Go Back
Isha Joe

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup with tender chicken and homemade crispy tortilla strips is the perfect, cold-weather weeknight dinner. What’s even better? It comes together in one pot.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Calories: 539

Ingredients
  

Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • 2 Tbsp light olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1-2 jalapeno peppers seeded and diced
  • 32 oz chicken broth
  • 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 lb chicken breasts (2 medium), or leftover rotisserie chicken*
  • 15 oz can corn drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/3 cup cilantro chopped, plus more to garnish
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice from 1 lime, or to taste
Homemade Tortilla Strips
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 8 corn tortillas (6" tortillas)
Toppings
  • 1 large avocado diced
  • 1 lime cut into wedges, to serve

Method
 

Tortilla Strips:

  1. Preheat a pan with 1/4 cup oil over medium-high heat. Cut tortillas into thin strips and fry them in batches in the hot oil until crisp. Remove from the pan and allow them to drain on a paper towel. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips, adding more oil as needed then set aside.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

  1. Preheat a pot or dutch oven with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, and chopped jalapeño and sauté until veggies soften.
  2. Add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, chicken breasts, corn, beans, chili powder, cumin, salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through and easy to shred.
  3. Remove chicken from the pot and shred it using 2 forks. Add shredded chicken back to the soup and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro and lime juice.
  4. Serve the soup garnished with some tortilla strips, diced avocado, fresh cilantro and lime wedges, or use your favorite toppings.

Notes

*If using leftover rotisserie chicken, shred the chicken and add it to the soup in step 3.