CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP RECIPE
Homemade chicken tortilla soup made from scratch is the best! Bowl of soft shredded chicken breast, bold smoky flavors from spicy chipotle peppers with fire-roasted tomatoes and crispy corn tortillas is a satisfying meal and the best leftovers! There are many variations to make chicken tortilla soup, but like many delicious recipes this starts with homemade chicken stock and has amazing Mexican flavors.
RECIPE NOTES
This type of soup is very versatile. Here are some notes to help you through this recipe.
CHICKEN STOCK: Soups that are made with homemade stock just have an amazing fresh flavor. If you use store bought stock, rotisserie chicken, canned tomatoes and corn, you will have to adjust the salt in the recipe.
CHILI POWDER: If you don’t have Mexican chili powder you can just use cayenne chili powder. Depending on how spicy you like, adjust how many chipotle peppers to use. If you like heavier spice flavor you can double up on the spices as well.
TOMATOES: Using canned fire-roasted tomatoes adds a delicious smoky flavor to this soup.
CHICKEN: I used the shredded chicken from the stock. You can use rotisserie chicken, or boil or bake 2 or 3 chicken breasts then cut up or shred.
TORTILLA STRIPS: If you don’t want to fry the tortilla strips you can spray them with some oil then bake them until they are golden brown and crispy. Do keep a close eye because they can burn quickly. Sometimes I end up using crushed tortilla chips or tostadas.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 can 14.5 oz. fire roasted tomatoes
- 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 10 corn tortillas
- Oil for frying tortilla strips
Garnish
- Tortilla strips
- fresh cilantro
- lime juice
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté the diced onion until lightly golden brown and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for about 20 seconds, just until the rawness is cooked out.
- Add tomatoes, chipotle peppers, chili powder, cumin powder, tomato paste and salt. Mix well. Cover and let it continue to cook on medium until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture becomes a little thick in consistency, this will take about 7 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, corn, shredded chicken, add some cilantro. Mix well. Turn up the heat so it can heat thru. Taste to see if you need to adjust the salt. Bring the heat down again to medium-low so it's not boiling, let it simmer for 15 minutes covered.
FRY TORTILLA STRIPS
- Cut the tortillas in half than into strips. In a frying pan heat few tablespoons oil over medium heat. In batches add the strips to the hot oil in single layer. Fry until light golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. You can do this in batches. Consistently move the strips around so they don't burn. Take out on a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Top with tortilla strips, lime juice and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
