicy for the hubby’s tender palate, but with a nice dollop of sour cream and sprinkling of cheddar, he sang its praises.
- Combine all of the ingredients except for the tortillas and toppings with 2 cups of water in a large stockpot.
- Place it over medium-high heat and bring it just to a boil.
- Tuen the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Using a pizza cutter or kitchen shears, cut each tortilla into thin strips. Use in the soup to thicken or bake them in the oven to use as a crispy garnish.
- Serve the soup in bowls with the desired toppings on the side.
Corn tortillas are cut into strips, added at the end, and simmered in the soup for 10 minutes. Personally, I like frying up these strips to make them crispy and using them for a garnish instead of adding them to the soup. Either option works well!
This tortilla soup recipe makes a perfect weeknight meal, yet it’s special enough to serve when you have a crowd coming over to watch a football game. It’s piece of cake to throw together. When you go to the market to buy the ingredients, get a second set of canned goods and frozen corn to make it again next month!
Ingredient Notes:
Besides some of the fresh garnishes, all these ingredients can be safely stored for months. This enables you to make this easy chicken tortilla soup any day you’re in the mood!
- Chicken broth – I use Pacific brand. Other brands can be overly salty.
- Crushed tomatoes (canned)
- Red enchilada sauce (canned)
- Chopped green chiles – I usually drain the juice, but not necessary
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- Dried cilantro leaves – May replace this with a tablespoon of fresh, finely chopped cilantro as the dried doesn’t have the same punch of flavor.
- Garlic – Remove the inner sprout if green as it can be bitter.
- Chicken – fresh, rotisserie, or even simple leftover roasted or grilled chicken (not marinated or strongly seasoned)
- Corn – frozen works well, though fresh corn off the cob would be wonderful
- Onion – I prefer white or yellow for this recipe
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Shredded cheese, corn tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, avocados, salsa, and/or chopped scallions, for serving
Serving Suggestions
This tortilla soup recipe makes a perfect weeknight meal, yet it’s special enough to serve when you have a crowd coming over to watch a football game. It’s piece of cake to throw together. When you go to the market to buy the ingredients, get a second set of canned goods and frozen corn to make it again next month!
Start with some quesadilla wedges like these Spinach Quesadillas filled with spinach dip or Spicy Pork Quesadillas. A salad like this Guacamole Salad, Mexican Street Corn Salad, or Gazpacho Salad would be perfect with this Tex-Mex entree, plus Homemade Guacamole and chips and these Mini Margarita Cheesecakes would round out the meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
A tortilla is a Mexican unleavened bread that can be made from wheat or corn flour. According to Wikipedia, tortilla soup is a traditional Mexican soup made of fried corn tortilla pieces, cooked in a broth of tomato, garlic, onion, and chile de árbol, and epazote. It can be topped with chiles, avocado, cheese, or sour cream.
Yes, definitely. Rotisserie chicken is an easy alternative, but you can also use leftover grilled or roasted chicken. Just make sure it’s not highly seasoned or sauced as additional flavors could affect the soup’s flavor.
This tortilla soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. After that, it can be frozen for up to 3 months. Just let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
You May Also Like:
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup from Cookie and Kate
- Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Chicken Jambalaya Soup
- Homemade Tomato Soup
- More of my Best Soup Recipes
Chicken Tortilla Soup
A hearty, healthy Tex-Mex soup with loads of flavor and a touch of heat!
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
- 1 can (29 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (11 ounces) red enchilada sauce
- 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro leaves
- 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic or 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 to 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken (or more, if you’d like)
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 small onion, chopped
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 4 corn tortillas (6 inches each)
- Shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, avocados, salsa, and/or chopped scallions, for serving
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients except for the tortillas and toppings with 2 cups of water in a large stockpot.
- Place it over medium-high heat and bring it just to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the soup is heated through, about 30 minutes.
- Using a pizza cutter or kitchen shears, cut each tortilla into thin strips. Place the strips in the pot and cook 10 minutes more. Or place them on a sheet pan and bake until crisp.
- Serve the soup in bowls with the desired toppings on the side.
Notes
Recipe courtesy of Christy Jordan's Come Home to Supper
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 435Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 466mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 40g
60 Comments on “Chicken Tortilla Soup”
Such an amazing comforting food!! My whole family loved it!
Biscuits with homemade jam.
My favorite is chicken fried steak. With mashed potatoes and country gravy of course :+)
Lizzy,
I think my favorite southern food is fried chicken.
Annamaria
My favorite southern comfort food is definitely macaroni and cheese!
I hope Christy is doing ok. 🙁 Recovery in general is very tough but for life changing accidents it can seem very discouraging at times. If I could email hugs I would.
I just have to try this tortilla soup!
My very favorite is biscuits and gravy !! I can eat for breakfast and I am just as good eating it for supper…
What a gorgeous soup. I could just grab a tortilla strip and dunk it in the bowl….wait, where have I heard that before. 🙂
I love chicken tortilla soup and great cookbooks. 🙂
Quick and easy! You’ve given me an idea. Thanks, Liz. Have a super duper weekend.
One of my favorite soups is chicken tortilla. I’ve tried numerous versions and always like to try new ones. I do like the sound of the ingredients in this and with the weather finally feeling like fall and almost winter, this would be a good one to put in the pot. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to try it.
Country Style Steak (Chicken Fried Steak to some:) )
One of my favorite soups! I am going to try this recipe!
I don’t know a lot about southern comfort food but this soup is the sort of dish I love. Of the little I know? Gumbo, and of course Caramel Cake, oh and Mississippi Mud Pie.
Who doesn’t love this soup? And what a great, quick way to make it. I’d have to say cheesy grits!
Cristy has been wanted to make chicken tortilla soup for a few days now!! Yours looks so thick and delicious!! Pinned for later
Chicken tortilla soup is my absolute favorite soup, especially in the Fall and Winter!
Sorry Liz! I missed the question – and my favourite Southern comfort food has to be Kentucky Derby Pie. Love that pie….
Sounds like a great recipe. I’d love to try it!