Chicken Tortilla Soup

by Sabrina Snyder

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17 Comments

5 from 8 votes
8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
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Chicken Tortilla Soup is savory, spicy, and perfect for cold winter nights! So good you will never go back to store bought again! Try soon!

When the weather is cold, hot Soup really hits the spot like some of my cold-weather favorites like Creamy Chicken Poblano Pepper Soup and Chicken Tomatillo Soup!

Sabrina’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Chicken Tortilla Soup is the PERFECT dinner for a chilly night. It’s savory, hot, AND spicy, which warms you right to the bones. I make this all winter long, both on the stove and in the slow cooker. Plus, it’s great for freezing, so I usually make a double batch and save half for a busy week. Trust me, once you try this homemade version, you’ll wonder why you ever had the store-bought one in your pantry to begin with!

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Chicken Tortilla Soup is savory, spicy, and perfect for cold winter nights! So good you will never go back to store bought again! Try soon!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Author Sabrina Snyder
Pot of cooked soup garnished with tortilla strips and cilantro.
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 4 ounces chopped green chile peppers
  • 14.5 ounces canned black beans , drained and rinsed
  • 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups corn
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • 2 chicken breasts , boneless and skinless
  • 2 4- inch flour tortillas , cut into strips
  • 1/4 cup cilantro , chopped

Instructions

  • Add the canola oil to a large dutch oven on medium heat and add the onion and garlic, cooking for 2 minutes until you can smell the garlic.
  • Add the green chiles, black beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, corn, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and oregano and mix well.
  • Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes and chicken breasts and bring to a boil before reducing to a simmer for 22-25 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken, shred with two forks, then return to the pot with the shredded tortillas and cilantro, stirring well before serving.

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 1543mg | Potassium: 739mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 395IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 148mg | Iron: 5mg

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Notes from Sabrina

Love the flavors of this soup but you are gluten-free? Make this recipe gluten free by substituting gluten free corn tortilla chips instead of the flour tortillas. It’s that easy!

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About this Recipe

Chicken Tortilla Soup is savory and spicy, made with chicken, black beans, chile peppers, crushed tomatoes, and tortilla strips. Serve this soup with fresh avocado, sour cream, jalapenos, cheddar cheese, cilantro, tortilla chips, and lime juice.

Can this be made ahead of time?

You can make this soup ahead of time and store it for freezer crockpot meals (minus the tortillas), which are a lifesaver on busy weeks. Make the soup as normal, cool and transfer to a freezer safe bag. Freeze the soup in a bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, just pop the frozen soup into your crockpot and cook on low or high until hot (about 3-6 hours). Add the tortilla strips right before serving.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

  • Make Soup Thicker: Whisk 3 tablespoons of corn starch into ½ cup cold water. Add to the soup and stir. It will thicken within a few minutes as the starch heats up. You can add more or less corn starch to get your desired consistency.
  • Make Soup Creamy: Make a creamy chicken tortilla soup recipe by making a roux in the beginning. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add onions and 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour, whisking continuously. After 3-4 minutes, when flour starts to brown, slowly pour in broth and keep whisking while everything thickens. Then add remaining ingredients and follow the recipe as usual. At the very end, add ¾ cup of heavy cream while stirring.

How to Store

  • Serve: Soup can stay out at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be stored. Cool completely before transferring to storage containers.
  • Store: Leftovers will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container. To reheat, pour into a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until warmed through.
  • Freeze: This soup recipe is perfect for freezing, because it doesn’t contain dairy and reheats really well. Cool the soup down completely, then store it in a freezer-safe container. I like to freeze single-serving containers for weekly lunches, too!

Alternative Cooking Techniques

Slow Cooker

Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, except for tortillas. Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours. With 30 minutes remaining, remove chicken breast and shred with a fork. Add the chicken breast back into the soup and top with tortilla strips. Close the lid until the remaining time is up.

Instant Pot

  • Using the sauté function, add onions, spices, and oil until onions are translucent.
  • Add everything except for the tortilla strips to the instant pot. Lock the lid in place and close the pressure valve.
  • Set in manual mode on high for a total time of 10 minutes, then let it release naturally.
  • Once the pressure is released, open the lid. Remove the chicken and shred with a fork, then add it back into the soup with the tortilla strips. Stir and serve.

Variations

  • Cheesy: Top with cheddar or pepper jack cheese for a cheesy chicken tortilla soup.
  • Pre-Cooked Chicken: Instead of skinless chicken breast, this is a great recipe for using up leftover Rotisserie Chicken. Just shred the chicken, and add at the end, just to heat it through.
  • Spice: Use diced jalapenos and fire-roasted tomatoes for an extra kick of spice!

More Delicious Chicken Soup Recipes

soup pin image

Photos used in previous posts:

close up of soup in a dutch oven
Tortilla Soup alt pin image

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

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Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This soup sounded so good I decided to make it for my mom during her recovery from heart surgery. I had to use what I had on hand though, so I tweaked it like this:

    1. substituted low sodium chicken broth and low carb tortillas, and used chicken tenderloins, since that’s what I had
    2. used 2 cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes in place of the diced and crushed tomatoes
    3. cut out the cayenne (didn’t have it) and used my own blend of chili powder which is 2 parts ancho powder, two parts guajillo powder, one part chipotle powder and one part smoked paprika. (I put smoked paprika in EVERYTHING lol)
    4. used half the amount of salt from the recipe, then adjusted it a bit at the end.

    I am going to try it as written some time, except we will stick with the low sodium and low carb substitutions since we have health concerns. Even with the changes I had to make, it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for another great recipe!

    Reply

    1. I’m glad you were able to customize it to what you had on hand. Nothing better than using everything in your kitchen. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! Hope your Mom has a safe and speedy recovery.

      Reply

  2. Thanks again Sabrina 🙂 I always know I can count on your recipes to be a hit with a picky crowd including a five year old. When I see a dinner then dessert recipe I know it’s gonna be great!

    Reply

  3. This was awesome. I like the little kick from the cayenne. I had lots of leftover turkey and this recipe was just what I was looking for – subbed out the chicken for turkey and it was delicious!

    Reply