A homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup made with simple ingredients! This bold flavored soup hosts tender chicken, corn, fire roasted tomatoes and spicy jalapeno all in a rich broth. It’s finally topped off with homemade crispy tortilla strips, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.
If you’ve never enjoyed Tortilla Soup, especially one that’s homemade, you are in for a treat! This is one of my absolute favorite soups ever because it’s so easy to make and the flavors are divine! Using simple ingredients, we can create a bold, rich, and comforting soup in just around 40 minutes!
Why Make This Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Simple Ingredient List
- Easy, Straightforward Recipe
- Comforting Soup
- Includes Instructions For Slow Cooker/Pressure Cooker
- Ready In Just About 40 Minutes
Tortilla soup is one of those recipes that warms you from the inside out! It starts off with a rich, well developed broth, full of chicken and corn, then is finally topped off with crispy, crunchy tortilla strips, rich avocado slices, fresh, punchy cilantro and melty shredded cheddar cheese. Talk about easy and delicious!
Ingredient Notes
Tortilla Soup
- Olive Oil – Substitute sunflower, safflower or avocado oil.
- Jalapeno – Chopped, with seeds removed!
- Spices – Mild chili powder, ground cumin and salt and pepper.
- Corn Kernels – Fresh or frozen!
- Tomatoes – I used fire roasted tomatoes because they give a nice, deep, smoky flavor to the soup.
- Chicken – Cooked chicken, shredded. I usually buy a rotisserie chicken and use that.
- Chicken Broth – I always opt for low sodium.
- Lime Juice – Freshly squeezed is best!
Toppings
- Tortillas – Small corn or flour tortillas, sliced into thin strips!
- Vegetable Oil – For frying such as canola oil.
- Cilantro – Fresh, chopped.
- Lime slices
- Cheese – I used cheddar cheese, shredded.
How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
Tortilla Chips
- Cook Tortilla Chips: Add about ¼ cup of vegetable oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tortilla strips, a few at a time, and fry until crisp. Transfer them to a paper-towel lined plate and season with salt. Repeat with remaining strips.
Tortilla Soup
- Cook Aromatics: Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add Ingredients and Cook: Add the rest of the soup ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve: Serve soup with crispy tortilla strips, cheddar cheese and cilantro.
Alternative Cooking Methods
Slow Cooker
- Combine Soup: Add all the soup ingredients in your slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 – 8 hours or HIGH for 3 – 4 hours. Crisp up the tortilla strips as instructed above and serve in bowls topped with cilantro and the additional garnish ingredients.
Pressure Cooker
- Saute the Aromatics: Turn the pressure cooker to the saute setting on high and combine olive oil, onion, garlic, and jalapeno as described in the original recipe instructions.
- Combine the Soup: Add chicken and remaining soup ingredients and stir before placing the lid on and allowing to lock securely according to manufacturer instructions.
- Finish the Soup: Set the cooker to the soup setting or manual on high pressure and cook for 4 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally and add cilantro to the pot. Serve hot garnished with the additional garnish ingredients.
FAQs & Expert Tips
FAQs
Tortilla soup is a traditional Mexican dish, loaded with chicken and corn with spicy jalapeno in a tasty tomato and garlic broth. The magic of this dish comes from all the amazing toppings, like the fresh avocado, cilantro, tortilla strips and cheese.
If you’d like to bake the strips rather than fry them in the oil:
Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Toss the cut tortilla strips with olive oil and salt on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Yes! If you want to make this soup in advance, you can keep it in the fridge or freezer! Continue scrolling to “Storing Leftovers” section of the post for fridge and freezer instructions!
Tips
- Add a dollop of sour cream in, or on top of the soup for a creamy zing of flavor!
- Try adding black beans, chiles or any other Mexican inspired ingredients you see fit.
- Avoid using oils with low smoke points for frying the tortilla strips like extra virgin olive oil, butter, or unrefined oils.
Storing Leftover Tortilla Soup
Be sure to let your tortilla soup fully cool, then transfer to a shallow, airtight container. Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
The tortilla strips can be placed in a bag with the air pushed out and stored for up to 3 days in the cupboard!
Freezing
Let the tortilla soup cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for 4-6 months.
Tip: Place it near the back of the freezer where the temperature is the most consistent.
When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove. Prepare all the garnishes when ready to serve.
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Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
Tortilla Soup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium jalapeno seeds removed and chopped
- 1 tsp chili powder mild
- 1 tsp cumin ground
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 28 oz fire roasted tomatoes (1 large can)
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
Toppings
- 4 small tortillas corn or flour sliced into thin strips
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 avocado
- cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
Tortilla Chips
- Add about ¼ cup of vegetable oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tortilla strips, a few at a time, and fry until crisp. Transfer them to a paper-towel lined plate and season with salt. Repeat with remaining strips.
Tortilla Soup
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the rest of the soup ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve soup with crispy tortilla strips, cheddar cheese and cilantro.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Be sure to let your tortilla soup fully cool, then transfer to a shallow, airtight container. Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- The tortilla strips can be placed in a bag with the air pushed out and stored for up to 3 days in the cupboard!
- To freeze, let the tortilla soup cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for 4-6 months.
- When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove. Prepare all the garnishes when ready to serve.
Great flavor. I made 1/2 batch last night. I did not half the chili powder or cumin because we like spicy.
This is a “keeper”! We loved it. Thank you, Jo.
You are so welcome!
This is Hands down the absolute BEST soup ever. I loved it so much, I ate it 3 days in a row. I didn’t have any tortillas but the taste was just so amazingly delicious, that it didn’t even matter! Thanks Jo, this is going in my special recipe box.