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This is one of the best weeknight soups you can make. Thanks to an ingredient list of mostly pantry staples, this soup is quick to make and totally doable any night of the week. Plus, it’s a great base that can be riffed on endlessly.
I’ve been developing soup recipes for more than 10 years. First, as an Assistant Editor at Cuisine at Home Magazine, and now for the Soup-er Simple Series I run every year on Zestful Kitchen.
Developing soup recipes is a dance of blending flavors and textures together in one pot. You’ve got to build a flavorful broth while also maintaining some kind of texture throughout the soup.
The key here is to simmer the broth and aromatics together before adding in the beans, corn and chicken right at the end. This keeps those components at their textural best.
An Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup
One look at my soup recipes and it’s very clear that I love a quick soup that tastes anything but quick. You don’t need a long simmer time to achieve great flavor, and this brothy chicken tortilla soup is such a great example of that. Here’s how I develop big flavor quickly and easily:
- Use fresh herbs during the cooking process, not just as a garnish. Cilantro is a great topping for this soup, but it plays an even bigger role in flavoring the broth (as it does in my Thai Shrimp Soup). Mince up a small bunch of cilantro and add it to the pot with the other aromatics.
- Don’t skimp on the spices. So often small amounts of spices are used in recipes. Don’t be afraid to use a hearty amount here! A whole tablespoon of cumin is used along with two chipotles in adobo and a tablespoon of adobo sauce.
- A great twofer ingredient. On their own, canned diced fire roasted tomatoes add a ton more flavor than regular canned diced tomatoes would. But use fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles and you’re adding two ingredients in one fell swoop. I always have a few cans stocked.
How to Make This Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
- Start cooking down the aromatics. Cook the onions until they start to soften then add the cilantro, chipotles and cumin and cook briefly to unlock the flavors.
- Add the broth and the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
- While the soup simmers, cut corn tortillas into thin strips and fry in a shallow skillet of oil until crisp.
- Stir in the cooked chicken, beans and corn. Then, depending on how brothy you like your soup, stir in 1 cup of water.
TIP: rotisserie chicken is a weeknight game changer in my opinion. It’s already cooked, already seasoned, and ready to be tossed in a soup, salad, or sandwich. Use rotisserie chicken in this soup (like I do in my Chicken and Cabbage Soup) or use any leftover cooked chicken you have from a previous meal.
How to Make Fried Tortilla Strips
Frying up tortilla strips at home can seem like an intimidating task. And as someone who doesn’t do it all that frequently, I’m here to tell you it’s so easy and it’s so worth it.
- Fill a large stainless steel skillet with about half an inch of neutral cooking oil. Place over medium heat and heat until it’s just shimmering.
- To test the oil, drop in one tortilla strip, if it immediately starts to sizzle, the oil is ready.
- Add a small handful of strips to the oil and, using a pair of tongs, shimmy the strips apart.
- Cook, turning occasionally, until the sizzling subsides and the strips are crisp and lightly golden. Using a slotted spoon or spider, transfer the strips to a paper-towel-lined sheet or plate and sprinkle with salt.
Helpful Equipment
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Description
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- ½ cup finely chopped cilantro + more for serving (2 bunches)
- 2 chipotles in adobo minced + 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 (32-ounce) box Pacific Foods Chicken Broth
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken*
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen corn
For serving
- 8 corn tortillas, cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Crumbled Cotija
- Diced avocado
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large dutch oven over medium until shimmering.
- Add 1 diced onion and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring constantly, until softened and starting to brown, about 8 minutes.
- Add ½ cup chopped cilantro, 2 minced chipotles, 1 tablespoon adobo and 1 tablespoon cumin; cook 2 minutes.
- Add 1 (32-ounce) box Pacific Foods Chicken Broth and 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles; bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for tortilla strips, add vegetable oil to a large stainless steel skillet until it measures ½ inch depth. Heat over medium until oil is shimmering. To test if oil is ready, drop 1 tortilla strip into oil; if it starts sizzling right away, oil is ready. Drop in a quarter of tortilla strips and, using tongs, separate any touching strips; cook until sizzling subsides and strips start to lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer fried strips to a paper towel-lined sheet and immediately sprinkle with salt. Repeat frying in batches with remaining strips.
- Add 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, 2 cups frozen corn, 1 can black beans and 1 cup water; bring back to a simmer then season to taste with salt and serve with tortilla strips, Cotija, avocado and fresh cilantro.
Notes
- Pat 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt.
- Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium until shimmering. Add chicken, skin-side down, and cook until golden brown, 6 minutes, flip and continue to cook until browned on second side, about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate; set aside.
- Add the chicken back to the soup when you add the broth and canned tomatoes, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Remove chicken once more from the soup and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and bones and shred the meat. Add the shredded chicken back to the soup.
