Chicken Tortilla Soup

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A common soup in Central America, this Chicken Tortilla Soup is the perfect combination of different comfort foods. Tortilla chips, simply cooked chicken, corn, and beans all cooked together in a warming tomato broth – what’s not to like?

For more classic Mexican inspired soup recipes, why not try this Black Bean Soup? Or maybe this recipe for Ham and Bean Soup instead?

Table of Contents

1. Chicken Tortilla Soup
2. Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
3. How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
4. Where To Get The Tortilla Chips For This Recipe?
5. Make Homemade Tortilla Chips
6. Do You Need To Use Fresh Corn & Beans For This Recipe?
7. Canned or Frozen Food is Fine
8. PIN THIS RECIPE to yourSOUPS Boards and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
9. Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken tortilla soup is a brilliant combination of so many things that are amazing in their own right.

Simply cooked yet deliciously seasoned chicken breasts; a rich, hearty tomato broth; corn, beans, and a whole lot of delicious tortilla chips.

Done properly, the tortilla chips lend a wonderful crunch to every bite, and each spoonful is full of rich, acidic, and bursting flavor.

Plus, it is basically a complete meal and is absolutely packed with nutrients as well!         

Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Chicken breasts, cooked and diced into small cubes

• Olive oil

• Onion

• Garlic

• Chicken broth

• Crushed tomatoes

• Dried oregano

• Chili powder

• Corn kernels

• Black beans

• Green chili peppers

• Fresh cilantro

• Tortilla chips

• Avocado

• Sharp cheddar cheese

• Chopped green onions

• Fresh lime

How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

• In a medium large pot over medium heat, add the oil, garlic, and onion, and sauté until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

• Add in the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, oregano, and chili powder

• Bring to a simmer for 8-10 minutes

• Add the cooked chicken, beans, corn, chile peppers, and cilantro

• Return to a simmer for 10 minutes

• Portion into serving bowls, and then add your favorite toppings like the crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, lime wedges, and green onions

Where To Get The Tortilla Chips For This Recipe?

The tortilla chips in this recipe aren’t just here to provide a satisfying carb base for this soup – they also contribute a surprising amount of flavor to every bite, alongside their intense crunch.

However, unless you happen to live in Mexico, the Southwestern US, or very close to a Mexican grocery, you might struggle to actually find good quality tortilla chips anywhere outside of some boring Doritos.

While Doritos might work fine in an emergency, there is just nothing quite like some fresh tortilla chips that have been made with love and care by someone who eats them all of the time.

The thing about this recipe is that it was originally designed as a way to help use up leftover tortilla chips, and tortilla chips themselves are generally made for the sole purpose of using up older corn tortillas.

So while the best way to get some tortilla chips is to buy them from a Mexican grocery, you can also order them online super easily from varying online Mexican retailers.

Make Homemade Tortilla Chips

The easiest option, though, is to just make some yourself!

Simply buy some Masa Harina and follow the instructions on the back of the packet to make some delicious tortillas, and then deep fry them in cooking oil to make some tasty corn tortillas to use in your soup!

Do You Need To Use Fresh Corn & Beans For This Recipe?

A lot of recipes focused on making super traditional and homey dishes will tell you that you absolutely need only to use the freshest ingredients possible.

Fresh corn straight off of the cob; dried beans that have been soaked for 24 hours, and then cooked with a bay leaf, epazote, and salt until beautifully tender and moist.

Well, luckily, this isn’t really one of those recipes.

Chicken tortilla soup is all about making a quick, healthy dinner suitable for using up odds and ends lying around the kitchen. This means that using things like canned corn and beans, or even their frozen alternatives, is perfectly fine.

Canned or Frozen Food is Fine

In fact, too many people consider canned or frozen ingredients as being somehow beneath them when they can actually be some of the best ways to get produce as fresh as possible.

This is because frozen and canned goods are processed straight after picking, meaning that they are locked into their state of freshness, ready for you to use them just as if you picked them off the plan yourself.

While it is true that they will obviously be a bit more wet and less structurally stable than their fresh alternatives, that doesn’t matter here because this is a soup recipe!

We want our ingredients to be soft, falling apart, and super tender!

So don’t feel bad about using canned or frozen foods here because it is honestly the best choice.

Looking for more delicious Soup recipes? Try these out:

• Tomato Bisque

• Cauliflower, Corn & Bacon Chowder

• Curried Sweet Potato Soup With Chicken

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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