I am obsessed with chicken tortilla soup. I love that warm, delicious broth filled with crunchy bits of deep-fried tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream, and avocado. Tortilla soup is serious comfort food.
I went through a phase a few years ago where all I ate for lunch every day was chicken tortilla soup. A little Mexican place had just opened up in the neighborhood and Mike and I tried it out and loved it. Soon, I started begging to go to lunch every day. I said it was because I wanted to support local and see our neighborhood Mexican restaurant succeed, but really it was because I was obsessed with their lunch special: chicken tortilla soup with a mini burrito.
I enjoyed the burrito, but the real star was the soup. Deep red with hints of roasted chili with ALL the toppings. We moved a few years after my fixation and before I left I asked if I could get their prescription. They very kindly gave me a general outline from when we were regulars – I have been making this soup at home ever since.
What is tortilla soup?
Tortilla soup or sopa de tortilla is a Mexican soup made from tomatoes, garlic, onions and chili peppers. Topped with fried corn tortilla strips. It’s gravy, warming and delicious. It can be made with beef or pork, but the best and most traditional version is chicken tortilla soup.
How to make chicken tortilla soup
The preparation of tortilla soup is extremely simple in terms of its taste. The main ones is to add a kilo of dried for some warm smoky heat.
- Fry: Gently fry some aromatics such as onions and garlic.
- Add: Add the chicken broth, roasted tomatoes, a dried ancho chile, a chopped jalapeño, and some chicken to the seasonings.
- Boil: Bring everything to a simmer so the flavors come together.
- Cut: Take the chicken out and shred or shred.
- Serve: Ladle some soup into a bowl, then top with crispy tortilla strips (or chips), shredded cheese, avocado, jalapeño, and sour cream. Enjoy living your best soup life!
Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
All the ingredients for this chicken tortilla soup can be easily found at the grocery store. Heck, it’s almost a soup larder if you have some food. You’ll need: onion, garlic, chicken broth, fire-roasted tomatoes, chicken, tortilla strips (or chips), and some yeast.
- Dried ancho chile – Ancho chiles are the dried version of poblanos, a mildly spicy Mexican pepper. When dried, ancho peppers are dark red with shiny wrinkled skin. They have a sweet smoky fruit flavor with a mild warm heat. You can find them in the Mexican aisle. They are used whole to flavor soups and stews and when ground you get ancho chile powder.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes – You can find these canned in the tomato aisle. Fire-roasted tomatoes are roasted over an open fire – they even come with blackened chunks – then diced and canned. They add sweet flavor with smoky juicy tomatoes to tortilla soup.
- Tortilla strips – The best thing to do is to grab some corn tortillas, cut them into strips and fry them gently in oil until they are extremely aromatic, crispy, crunchy and absolutely acidic. Here’s how to fry tortilla chips (https://iamafoodblog.com/you-need-homemade-tortilla-chips-in-your-life/)(https://iamafoodblog.com/you-need-homemade- tortilla-chips -in-your-life/), instead of triangles, for this recipe we cut them into strips. Frying your own tortilla strips is the best option, but if you have a bag of tortilla chips hanging around, you can use those too, which is what I did in these photos.
How to make this soup even better
Because tortilla soup doesn’t have a huge long list of ingredients (thank goodness!), it’s important that each ingredient is its absolute best. To me, tortilla soup is all about toppings and toppings. Here are some tips on how to make the best tortilla soup:
- Fry your crispy tortilla strips. I know, I know, the photos in this post have tortilla chips with branches (a travesty!), but be better than me and fry your own tortilla strips. It’s easy: cut some corn tortillas into strips. Heat a little oil over medium-high heat. Add the tortilla strips and cook until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil, drain and sprinkle with salt. They will be incredible, trust me.
- Have a small top bar. Ladle soup into bowls, then create a small bar on top with chopped cilantro, green onions, shredded cheese, avocado, lime, jalapeños, sour cream, and tortilla strips. That way everyone can add as much or as little garnish as they want. If you’re like me, it’s all about the toppings!
- Finish with some chili powder. Sprinkle with some chili powder—even better if it’s homemade—for an extra kick.
Oven-baked chicken tortilla soup
Lightly sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeño in a little oil, then add the chicken stock, tomatoes and chicken to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken, shred, add back to the soup, season and serve with yeast.
Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Add all the ingredients to the pot and simmer on low for 5-6 hours. Once done, remove the chicken, shred, add back to the soup, season and serve with toppings.
Instant Pot Tortilla Soup
Add all ingredients to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Leave quickly, remove the chicken, shred, add back to the soup, season and serve with the toppings.
Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
This chicken tortilla soup isn’t creamy, but it’s very easy to add some heft, creaminess, and darkness. All you have to do is stir 1/2 cup of softened cream cheese into the bottom right before serving. Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so it can mix and melt into the soup evenly.
SIDES
I like tortilla soup as a meal, but if you want to round it out a bit, maybe add some:
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Warm and delicious broth filled with crunchy bits of deep-fried tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream and avocado.
It serves 2
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 carnation garlic minced
- 1 dried ancho chiles
- 1 jalapeno torn apart
- 4 CUPS chicken stock sodium is not preferred
- 14.5 oz fire-roasted tomatoes 1 can
- 1 chicken breast or 4 skinless boneless chicken thighs
- salt and freshly ground pepper
SATURATION
- 1 jalapeno slices
- 1/2 CUP fresh cilantro roughly cut
- 1 avocado in cubes
- 1/2 CUP cheddar torn apart
- 1/2 CUP sour cream
- 1 CUP Tortilla chips crushed
- 2 lime wedges
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Stove plate: Lightly sauté the onion, garlic and jalapeño in a little oil, then add the chicken stock, tomatoes and chicken to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Continue to simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Pot: Add all the ingredients to the pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours.Instant pot: Add all ingredients to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Leave quickly, remove the chicken, shred, add back to the soup, season and serve with the toppings.
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Just before the soup finishes cooking, prepare the toppings: chop the jalapeños, chop the cilantro, slice the avocado, and slice the lemons.
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When the soup is ready, remove the ancho chile and discard. Carefully remove the chicken, shred and then divide into bowls. Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper, then pour over the chicken. Finish with jalapeños, cilantro, avocado, cheddar, sour cream, tortilla strips and lime. Enjoy it hot!
Nutrition facts
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Amount per service
Calories 606
Calories from fat 346
% Daily Value*
Fat 38.4 g59%
Saturated fat 13.3 g83%
cholesterol 63 mg21%
Sodium 668 mg29%
potassium 950 mg27%
Carbohydrates 37.2 g12%
Fiber 10.6 g44%
Sugar 9 gr10%
Protein 31.5 g63%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
