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Chicken Tortilla Soup starts with onions, bell pepper, and corn tortillas simmered in chicken stock and blended with spices like cumin and chili powder. This soup is a knock-off from the famous soup recipe at Tommy Bahamas. Get ready to lick your dinner bowl because this is the easiest soup and this chicken recipe will be ready in 30 minutes or less.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP RECIPE

I’ve been on an avid search for the perfect Chicken Tortilla soup. I’m talking I’ve made three different Chicken Tortilla soup recipes in the past week and a half because I just didn’t find one that I loved.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

That says a lot considering I can go an entire month without repeating a meal once. My family is officially sick of it, not to mention my husband said they’ve also been serving it at work a couple of times too. But we all agree that this is the one.

Now don’t confuse this Chicken Tortilla soup recipe with Chicken Chili that is thick and chunky with beans and other goodies in there.

If you are a real Chicken Tortilla soup purist it’s actually a broth based soup.

I have a really good Chicken Taco Soup recipe and White Chicken Chili recipe if that’s what your looking for. But to me, a Chicken Tortilla soup recipe is chicken broth based that has a few simple ingredients.

Thanks to my friend Rachael for giving me this recipe which is supposedly a knock off from the Tommy Bahamas restaurant.

I know it may not look like much but it has a really deep flavor. I started taste testing it and couldn’t stop kind of flavor.

INGREDIENTS

  • YELLOW ONION – you could use white or red onion but yellow onion has the best flavor for this soup.
  • GREEN PEPPER
  • GARLIC – if you don’t have fresh garlic you can use garlic powder.
  • CORN TORTILLAS– you could use flour tortillas here but corn are more traditional.
  • BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS – any shredded chicken will do. You can use shredded chicken breast or chicken thighs. A great use for leftover chicken.
  • BUTTER
  • CUMIN
  • OLIVE OIL
  • CHILI POWDER
  • LIME WEDGES
  • CHICKEN BROTH – you could use vegetable broth as well.

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

First, start by coarsely chopping some onions, green pepper, and garlic. I was extra lazy when chopping so these are REALLY coarsely chopped.

Next, sautee the veggies in some oil and butter over medium-high heat. The butter gives it flavor but the oil has a higher burning temperature allowing you to cook the veggies longer without burning them. See how the edges are just starting to brown. Brown = flavor.

Then, cut some corn tortillas up and throw those in with some spices. You can’t have tortilla soup without tortillas and it makes a thicker soup. 

Right about here your kitchen will smell like fajitas. You might think about stopping here to just eat this. But don’t. It gets better.

Add some chicken broth and simmer away.

Finally, you’re going to blend the entire soup. You can use an immersion blender here or a regular blender in two batches. Be careful. Hot soup is…well hot.

Rotisserie chicken is the only way to go here. It’s perfectly moist and flavorful. Add some to your blended soup.

Then garnish with slices of avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice. You can even add some cut corn tortillas to the soup and let them hang out until they’re soft.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yum.

Here’s something to keep in mind. If you are blending yellow corn tortillas and green bell pepper the resulting color can be a little in between yellow and green which can be…meh?

If the you don’t care about color because this soup is so delicious (and it is), carry on.

Some things you can do to control the color of the soup:

  1. Use white corn tortillas.
  2. Use a red bell pepper and not green.

THE BEST SOUP RECIPES 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

This Chicken Tortilla Soup starts with onions, bell pepper, and corn tortillas simmered in chicken stock and blended with spices like cumin and chili powder.

Ingredients

Soup:

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped (about 2½ cups)
  • 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 1 green or red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
  • 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into small pieces (about 1¼ cups), see note
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 8 cups low sodium chicken stock or broth
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or hot sauce, (optional)
  • 3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded

Garnish:

  • Crushed tortilla chips or crispy tortilla strips
  • Sour cream
  • Handful chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 avocados, diced
  • Lime

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil and butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and green pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Add cut corn tortillas, chili powder and cumin; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, a few minutes more. Add chicken stock, salt and cayenne pepper (if adding) and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  3. Remove the soup from the heat and puree until completely smooth. An immersion blender is easiest for this or blend in batches in your blender. Stir in chicken, then ladle soup into bowls and garnish. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

If you blend yellow corn tortillas with a green bell pepper it can be a brownish color. Still tastes great though. For a more optimal color use white corn tortillas and a red bell pepper.

Source: my friend Rachel Quinton

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Trans Fat: 0g
© Christy Denney
Cuisine: Mexican
Chicken Tortilla Soup

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