Chicken Tortilla Soup • One Pot Full Meal • Two Purple Figs

Chicken Tortilla Soup is a one pan, nutritious and delicious meal that’s so easy and perfect for busy weeknights. It’s similarly loaded with beans, corn and toppings like our favorite Taco Soup. Bonus: it has homemade tortilla strips too! So Good, you need to try it!

One pot loaded soups are our cozy weekday meals, especially when they’re loaded with so much flavor! Taco Soup is similar but with ground beef. Our Tortellini Soup takes us back to Italy, but with extra comfort. Baked Potato Soup is the ultimate hug in a bowl. Like Seriously!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup was our everything at Olive Garden so we made a copycat recipe for it. Chickpea Soup is a family recipe that’s classic street food in Egypt, and absolutely heartwarming💛 Moroccan Lentil Soup is another loaded full meal soup you need to try!

Why You’ll LOVE Chicken Tortilla Soup

• It’s SO GOOD! Like so tasty, so delicious and seriously heartwarming!
• This Chicken Tortilla soup is a full meal on its own, loaded with nutrients.
• You only need one pan/pot to make it, so less cleaning.
• The recipe is ready in 30 minutes or less. 
• You can use all the toppings or none, either-way it’s delicious.
• Chicken tortilla soup is a great make ahead meal, and stores so well for leftovers. 

Ingredients You’ll need

• Chicken. We used rotisserie chicken, you can use any cooked chicken you have on hand.
• Onions, Garlic and jalapeno. The flavor base for the soup.
• Spice Mix. A combo of salt, pepper, oregano, chilli powder, cumin, garlic powder.
• Black Beans.  We used canned, rinsed black beans, however you can use cooked dried beans.
• Corn. Use fresh or frozen corn, we avoid canned.
• Cilantro and Lime. For a fresh finish and bright end to the taste.
• Canned Cherry tomatoes. Use any canned tomatoes and juices.
• Stock. You can use chicken or veggie stock.
• Tortillas. This is extra for toppings and making tortilla chips.

How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

Make Tortilla Strips 

1. You’ll start by cutting regular flour tortillas into thin strips. We use a scissors for this, and you can decide which size you like. The size here is 2 inches long and 1/4th inch wide.
2. You’re then going to add oil into a frying pan, you’ll need a neutral tasting oil like avocado. Then you’ll add the tortilla strips. 
   
3. Shake the pan and toss the tortilla strips in the oil until they’re golden and crisp.

Make the Soup

1. Start by sautéing the onions and jalapeno (if using) together in oil. We use a large heavy pot for the soup, and of course we use jalapeños 🙂 We LOVE a spice kick!
2. Then we add in the minced garlic and cook that for just 2 minutes.
   
3. The canned tomatoes with their juices go into the pot to make the base of the soup, along with the stock. We used canned cherry tomatoes here as we love that flavor the most.
   
4. Now you’re going to add in the spices and seasoning to flavor up the soup. Cover the soup with a lid and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Then drop the heat to medium low so the soup is simmering and all the flavors are blending in.
   
5. Let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes before adding in the remaining ingredients. Start with the beans.
   
6. Then add in the corn and cooked chicken. We used leftover rotisserie chicken, however any cooked chicken that you have will work.
   
7. Cover the pot and again allow the soup to simmer for another 10 minutes or so until all the ingredients and flavors have come together.
8. At that point your soup is ready, we love to finish it off with a handful of cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
   
9. This is how easy and simple it comes together! And while your soup is ready to serve as is, we recommend you use some of these toppings for an elevated dish!

Serving the Chicken Tortilla Soup

Here’s a list of our toppings that we love for the chicken tortilla soup recipe:

• Tortilla chips (made above)
• Sour cream
• Cilantro leaves
• Jalapenos
• Diced avocados
• Lime wedges
  

Simply Load up the soup in the bowl with your favorite toppings right before serving.

Tips for Chicken Tortilla Soup

1. Enjoy the benefits of using leftover chicken. Rotisserie chicken works great, any leftover chicken form our chicken recipes works well too!
2. Use canned beans as they’re more accessible, but make sure you rinse them. 
3. Likewise, we love frozen organic corn when it’s not corn season. Just add them in frozen, no need to that or cook them prior. 
4. Any type of tomatoes will work, we prefer canned cherry tomatoes as they have a richer flavor. 
5. The stock you use is completely optional, broth, beef, chicken or veggie. 
6. Make the tortilla strips in advance, cool them and freeze them in a bag for up to 3 months. 
7. You can also make extra and use them on salads!
8. Load the soup toppings right before serving. 

How to Store this soup?

Leftover soup keeps so well in the fridge for up to 6 days. You can also freeze it for 3 months. To reheat the soup, you can microwave it, or reheat it in a pot over medium low heat. If your soup is frozen, make sure to defrost it first.

Can I make tortilla soup in a crockpot?

You can add all ingredients in the crockpot and set on low for 6 hours or medium for 3 hours. 

Is chicken tortilla soup spicy?

We love the spicy version so we added jalapeno with the onions and as a topping. If you don’t want a spicy soup, you can actually skip the jalapeños all together and your soup is no longer spicy.

Soup Recipes

Mediterranean Soup
Taco Soup
Tortellini Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Best Minestrone Soup
Peanut Soup