This is my take on tortilla soup – a full-bodied, spicy broth that envelops a bunch of tasty toppings including homemade strips off of baked tortilla. Mexican chicken tortilla soup is traditionally made with a base of rich chicken broth, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and chilies and topped with all sorts of yummy toppings.
Tortilla soup recipes call for egregious amounts of shredded cheese, but we’ve totally skipped the dairy(it is totally optional) and added a few slices of avocado that lends just the right amount of creaminess, without throwing everything entirely out of whack nutritionally. One can take the toppings in a number of tasty directions. We love green onions, some pickled or fresh jalapeño slices, chilli powder, roasted corn, cooked beans, lime juice, chopped onions, if you can find a little dried epazote is delicious and lots of cilantro of course.
The keys here are adaptability and good ingredients. There are a thousand ways you can remix this recipe based on your personal preferences or what looks good at your grocery stores. If I’m after a one pot meal, I toss in some shredded greens, zucchini and peppers or peas. For a more typical take you could keep the base simple (instead) finish the soup with sliced avocado or guacamole, cilantro, jalapeno, chopped onions, and a squeeze of lime.
Ingredient Highlights
- Fire-roasted tomatoes: adds body, smoky tomatoey flavor and a rich umami complexity to the soup.
- Enchilada sauce:Â Enchilada sauce is not just for enchiladas, with a balance of chili powder and spices this underrated pantry staple sauce adds more of that rich smoky chili flavor and intensity.
- Cream of Sweet Corn: this brings volume, thickness and corn flavor which is perfect in this Mexican chicken soup.
- Rotisserie chicken. A time-saver hack that a full step and saves time, alternatively poach a couple of pieces of chicken breast or thighs for this soup.
- Homemade Tortilla chips: we prefer making our own tortilla chips. It’s much simpler than it looks and healthier. Simply cut fresh corn tortillas into strips as seen above, spray or brush with oil on both sides and bake, alternatively fry in a little oil.
One last note, this is soup where seasoning is so important. If you haven’t seasoned it properly with salt and lime, it is going to taste very flat.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups cooked chicken shredded rotisserie or poached
- 4-5 cups chicken stock, low sodium preferred
- 10 oz red enchilada sauce
- 14 oz can cream of sweet corn
- 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
- cup roasted corn
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 4 oz can diced jalapeño or green chillies drained
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano or regular
- 6 small fresh corn tortillas taco sized, sliced into strips
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt as needed
- a few turns of black pepper
Garnishes
- sliced avocado
- limes, lots of it
- chopped cilantro
- green onions or chopped onions
- jalapeño or serrano slices optional
Instructions
- Warm one teaspoon of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, diced red peppers, chilies, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Place the pot over medium heat and saute till the onion start to soften. Add the ground cumin, oregano, chili powder and stir.
- Add the fire roasted tomatoes + their juice, chicken stock, creamed corn, enchilada sauce, bring it up to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, add the shredded chicken and roasted corn and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Season to taste and discard the bay leaf.
- Serve the soup in bowls topped with tortilla strips, and toppings of your choice, See images for suggestions!
Tortilla Chips
- Preheat red oven to 350℉. Stack the corn tortillas and cut them into long strips all the way. Spray or brush with the remaining olive oil. Spread them on a parchment lined baking tray in a single layer. Bake for 8-10 minutes to desired crispiness. Remove and allow to cool to further crisp up. Serve with the tortilla soup. Alternatively fry the strips.
Leave a Reply